Some MARTA riders express frustration with distribution of reduced-fare cards for new Better Breeze system

ATLANTA — MARTA offices saw a surge of riders on Friday looking to obtain reduced-fare cards, the kind used by seniors, those with mobility needs and other requisite circumstances, ahead of the push to launch the new Better Breeze orange tap cards this weekend.

Several people in the long line expressed their frustration with a card distribution effort that MARTA had said it would take care of for reduced-fare riders. MARTA official Nevin Grinnell explained to 11Alive’s Grace King that riders may have missed cards in their mail but that they had been working to “make sure that, as we were printing cards, that we didn’t mail them out too late.”

Grinnell acknowledged “the line is long right now, but for a lot of our customers, the cards are there waiting on them.”

One rider, Carl Goodman, told 11Alive he’d been in line since just before 9 a.m. and was leaving around noon — more than a three-hour wait.

“I think they told me that they had to mail out the new cards. But for whatever reason, a lot of them came back,” Goodman said. “They came back from the post office. It was pretty easy for them to find mine.”

Another reduced-fare rider, Cobie Berry, said she was used both senior and mobility needs fares. She had been standing in line for about an hour when she spoke to 11Alive.

“You know, I have health problems, so I’m in need of these programs,” the 65-year-old said.

A third senior who spoke to 11Alive but did not want to give her name said she felt like the message of the scene was “you don’t value your seniors.”

“They could have done this months ago,” the rider said. “And then when you’re dealing with seniors, you know, that takes time, because seniors are not tech savvy. They’re not internet savvy. So you have to have people hired to handle each case individually.

“It is ridiculous to have these seniors sitting out there. They own canes. Some of them need to eat. They need to take the meds… and they have to sit out here for two and three hours. It’s unacceptable. MARTA should do better.”