MARTA launches commemorative MLK bus wrap on Route 3 linking key civil rights landmarks

A rolling tribute tied to Atlanta’s historic corridor

The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) marked the 2026 Martin Luther King Jr. holiday by introducing a commemorative bus wrap honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. The public unveiling took place on Monday, January 19, 2026, aligning the launch with the federally observed holiday.

The bus will operate in regular service on MARTA Route 3, traveling along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and connecting several locations closely associated with Atlanta’s civil rights history. The route runs from the King Center area through Sweet Auburn and the Atlanta University Center and continues to H.E. Holmes Station on the city’s west side.

Where the wrapped bus will run

• Route: MARTA Route 3

• Primary corridor: MLK Drive

• Key connected areas: the King Center vicinity, Sweet Auburn, the Atlanta University Center, and H.E. Holmes Station

Theme and messaging for the 2026 observance

MARTA’s 2026 King Holiday observance is organized around the theme “Mission Possible II: Building Community, Uniting a Nation the Nonviolent Way.” MARTA tied the commemorative design to the role public transportation has played in expanding access to jobs, education, healthcare, and civic participation—issues that have remained central to civil rights debates across decades.

The wrapped bus is intended to highlight transit’s role as a connector of communities and opportunity, and to link daily service to the city’s history of nonviolent social change.

A restored 1955 bus displayed near the King Birth Home

Alongside the wrapped bus launch, MARTA also displayed a restored 1955 bus across from Dr. King’s Birth Home on January 19, 2026. The agency positioned the historic vehicle as a reminder of the era in which transit policies and everyday bus travel became focal points of national civil rights activism, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott associated with Rosa Parks’ 1955 arrest.

Long-running collaboration with The King Center

MARTA’s holiday program was carried out in partnership with The King Center, continuing a collaboration that spans more than a decade. The joint effort centers on public-facing programming that connects the region’s transit system with the King legacy and with community engagement during the annual holiday observance.

What riders can expect

The wrapped bus is scheduled to appear in normal passenger service on Route 3, meaning riders may encounter it during routine trips rather than through a special, limited-access display. MARTA’s approach places the commemoration into day-to-day operations on one of Atlanta’s most symbolically significant transit corridors.