Fresh MARTA Market

Target Audience: The Fresh MARTA Market focuses on bringing fresh fruits and produce to areas defined as food deserts by the United States Department of Agriculture. The target audiences are patrons who may be dependent on public transportation and are forced to go out of their way to purchase groceries. In supporting this targeted demographic, MARTA has partnered with the Community Farmers Markets, Georgia Food Oasis-Atlanta, Atlanta Community Food Bank, and Organix Matters to help supplement the cost of the produce by qualifying for Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) two-for-one match, which doubles the amount of fresh produce customers can buy dollar for dollar. These partners provide the produce and manpower needed to make the markets run on a seasonal weekly basis.

Strategy Objective:The Fresh MARTA Markets are a collaboration among MARTA, the Community Farmers Markets, GA Food Oasis-Atlanta, Atlanta Community Food Bank, and Organix Matters. Its objective is to pair fresh, local produce and public transportation, giving commuters the opportunity to shop for fresh produce on their way home and farmers the ability to sell more produce. This initiative has helped enhanced the ridership experience by bringing something that riders need, fresh fruits and produce, and making it easy for them to received. As a public transit system, it's imperative to look at ways to improve the customer experience and to improve the community and the Fresh MARTA Market accomplishes both.

Situation Challenge: Some MARTA rail stations are located within what is defined by the USDA as food deserts. These are areas with low-income and low-access to supermarkets or large grocery stores within a one-mile radius. Over the past two decades, food prices have risen 2.6 percent a year on average. When income is low, high food prices cause people to weigh decisions on how to spend their money. MARTA wanted to find a solution that could bring people into our stations, ease the burden of increased food pricing, and enhance the customer experience. The Fresh MARTA Market does just that! It's an exciting enhancement that brings people into our stations and by accepting EBT/SNAP, which gives riders a two-for-one match doubling the amount of fresh produce per purchase, the market helps reduce the cost of food.

Results Impact: Due to the success of the Fresh MARTA Market, MARTA was able to expand. This year MARTA added an additional station, Bankhead Station, to create a total of five markets throughout the system. Based on market patron surveys, almost three-fourths of the survey respondents reported purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables at least once per week (72.4%). Interest in shopping at new markets was very high ' one-half of the respondents rated their shopping intentions as either definitely or very likely (50.1%). More than three-fourths (78.0%) were at least somewhat likely to visit one of the new markets. This shows that the Fresh MARTA Market is delivering a much needed services and provides an opportunity to enhance the customer experience.

Why Submit: In a city where individuals have several transportation options, from driving to car share services & biking, mass transit must be able to compete. The best way to do so is to make the experience a pleasant one and the Fresh MARTA Market does just that. The market has become a standing example of how to improve the ridership experience for customers by providing fresh fruits and produce within areas that are designated as food deserts and fulfill a need for its customers. By having the market, patrons get to see multiple benefits to riding MARTA, such as a reliable source of transportation, a local hub that can help fulfill basic needs, and a community gathering place where people can feel safe. All of this generates positive impressions and increases ridership.