Whether it is India or the US, taxis are costly, especially between airport and the downtown.
During my recent travel to Atlanta, I discovered that, just as in India, taxi drivers often ask for an unfair fare and do not agree to go with the meter reading.
In this travel tip post, I will share the detailed procedure to take the MARTA metro for just 2 Dollars from the airport to downtown Atlanta.
I took the Atlanta city metro from the airport to the PeachTree station and back. The Motel 6 where I stayed was only a couple of blocks away from the station. Here is the street view of the station.
This is the view of the station entrance on the opposite side of the street. I captured this just to be able to locate it when I am back here to take the ride to the airport. Else, it is very difficult to locate this hidden entrance in a crowd of shops.
This is unlike in India where metro stations are mostly overhead and so huge that they can be spotted from a mile away. Even underground metro stations in India are prominently visible on the street. So, this came as a surprise to me in Atlanta.
Further, there was a way to all trains.
This escalator is so huge and tall that it was nearly impossible to see who was at the other end.
I took the photo below halfway through the travel. So, one can imagine how large this escalator is.
After that there are several ticket vending machines, that accepted credit card and cash but unfortunately not the UPI payment system that uses a mobile phone to pay money and is prevalent in India.
There are several homeless people roaming around who step forward to help voluntarily offering help with the ticket vending machine. But after that they ask for money. I paid a dollar to a homeless person who was very kind. Later I also found him travelling in the same metro. He was able to help more people to gather UDS 5 for an unlimited full-day pass on the metro.
Comparatively in India there are virtually no homeless people in any of the 100+ major cities and small towns that I visited. In India, some people are very poor, but they have a home with drinking water and electricity with shared sanitation facilities. The government also supports them with food and almost free healthcare, but they are never roaming or living on the streets. A few beggars are seen at traffic signals, but they are far and few.
Following this is the automatic turnstile that opens on swiping the ticket.
After this are more escalators that lead further deep down towards the platforms.
Here is the view of the platforms from the escalators.
Here’s the view of the internal walls of the station tunnel where the bare rock can be seen on the sides.
The frequency of the Atlanta metro in the afternoon was 10 minutes during which I talked with more homeless people. One of them was visibly delighted when he told me that someone has promised to get a full-time job.
The metro train arrived soon, and it was all painted in classic red Coca-Cola advertisements. Afterall, this town is home to the most loved drink in the world. Later this week I will write about the visit to the amazing Coca-Cola World Museum in Atlanta. That was the only purpose of my visit to Atlanta, and I must say it was not disappointing at all. In fact, it’s so awesome, big and vivid, I will write an entire series of posts on the Coca-Cola World Museum.
I did not fail to notice that the metro coach entrance was leveled with the platform to facilitate the differently abled.
The only disappointment was in the seat layout which can be seen in the photo below. Anyone sitting on any of the seats near the steel bar would feel like almost sitting in the lap of the other person, very uncomfortable. So, I noticed that one of these seats was always vacant and people would stand but not occupy one of those seats.
My Marta metro card, made of paper can also be seen in the photo above. One way ticket cost is USD 2, and a full-day unlimited pass as mentioned above was USD 5. This is very economical compared to the taxi fares.
Hope this helps you to $ave $ome money on your next trip to Atlanta, especially @KashifMisidia Bhai - I remember you mentioned you have relatives there. I wish you get an opportunity to visit this amazing place soon 
The Marta train heads straight into the Atlanta domestic airport and the photo below shows the last coach of the metro rail aligned against the wall within the airport.
On the return journey from the airport to downtown the Marta metro station called the Airport station is located very close to the baggage claim area.
After picking the baggage, just ask anyone in uniform at the airport or locate the information desk, and they will point out you to the metro station entrance.
Tip: Mention the word Marta station and they will understand quickly.
In the next episode I will share the complete visual guide on how to deboard the Marta metro rail and take the free connecting bus to the Atlanta international airport which is 10 minutes away from the domestic terminal.
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