Free MARTA rides end Friday, fare gates will close for new Breeze cards

ATLANTA — MARTA will start requiring fare payments again on Saturday as they complete the transition to its new Better Breeze system.

The new fare gates and emergency exit doors, which had previously been left open, will be fully activated and close.

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MARTA Interim General Manager and CEO Jonathan Hunt said the installation wasn’t as far along as they hoped. So that is why they extended the grace period through May 29.

“With the installation of more ticket vending machines systemwide, we feel we’ve made significant enough progress to close these open gates and doors and begin requiring fare,” Hunt said in a statement.

MARTA says the old fare gates or nearby emergency doors will remain open at rail stations where the new Breeze system is still under construction.

The rollout for the new MARTA Breeze system caused headaches earlier this month for riders.

Channel 2’s Tom Jones spoke with senior and disabled riders who waited for hours outside MARTA headquarters to get their cards.

“It’s ridiculous, it’s just ridiculous how we gotta stand out here like this,” Debra Jenkins said.

MARTA later apologized for the experience riders went through.