Mansell Park & Ride

As usual, I'm totally supposed to be studying right now. And then working out. And then getting ready to go meet a friend for dinner. All of which needs to be done in the next 3 hours. So I'm blogging. Anyway, I decided to check in on things and saw the post rating transit systems by ridership and population. CCTGirl made a good point about how no one actually lives inside the city limits of Atlanta. There are exceptions and I was completely ready to throw out a stereotype about people from old money and/or those folks who buy up old houses in Kirkwood and raise up children with names like Remii and Trice on the organic squash that they grew in their neighborhood co-op garden. But I'm not a huge fan of stereotypes. Remii is a fine name, I happen to like squash, and I know a few very generous and cool people whose families just happen to own professional sports teams and have museums named after them.

What's my point? The Mansell Park and Ride. I have decided that we need to show it a little bit of love. I have lived in Atlanta for most of my life and I only discovered the Mansell Park and Ride a few weeks ago when I started parking at the North Springs station. I made a mental note of it primarily for selfish reasons. My sister and brother-in-law live in Alpharetta and frequently ask me to shuttle them to the North Springs station when they need to go to the airport. If they didn't know about it, and I have been riding MARTA four days a week since August and I didn't know about it, someone should start spreading the word. So where the F is it, might you ask? I don't know. Somewhere near 400 and Mansell Road. I have only spent about 10 minutes looking online (b/c I'm supposed to be memorizing the muscles of forced exhalation) and I have yet to find an actual address (CCTGirl or somebody who is more dedicated than I - can you let our readers know how to get there?) A Google search yielded a Meetup group bearing the same name, which I still don't really understand. Maybe it's like a Fight Club for people who can't afford a country club membership until they pay off that Dartmouth MBA.

Atlanta's mass transit system could use a little bit of work. We already knew that. But for a city full of people who don't live inside of the city, I think that we could do a better job of taking advantage of the buses and park and rides that can get us out of the Acura MDX Sippy-Cup Express and onto the train. Your neighbors will think that you're so brave and urban and Shelly in Accounting will be proud that you didn't expense $60 worth of parking at Hartsfield. Just don't sit in the seats that are reserved for people with disabilities because everyone will know that you are from the Park and Ride (the first rule of Park and Ride is you do not talk about Park and Ride).