Via @alexip718

The AJC is collecting dream Atlanta transit maps from readers for future coverage:

https://bsky.app/profile/saraegregory.bsky.social/post/3m4fyzky4g22o

#Atlanta #Transit #MARTA #TheATL #AJC

Sara Gregory (@saraegregory.bsky.social)

Very excited to see what you all come up with for this: As we look at the future of MARTA, @ajc.com wants to see your MARTA dream map. Take this image, draw the rail or BRT lines you’d like to see and then send it back to us. We plan on featuring maps in future coverage: https://www.ajc.com/news/2025/10/where-should-marta-go-draw-your-dream-transit-map-and-share-it/

Bluesky Social

Highlights from the ATL board meeting today:
- 2 autonomous transport presentations (one on wheels for Cumberland CID, one suspended like trains in Wuppertal, Germany).
- Xpress ridership exceeds forecast by 40% since service redesign took effect, more trips added to official schedule on Sept. 15.
- Regional planning process in place, first annual report in October.

#Atlanta #Transit #XpressGA #TheATL #CumberlandCID #AutonomousVehicles

The ATL previewing details (new offerings, costs including county payments and partnerships) of the new Xpress service.

#Atlanta #Transit #TheATL #Xpress

Via @alexip718:

The ATL just awarded $1.75 million today for autonomous shuttles between the West End neighborhood and the Lee+White retail plaza on the Beltline trail.

#Atlanta #Transit #AutonomousVehicles #MARTA #TheATL #BeltLine

Fresh from the ATL board meeting earlier: ATL Xpress commuter routes will be shaken up in the Summer, with county-branded express service (CobbLinc express and RideGwinnett express) merged into it.

#Atlanta #Transit #CobbLinc #RideGwinnett #TheATL #XpressGA

Hi #theATL.social! 👋

Post-election, I've been catching up on theATL.social-related projects.

I have some exciting news! A reboot of theATL.social's #BlueSky server has been completed with lots of changes, the biggest one being:

🚀 User handles are now directly off of theATL.social. So, for example, my handle is https://michael.theatl.social (feel free to check that out!)

All financial contributors at the $5/month or higher level or higher can receive a handle on theATL.social's BlueSky personal data server. Financial contributors at the $10/month or higher may also signup for email forwarding.

Self-signup will be available soon via https://members.theatl.social, but if you'd like an account sooner, let me know and I can send over an invite.

🤔 So, why do this now?

Xitter is becoming becoming thoroughly 💀 , and there seems to be an actual migration over to BlueSky. Although Mastodon is still here, the reality is that there is a growing community on BlueSky.

With these changes, theATL.social's members can now expand their presence into other platforms while keeping their online identity consistent across platforms!

ℹ️ I will be updating the join.theatl.social page soon with all the benefits and features of becoming a member of theATL.social.

Michael (@michael.theatl.social)

Bluesky Social

Hey #theATL.social fam 👋

For many of us, this morning is rough af.

I've been around Dem politics for most my adult life. You win some, and you lose some - in this case, it was a very brutal loss. 😔

My adrenalin was so high last night that I forgot to eat dinner, my Apple Watch thought I was having a heart attack, and I barely slept. Lots of tough and sad text messages shared with colleagues.

The reasons for the election results will be discussed and debated - and rightfully so. But, for now, what's next?

First, getting my mental and physical health back to a better state. It's been a non-stop sprint for a few weeks (months?), and I'm not young enough to keep up with that.

Second, ensuring this (theATL.social / Mastodon) remains an online forum not infected by the tentacles of oligarchs like Meta and wtf Xitter is now.

Third, after some R&R, once again working in common cause with those building winning political coalitions for a better future for this county and its people. This is probably going to be as hard as it's ever been before. 💙

Take care of each other. If you are in the US and feeling in crisis, call ☎️ 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Hi #theATL.social! I know I've been away for a little bit, spending time writing for @GAElectionUpdate (which I hope has been helpful/useful!)

Thank you too to @DecaturNature, who has been diligently welcoming our new members, working on other moderation tasks, and is a core reason for the success of this Mastodon instance.

Post-election [week], I'll be conducting instance maintenance, which includes upgrading the core theATL.social software to v4.3.1 from 4.3.0 (and other maintenance tasks) and other general tasks. And then also continue some of the general pre-election projects that went on standby.

In the meantime, enjoy using the instance during this busy, historic, and unprecedented time!  

#Atlanta
#Georgia

Hello #theATL.social! 👋

Good news! Infrastructure and process prep for Mastodon version 4.3.0 is completed. The theATL.social version of the software will continue to have enhanced rate limits for local users. 🚀

The phanpy and Elk front ends will also be upgraded too. (The #bluesky server is now up-to-date with the latest version).

I anticipate 20-40 minutes of hard downtime. This downtime will allow me to conduct a hard backup of the core database in the event that the upgrade does not go as planned.

I will be starting this upgrade this late afternoon and will have an announcement posted shortly to advise. Feel free to reply or DM with any questions!

And, as we're well into October, I wanted to thank again the financial supports of theATL.social!  

Your financial support makes this all possible.

Hi #theATL.social! Last night's upgrade to 4.2.13 went smoothly - and as of this morning, 4.3.0 was released!

I'm aiming to get the upgrade done with a week or so. There will be a bit of testing on the backend to make sure all is okay before proceeding, in order to reduce the time or likelihood of downtime.

Mastodon.social already has the new version running if you'd like to take a look!