So would BeltLine rail get people where they want to go quickly and conveniently?

No. Why? It’s a circular line with a few connections to other lines. Instead of quoting models, I’m going to walk through the logic of transit lines. https://twitter.com/danimmergluck/status/1360290266960257026

The BeltLine is what we’d call a two-way circumferential or circular line.

There are very, very few examples of circular lines in the world. The ones that do exist were recently constructed are part of very dense transit networks. E.g. Seoul, London, and Moscow.

Circular lines, by design, don’t connect two points via the shortest route.

If you’re going from the bottom of the loop to the top, it’s faster to just use an existing MARTA heavy rail trip. It’ll be much faster and cover a shorter distance (straight line is shorter than a curve).

Plus the maximum amount of the line used is 50% for any given trip. If you exceed 50%...the same trip will be shorter in the opposite direction.

So the useful length for any person for a given trip is only half the loop. Non-circle lines are useful for their entire length for any given trip. Circle lines are inefficient.

Realistically, most trips on a circular line are going to be those between polar heavy rail stations (in this case, to access points not served by transit along the BL or to access HR network).

Those trips are all going to be 4-6 miles. Think Adair Park to Washington Park. Reynoldstown to Peoplestown.

The LR will run at 10-15 min headways and travel 10-15 mph with lots of stops.

Many people will opt to walk, cycle, or roll since there’s a nice path there to do so.

So what makes a circular line work? Other transit lines! Circular or circumferential lines are great for connecting to other lines that are tangential or radial.

Building a big loop without connections could further concentrate development in the loop and hollow out the core unless there are frequent connections to access points inside the loop (city center) and outside the loop (suburbs via commuter bus and rail).

If you want BeltLine rail to succeed, you need all those other connections: better buses, BRT, Clifton Corridor, and commuter bus/rail.

W/o rest of network, you get a loop that doesn’t go anywhere very quickly. Great for tourists who you want to linger. Not great for residents.

Rapid gentrification + slow, circuitous transit line = bad idea.