MARTA, the regional transit service in Atlanta, Georgia, would not be anyone’s initial idea of a solvent government agency. Operating without state funding, it runs four rail lines and numerous buses across a sprawling, automobile-oriented region, carrying with it a reputation for tardiness and mismanagement. Just several years ago, it was running $25-30 million annual deficits but has turned around its finances under new leadership, and is expected to produce future surpluses. How? The new-found money will come partly because of changes like digitizing some services and lessening the use of outside consultants. But the real money will come from applying an esoteric practice onto its transit stations: selling air rights…[read the rest here]