ATLANTA — MARTA riders lined up at headquarters Station to get new Breeze cards loaded up were met with an unfortunate experience and long delays.
Those in line were at the headquarters to get new Breeze cards for reduced fair and MARTA Mobility, as with the new system in place, their old cards no longer work.
Channel 2’s Tom Jones was out at MARTA headquarters, where a line of people waiting for new Breeze cards was still wrapped around the building.
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Now, MARTA told Channel 2 Action News in a statement it is apologizing to them and providing food and water while they wait to get their cards.
“I want to say how sorry I am that customers who came to headquarters today to receive their new Breeze cards had this experience,” a MARTA spokeswoman said Monday afternoon.
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Speaking with senior MARTA riders and disabled MARTA riders, many told Jones they were frustrated, even angry.
“It’s ridiculous, it’s just ridiculous how we gotta stand out here like this,” Debra Jenkins, a rider, told Channel 2 Action News.
While MARTA customers were waiting from morning and into the afternoon, many were thirsty or tired.
After Channel 2 Action News reached out to MARTA, the transit agency said it was providing seating in and out of the building, plus fresh fruit, donuts and water.
“They talking about they mailed the Breeze cards out and we have not received them yet,” Jenkins said.
Some waiting in line told Jones they’d been there for four hours and hadn’t spoken to anyone.
“There’s no MARTA representative been out here to explain anything to us,” Kelvin Ellis said.
During the long wait, some of the people in line told Channel 2 Action News they needed more help.
“Seats. Seats, man. These people standing up,” one person said. “You see them in the wheelchairs and stuff like that.”
Several people in line told Jones the new Breeze card roll0out has been a disaster.
Ellis said he wanted to talk to the man in charge.
“Talk to the CEO. That’s who I want to talk to,” Ellis said. “Because this is ridiculous.”
A MARTA spokeswoman said on Monday afternoon that customer experience staff members were also speaking to those waiting in line to see what they need assistance with, and if it isn’t related to the new Breeze cards, how they can help.
As far as the cards, MARTA says it has mailed them out, but not everyone’s received them.
Other customers are getting cards for the first time. MARTA officials said they were working to get everyone their new cards.
The agency said some were returned with wrong addresses or a customer’s eligibility for reduced fares had lapsed and had to be renewed.
By Monday afternoon, customer service agents were helping those in line access restrooms, as well as going with them to Lindbergh Station to load the cards, if needed.
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