Along with Cobb, Gwinnett voted against joining MARTA in 1971 and thus was left out of the system. In 1987, the Gwinnett County Commission began studying the construction of a privately-run
commuter rail line to ease traffic. However, in 1989, the plan was revised to utilize buses instead. Bus service began on November 5, 2001. The Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District and
MARTA were seeking alternative, such as
light rail to Gwinnett through the
Gwinnett Place area. In 2015, Gwinnett County Transit was investigated for overcharging some patrons of the
GRTA Xpress bus routes who used
Breeze Cards to pay. GRTA acknowledged the issue and advised patrons to purchase multiple Breeze Cards (one for each type of bus or rail fare) to pay transit fares and record transfers between the
GRTA,
CobbLinc, and
MARTA transit systems. In September 2018, MARTA's board of directors and the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners gave conditional approval to an agreement which would see the county to contract with MARTA for the operations of the service. This included county designed and built projects, significantly expanding bus service in the county and clearing the way for a long-sought-after extension of MARTA's
rail system into the county from its current terminus at
Doraville station. However, the county referendum for the contract with MARTA and one-cent sales tax to fund the projects failed on March 19, 2019. In July 2020, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners called for another transit referendum, this time through the House Bill 930/ATL mechanism. Projects would have been designed, built and operated all by Gwinnett County. The referendum failed on the November ballot with a final vote total of 198,514 for yes and 199,527 voting no. In January 2023, Gwinnett County Transit officially changed its name to Ride Gwinnett. In September 2023, Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved a new transit plan which focused heavily on
microtransit zones, simpler local routes, and direct airport rides. This plan notably does not include any rail components or MARTA expansion into the county. On June 4, 2024, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners approved, 4-1, another transit referendum to be placed on the ballot for the November 5, 2024 General Election. It would impose a one percent sales tax for 30 years, funding up to 75 projects from the 2023 transit plan, and would shift all existing operational expenses off of property taxes onto the new sales tax. The referendum failed to pass 47-53%. == Operation ==