Do you love Atlanta? Want to help make MARTA better? MARTA is embarking on a new strategic technology initiative that invites the Atlanta tech community to help create the next great thing in Atlanta transit. Over the course of the next year, MARTA is partnering with Sandbox ATL, Code for Atlanta, HackGT, and other community groups through a series of three 24-hour hackathons, semi-monthly work group sessions, and continual online interaction. It begins with the first MARTA Hackathon on Oct 28-29 at The Garage under Tech Square, the home of Sandbox ATL.

Each of the three hackathons will offer the community the chance to create solutions for specific MARTA technology challenges using a combination of emerging technologies and open data sets. After each hackathon, teams and newcomers will have the opportunity to develop their ideas further through a series of semi-monthly in-person work sessions and get plugged into the burgeoning civic tech community led by Code for Atlanta. HackGT is helping to promote and assemble the city's world class college talent to be part of this endeavor as well.

In parallel to these efforts, MARTA and its media partners - including Hypepotamus - will share lessons learned and achievements unlocked in an open, transparent way that helps to grow the number of people engaged in this initiative, attract new  funding and technology partners, and ultimately create a world-class transit system experience for all Atlantans and visitors. Media and partner inquiries can be directed to MARTAHackathon@sandboxatl.com.

Learn more at martahackathon.org.