MARTA bus service to be cut as COVID-19 sparks staffing shortage

Staffing shortages brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic are forcing Atlanta’s city transportation system to cut its bus routes starting in December.

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority plans to move 96 of its 113 routes to a Saturday schedule beginning Dec. 18. The agency has seen ridership drop to about half what it was before the coronavirus pandemic, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Eleven of MARTA’s most-used routes will keep regular schedules, and six routes that don’t operate on Saturday will also keep a regular weekday schedule. No routes will be eliminated, and there will be no changes to rail service.