

The buses will stop automatically at train stations - but for all other stops you need to pull the cord or push the stop button by the rear door. If possible, top up at a MARTA station (which updates the balance instantly) or online (which may take a day or so to be recognized on all buses).ĭo I just pull a string/press a button to signal the bus to stop (a la my old school bus days)?Įxactly. This is best avoided, though, as it's time-consuming and irritating.
#Breeze card for free#
#Breeze card driver#
The driver will walk you through the process, which I think is as follows: It's best to keep your Breeze card topped up, but if you're short, you can reload it as you enter the bus.

#Breeze card drivers#
In the meantime, students who choose to ride the MARTA buses must attempt to convince their drivers that their card is, in fact, legitimate.I'm assuming I need my breeze card capped up, but what if I'm short? Can I use cash? Because of the reduced cost we receive from MARTA, cards are specially programmed so they will not work with any carrier except MARTA,” Wells said. Even though MARTA includes the regional carriers such as GRTA (Xpress), Cobb County Transit, and Gwinnett County Transit logos on the Breeze cards, the Breeze card will not work for any other carrier. “Students may sometimes mistakenly purchase a MARTA Breeze card when they actually want to ride the Xpress buses. The cards are intended to only work with MARTA trains and buses. Wells said it was important that students make sure they are not trying to ride on the Gwinnett County Transit bus service or any other county-specific service with their Georgia State-issued Breeze cards. If a student has an issue with their pass, please notify your contact at GSU and they will notify MARTA so we can adjust the account or replace the card,” Fisher said. We continue to investigate this issue and will monitor the situation closely to ensure it is resolved. “We value our partnership with and its students and apologize for any inconvenience. MARTA spokesperson Stephany Fisher said MARTA is still looking into the issue and that individuals will also need to contact Georgia State to have the issue resolved. They did not provide a timeline on resolution,” Wells said. “A MARTA representative advised us that they have recently completed a data collection effort regarding the bus issue and will be providing the information to their IT department so they can investigate and hopefully find a solution to this issue. “Once notified of an issue such as this by Campus Services, MARTA will reset the Breeze card balance to eliminate the negative amount and the card will resume working properly.”Ĭurrently, MARTA is working to alleviate this issue for students, but there is no set timeline on when this will be resolved.

When this happens, it interrupts the normal use of the Breeze card and the bus fare gate will no longer admit the rider,” he said. “For whatever reason, when some riders tap their card on the bus fare gate, it causes the card to show a negative balance in the MARTA system. Wells also provided an explanation as to why this may be happening and said that campus services are working to limit the impact this has on students. “MARTA is having some issues with some student Breeze cards who ride on the buses,” he said. This malfunction not only prevented boarding, but also charged extraneous fees to the cards, leaving students with a bill that far exceeded the original cost of riding the buses.ĭirector of Administrative and Customer Services Phil Wells said they’re aware of the problems with the cards. The Signal received a tip from several students that the Georgia State-issued Breeze Card often malfunctions when students attempt to ride MARTA buses. For some students, riding MARTA isn’t much of a breeze as originally thought.
