Gerald McDowell, Executive Director, ATL Airport
In an interview with Focus, Gerald McDowell, executive director of ATL Airport Community Improvement Districts, discussed groundbreaking mobility innovations transforming Atlanta’s transportation landscape. “Innovation is the key. We’ve been exploring new mobility solutions for seven years,” he said, highlighting two major projects: on-demand micromobility and Personal Rapid Transit (PRT).
What have been the most impactful milestones and key accomplishments for the organization over the past 12 to 18 months?
We have had two significant milestones, and both have to do with mobility. Innovation is the key. We have been exploring new mobility solutions for the past seven years. This year, we will be launching both of those services. These are huge milestones we’ve reached in the last eight to 12 months.
The Atlanta Region Transit Link Authority oversees transportation systems in Metro Atlanta, covering about 3 million people. They awarded us a $2.6 million grant to demonstrate micro mobility as a service. We selected a partner through an RFP process. We will be under contract with that partner by the end of this month, launching the micro mobility service by the end of summer. It will be a two-year service in a 15-square-mile area around the airport. It is an on-demand public transportation service. Users can download an app to request a ride, similar to Uber, but with public transportation vehicles picking up and dropping off within the service area. The service will be free during the demonstration, running from the end of summer 2025 until the end of summer 2027. My organization is responsible for 30% of the $2.6 million, a $2 million project with a 30% match, with the other 70% from the grant.
The second project is personal rapid transit (PRT). These are pod cars operating on a dedicated guideway, not in traffic, like a metro train but carrying two to four people. Users download an app to request a ride at a station, indicating their destination. The system deploys a pod car to the user’s station, traveling nonstop to the requested station. This public transportation solution is an $18 million project. We received $10 million from MARTA, with our partner providing $8 million. Construction starts in the fourth quarter of 2025, with operations beginning in the fourth quarter of 2026, running as a free demonstration until 2028. The PRT company, based in San Francisco, was selected through an RFP process.
Since the pandemic, public transportation ridership has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels. People are not choosing public transportation. During the pandemic, many discovered rideshare, which picks you up and takes you to your destination, almost nonstop. With technology and advancements in autonomous vehicles, it is possible to operate a public transportation system similar to Uber and micromobility. Traditional solutions like metro trains and buses do not provide the flexibility or on-demand component. The on-demand component allows you to travel on your schedule. With public transportation, you must follow the system’s schedule, identify the stop, and know the time to catch the ride. Missing a stop means waiting 20 to 40 minutes for the next ride. With micromobility and PRT, you schedule a ride using an app, and the system picks you up and takes you to your destination based on your schedule. This flexibility, allowing use based on your schedule and desired locations, is the future of public transportation. Over the next two years, we will investigate this with micromobility. No city in the world is using PRT as a public transportation system as proposed in Atlanta, making Atlanta potentially the first to implement PRT as a public transportation solution.
What trends or changes have you seen in the commercial property landscape around the international airport over the past 12 to 18 months?
In the Atlanta airport area, we are experiencing an increase in truck traffic due to the number of warehouses, like Amazon and FedEx. Demand for delivery has significantly increased over the last year, benefiting business owners and operators. The Atlanta airport remains the world’s busiest, exceeding 100 million passengers last year and on track to be the first airport with over 100 million passengers for consecutive years in 2025 and beyond. Our location near the airport positions us uniquely, as we observe changing consumer behaviour, shifting from physical shopping and dining to increased reliance on delivery, leading to heightened activity in freight, logistics, and warehouses around the airport.
Has the economic climate impacted development or investment activity in the airport area?
Increased consumer demand for delivery has highlighted public transportation as the main obstacle to additional investment and development around the Atlanta airport. Employers, including warehouse companies with over 100 or 200 job openings, report that many workers rely on public transportation, which is a challenge in the greater airport area. Public transportation services go offline for maintenance, creating gaps for workers who rely on it, as services may not be available when they start or end shifts. In the airport area, jobs operate 24/7, unlike the 9-to-5 schedules in most of the metro area, but public transportation is not available 24/7. This drives our exploration of innovative mobility solutions like micromobility and PRT, where on-demand operation and 24/7 availability are critical. Deploying a public transportation solution that supports the airport area could lead to an explosion in economic development around the Atlanta airport.
How are partnerships with municipalities, developers, or civic groups helping drive your projects and long-term vision?
The Atlanta Region Transit Link Authority and MARTA are regional organizations we work closely with, along with the Georgia Department of Transportation. Achieving these projects requires partnership. We signed an agreement with MARTA, Fulton County, Clayton County, and the city of College Park, located next to the Atlanta airport, where the PRT solution will be demonstrated at their convention center. For the PRT project, we also signed an agreement with two CIDs, MARTA, Fulton County, Clayton County, and the city of College Park. For microtransit, we work with six cities around the Atlanta airport: Atlanta, College Park, Hapeville, East Point, South Fulton, and Forest Park, plus two counties, totaling eight jurisdictions. We also collaborate with agencies like MARTA, the ATL, GDOT, and the Atlanta Regional Commission. These partnerships with municipalities and jurisdictions are necessary for our work’s success.
