coUrbanize and MARTA Launch Engagement Platform For $200-Million Transformation of Five Points Station

ATLANTA, Nov. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- coUrbanize, a technology company that specializes in community engagement for development, has partnered with the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) to launch a community engagement platform for the approximately $200-million transformation of Five Points Station, the largest and busiest station in the MARTA system.

A dedicated coUrbanize website, at www.FivePointsTransformation.com, is serving as a focal point for public information and dialogue. The site provides details about the project and enables local stakeholders to comment on proposed plans, offer suggestions, and participate in virtual roundtables. MARTA and its project team, led by architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), will incorporate the feedback into upcoming phases of design.

The project features a redesigned entrance, the relocation of bus bays to improve bus-rail transfers, and the creation of public space for programmed and spontaneous events.

"This is our second project with MARTA," notes Karin Brandt, CEO and founder of coUrbanize.  "Most of the projects we host on our platform center on mixed-use developments that include a housing component.  MARTA is demonstrating that transit projects are equally worthy of community feedback.

"We welcome creative applications of our technology," she continues. "To us, the most important concern is to give local communities a voice in plans that affect their quality of life and the future of their neighborhoods, whether these plans involve housing, mixed-use developments, public appointments, or transit. Projects can only succeed when they address community needs."

coUrbanize gives people a way to share their feedback and have a voice in a development or public planning process without having to go to a meeting - by simply posting a comment online or texting in their ideas -- and having a two-way dialogue with the project team. More than 500 development and real estate teams have used coUrbanize to scale public outreach in a more inclusive way, have more productive conversations with the community, and ultimately build critical support for their projects. For more information, please visit www.courbanize.com.

Established in 1971, MARTA is among the largest transit agencies in the U.S., providing 95 percent of the public transit trips in the metro Atlanta region with 110 fixed bus routes, 38 heavy rail stations, 2.7 miles of light rail, and on-demand paratransit services. MARTA is primarily funded by a 1 percent sales tax in Fulton, DeKalb, and Clayton counties and a 1 1/2 percent sales tax in the City of Atlanta. MARTA's FY 2023 operating and capital budgets total $1.3 billion.

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SOURCE coUrbanize, Inc.