For the next few weeks, all of MARTA's faregates will be open. But that doesn't mean free rides.
MARTA officials say faregates will stay open until May 2 to help customers get acquainted with the upgraded better Breeze fare payment system. The open gates ensure nobody is denied access because of transition hiccups as new faregates and ticket vending machines are installed across the system.
Riders can buy new fares from new ticket vending machines (where available), Ride Stores, or breezecard.com. Alternatively, riders can use a bank card or mobile wallet to pay at new faregates and bus validators where they're active.
The critical detail: old fare products are no longer being sold, cannot be loaded, and do not work on the new system. All customers must switch to a new orange Breeze card or use open payment (contactless bank card or phone) by May 2.
The transition marks MARTA's biggest technology upgrade in years, moving from the aging Breeze card system to a modern tap-to-pay platform that accepts contactless credit cards, debit cards, and mobile wallets alongside the new Breeze cards.
