MARTA lays out its plans for Clayton Co.

plans for more bus shelters and benches, updates on the site search for a multipurpose operations and bus maintenance facility and discussion of bringing Arterial Rapid Transit to the community.

ART buses operate on highcapacity routes that run every 15 minutes and are given priority at traffic signals.

The news comes as Clayton ridership has fallen close to 50% because of the coronavirus, MARTA officials said. That is in line with ridership woes across metro Atlanta.

The agency said it temporarily suspended three of the county’s nine routes as part of its “essential service plan” that prioritized which buses to operate based on ridership.

“The initial decision to make this ... change to service was not a decision made lightly,” said Frank Rucker, MARTA chief of capital programs, planning & innovation. “The need for drastic action in the face of the pandemic could not be ignored.”

He did not say when the suspended routes would return to service.

Despite the drop-off in ridership, the agency went forward in July with the launch of a transit hub at the Harold R. Banke Justice Center in Clayton that included parking spaces, improved pedestrian walkways and crosswalks and upgraded shelters. The project was the first of two phases, which will include an onsite MARTA Breeze ticketing machine, digital signage and more shelter when completed in 2023, he said.

He also said Clayton can expect new benches and shelters at 30 locations this year, and an additional 30 in 2021. Clayton currently has 635 bus stops and 48 shelters.

MARTA is in the site selection process for the multipurpose operations and bus maintenance facility, Rucker said. The 105,000-squarefoot maintenance facility — for which MARTA received a $13 million U.S. Department of Transportation grant in August — is planned for 30 to 35 acres in north Clayton County and is to open in 2026. The facility will create about 350 jobs and cost about $116 million, MARTA said.

Jeff Turner, chairman of the Clayton County Commission, said he is pleased by MARTA’s progress. He said the site selection process is probably down to one or two places and that the idea of making it easier for Clayton residents to travel intercounty is a winner for residents.

“Anytime we can simplify somebody’s travels, especially in and around Clayton County, is good for our citizens,” he said.