MARTA accidents and injury claims, explained.

ON THE BUS, THE TRAIN OR THE STREET

Where were you when MARTA was involved?

A MARTA injury claim is a claim against the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority, the public agency that runs buses, trains, the Atlanta Streetcar and Mobility vans in Fulton, DeKalb and Clayton counties. The first question is where you were: riding, waiting in a station, or in another car or on foot.

Maybe the bus braked hard and you went down in the aisle. Maybe a train door closed on your arm, or the escalator at your station jerked to a stop. Maybe you were driving through Midtown when a bus pulled out in front of you. Whatever happened, you’re hurting, and the calls have probably started. Where you were changes what MARTA owed you, so that’s where we start.

Don’t sign anything from MARTA or an insurance company, whether it’s a statement, a release or a check, before you’ve talked with an attorney.

Where you were	What MARTA owed you	What to write down now
Riding a MARTA bus, train or streetcar	The highest level of care Georgia law asks of anyone who carries passengers	The route or line, the bus or car number if you saw it, the time, the direction, and where you were sitting or standing
In a station, on a platform, escalator or elevator	Georgia courts have applied that same high standard to injuries on MARTA escalators	The station, the entrance you used, and what went wrong, like a wet floor, a sudden stop or a broken step
Riding a Mobility van	Mobility riders are passengers too, so the same high standard generally applies	Your pickup and drop-off addresses, the trip time and the driver’s name if you have it
Driving, walking or biking when a MARTA vehicle hit you	The ordinary care any driver owes everyone else on the road	The bus number on the back or side, the route sign, the street and nearest cross street, and any witnesses

Why does that difference matter? Georgia law says a carrier of passengers must use extraordinary diligence, under O.C.G.A. § 46-9-132. In plain words, that’s extreme care, the kind a very careful person would take. It doesn’t make MARTA responsible for every injury on board. It does mean a rider’s claim starts from a higher bar than a crash between two cars.

Who are you actually dealing with?

MARTA is a public authority the Georgia General Assembly created in 1965. It isn’t a city department and it isn’t a state agency. Its founding law says MARTA doesn’t get the usual government shield against injury claims. Instead, it answers for them much like a private company would.

That same law requires MARTA to carry insurance or set money aside to pay claims. So the person calling about your injury may work for MARTA itself rather than an outside insurance company. Treat that call like any adjuster’s call. Be polite, and don’t give a recorded statement before you talk to a lawyer.

MARTA has also owned and run the Atlanta Streetcar downtown since July 2018, when it took the line over from the City of Atlanta. And not every bus in the metro is a MARTA bus. Neighboring counties and regional commuter services run buses of their own, under their own rules. Check the name on the side of the bus or on your fare receipt, and tell us which one it was.

How long do you have to act on a MARTA claim?

There isn’t a number we can responsibly print here. Claims against public bodies in Georgia usually need a written notice before any lawsuit, and MARTA doesn’t fit neatly into the city, county or state rules. Guides online disagree about which deadline applies to MARTA. Treat your time as short and call us this week.

Some of those guides treat MARTA like a state agency and give it the longer clock Georgia uses for claims against the state. That’s the risky assumption. The state’s claim law is written for state agencies, and Georgia courts have described MARTA as a local authority instead. If you wait on the longer clock and it turns out not to apply, the claim can be lost for good.

The deadline to file a lawsuit, as opposed to the notice, is a separate question with its own rules. We’d rather give you the answer for your case than guess on a web page. To see how the ordinary clocks work, read how Fulton’s city, county and state deadlines compare. MARTA sits apart from all three.

Hurt on MARTA or by a MARTA vehicle in the last few weeks? Call us today at 404-609-1075. We’ll look at which notice rules apply to you and what needs to go out, and when.

Who has the police report after a MARTA accident?

MARTA has its own police department, and its officers have the same training and powers as any Georgia police agency. When MARTA Police write the report, you can ask for a copy from MARTA Police Records or through MARTA’s Legal Department, usually a few business days after the incident, at no cost.

If a MARTA bus hit your car out on a city street, a different agency may have worked the crash, such as Atlanta Police or a county department. Ask the officer, or check the card you were handed at the scene. Our guide to which agency wrote your report walks through each one.

Video matters too. MARTA’s police chief said this year that the system has more than 12,000 cameras on its trains, buses and stations, watched from a real-time crime center. That footage can show exactly what happened, but no system keeps recordings forever. The sooner someone asks MARTA in writing to keep it, the better.

What does this mean for your claim?

Kenneth S. Nugent, P.C. has helped injured Georgians since 1980, and a MARTA claim is one place where early help can change the outcome. If a bus hit your car, our attorneys for car and bus crashes handle it like any serious wreck, with the extra notice step on top. A hard fall in a bus aisle or on a station escalator can cause a head injury that doesn’t show itself right away, and our brain injury lawyers know what to look for in the records. If your family lost someone, our help for families after a fatal crash starts with a free talk. You pay nothing up front, and zero fee unless we win.

Where it happened still decides which court hears your case. Start with the page that fits:

• Downtown, Midtown, Buckhead or anywhere else in Fulton: Fulton courts and claim clocks
• Decatur, Kensington or Indian Creek on the east side: the DeKalb court and notice guide
• The airport station or a bus route in Clayton: Clayton and airport claim rules
• Taken to a trauma center after the crash? See where ambulances take crash patients.

What should you do this week?

1. Get medical care for your injuries, and keep every discharge paper and bill.
2. Write down the route, the bus or train car number, the station, the time and the direction while you still remember them.
3. Take photos of the spot, like the step, the doors, the floor or the intersection, and of your injuries.
4. Don’t give MARTA or any insurance company a recorded statement, and don’t sign a release.
5. Call 404-609-1075 and talk to our Atlanta lawyers. Tell us where you were and what happened, and we’ll sort out the notice rules.

What do the MARTA claim terms mean?

• Transit authority. A public body created by law to run buses and trains. MARTA is one.
• Common carrier. A business or agency that carries paying passengers. Georgia courts treat MARTA as one.
• Extraordinary diligence. The extreme care Georgia law asks a carrier to use for its passengers.
• Ante litem notice. A written notice some public bodies must get before you can sue them. The Latin means “before the lawsuit.”
• Mobility. MARTA’s curb-to-curb van service for riders with disabilities who qualify.