{"323761":{"#nid":"323761","#data":{"type":"external_news","title":"Visual changes could enliven MARTA stations and improve rider experience, argues SCaRP student Marcus Ashdown","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI love using MARTA rail, it gets me to Midtown with relative ease and is very reliable in meeting my schedule demands; however, on the occasion I have to spend more than a few minutes in a station waiting for the next train, those minutes would not be so memorable if I had more to look at that endless amounts of grey concrete,\u201d says Marcus Ashdown as he laments the consistent use of grey in MARTA station construction. He believes that MARTA riders\u2019 comfort levels would be improved if they did not have to wait in a \u201cgrey concrete box.\u201d Ashdown writes about a variety of different simple solutions to aid in the visual appeal of existing stations, including the use of plants. \u201cThe greatest contrast to all this grey would be landscaping. Living (or even fake) greenery brings instant life to even the greyest of places, MARTA stations included.\u201d He also recommends using a different rock, or paint, to brighten riders\u2019 MARTA station views.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"28044","created_gmt":"2014-09-10 15:07:42","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 02:27:17","author":"Jessie Brandon","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","publication":"maritime","field_article_url":"","publication_url":"http:\/\/saportareport.com\/leadership\/transit\/2014\/07\/17\/grey-marta-stations\/","dateline":{"date":"2014-07-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-07-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"1224","name":"School of City \u0026 Regional Planning"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"475","name":"color"},{"id":"102751","name":"grey"},{"id":"102771","name":"improvements"},{"id":"1990","name":"landscaping"},{"id":"1243","name":"MARTA"},{"id":"2985","name":"plants"},{"id":"169013","name":"station design"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}