MARTA officials

announced this week that many of the bus routes the authority wanted to

eliminate would stay in service.

While South

Fulton generally escaped the transportation agency's plan of cuts, one

route's elimination is causing consternation for Patrick Stafford, executive

director of the Fulton Industrial Business Association.

MARTA decided

to eliminate the number 173 bus route, which is a spur of the 73 route

and helps deliver workers to the industrial Fulton Business Industrial

corridor from South Fulton County.

"It just

doesn't make any sense to me when you've got 30,000 potential customers

for this route," Stafford said.

The 73 route

delivers workers to Fulton Industrial from a MARTA train station on the

west route and is one of the company's most highly used routes, Stafford

said.

The 173 helped

funnel workers from South Fulton cities to Fulton Industrial, he added.

"When

this goes into effect in March, it's going to be much more difficult for

a worker who lives in Union City to get to his job at Fulton Industrial,"

Stafford said.

Stafford's

main complaint with the process is that residents in South Fulton were

never given the chance to tell MARTA officials their preferences in services.

"There

was a meeting scheduled, but it was cancelled because of the snow. MARTA

never rescheduled it," he said.

The business

leader is a big backer of the transportation system and hopes that he

can find alternatives to help workers get to their jobs after the March

cutback in service.

"We're

working with legislators to try and find some sort of alternative funding

for the system," he said.

Stafford also

is exploring the option of running four commuter vans to Fulton Industrial

from outlying counties, such as Fayette and Douglas.

"If we

can prove to MARTA that the need is there, maybe they'll get the message,"

he said.