Meet halfway in Atlanta
For a group meeting in Atlanta, most people drive, so the fairest point is rarely the map's middle. When some of the group rides MARTA, Five Points, Lindbergh Center, Midtown or Inman Park/Reynoldstown often win. togather times each person door to door, by car or train, and finds the spots where nobody is stuck with a much longer trip.
- Car
- MARTA rail
- MARTA buses
- Bike
- Cycling
- Walking
Where groups actually meet in Atlanta
Interchanges that work as a fair midpoint for most groups. togather will not always land on one of these - it answers for your actual starting points - but they are the ones that come up again and again.
Five Points
Red, Gold, Blue and Green lines
The only MARTA station where all four lines meet, downtown, so anyone on the rail network can reach it with one change at most.
Lindbergh Center
Red and Gold lines
The northern junction where the Red and Gold lines split, and a good middle for a group spread between Buckhead, Midtown and the Doraville or Sandy Springs branches.
Midtown
Red and Gold lines
In the middle of Midtown on Peachtree, with Piedmont Park a short walk away, and fairer than downtown for a group living in Midtown, Virginia-Highland or Home Park.
Arts Center
Red and Gold lines
Next to the Woodruff Arts Center at the north end of Midtown, and a handy middle when the group is split between Buckhead and the west side.
Inman Park/Reynoldstown
Blue and Green lines, with the BeltLine Eastside Trail nearby
The east-side pick, close to the BeltLine, Krog Street and Little Five Points, and fair for a group living in Kirkwood, Old Fourth Ward and Decatur.
Decatur
Blue line
Not an interchange, but the centre of Decatur, and often the fairest answer for a group living east of the city where most people drive in.
How to pick a fair meeting point in Atlanta
Atlanta is a driving city, and that is exactly why the map midpoint lets groups down. Trips are shaped by the interstates, the Downtown Connector and I-285 rather than by distance, so a friend in Decatur and a friend in Smyrna can be close in miles and far apart in minutes. A spot halfway between them on the map may sit on side roads that nobody can reach quickly.
When part of the group rides MARTA, the rail network adds its own logic. It is two corridors that cross at Five Points: the Red and Gold lines run north to south and split at Lindbergh Center, while the Blue and Green lines run east to west.
Buckhead and Midtown groups are better off at Lindbergh Center
Downtown is the safe answer for transit riders, but not always the fair one. A group weighted towards Buckhead and Midtown is better off at Lindbergh Center or Midtown, and an east-side group by Inman Park/Reynoldstown, with the BeltLine within reach for anyone cycling or walking. If most of the group lives outside the Perimeter and drives, a place near their side of town usually beats a trip into the centre.
Traffic is the local factor. The Connector at rush hour can turn a short drive into a long one, which is why it pays to time the trip rather than guess. togather does that timing for every person in the group, on MARTA, by car or by bike, and suggests places where the journeys come out roughly even.
Meeting halfway in Atlanta - questions
- Where is a fair place to meet halfway in Atlanta?
- It depends on how people travel. For drivers it is rarely the geographic middle, and for MARTA riders it is usually Five Points, Lindbergh Center or Midtown. togather times each person on their own mode and works out which place is fair.
- Most of us drive. Can some people still take MARTA?
- Yes. Set the mode per person. A driver is timed by road and a MARTA rider by rail and on foot, so a group with both is compared fairly rather than as if everyone were in the same car.
- Isn't the middle of the map fair enough in Atlanta?
- Rarely. The interstates and the Perimeter decide how long a trip takes, so a spot right next to the Connector can be quicker for everyone than one that is closer as the crow flies but off the main roads.
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