Atlanta City Council moves forward with comprehensive plan to aid airport's unhoused population

ATLANTA - One of the busiest days at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is New Year’s Day. Thousands of travelers are moving through the world’s busiest airport, but some people are not moving because they have nowhere else to go. 

FOX 5 has been reporting for years about the unhoused and homeless population who have found shelter at Atlanta’s airport for warmth.

After several months of discussion, the Atlanta City Council is expected to move forward with a plan to address the growing problem of people who are seeking refuge at the transportation hub.

At one point, the homeless population was so bad at the airport that 200 to 300 people were spending time there during the overnight hours.

However, now that MARTA is screening many of the people who take the train, lowering those numbers.

After years of studying the problem, city officials are now ready to act, and they are looking to the airport general manager for compassionate direction.

"We just didn't want to arrest people, and take them to jail, and put them in a van, and put them on the streets. We want it to be compassionate about it and find out why someone is homeless," General Manager Balram Bheodari said.

Bheodari told the transportation committee his department has created a task force and thoroughly studied the problem in hopes of addressing more long-term solutions.

"We are looking at some other options, looking at renting rooms for X-number of dollars to handle the population. A place where we could transport them safely and give them secure housing to keep them out of the cold," Bheodari explained.

"Have we reached out to our other partners such as Fulton County and the state of Georgia to seek assistance given the large numbers?" Council member Keisha Waites questioned.

"The gentleman that spoke before us yesterday indicated that in the evenings, some 200 to 300 individuals unsheltered or homeless are spending time in the airport," Waites continued.

The GM made it clear those numbers are now down.

"Most of them are triaged before they get to the airport and that's why the numbers are small now. Before we implemented a triage method with MARTA to identify and find decent accommodations for these individuals, you were right, there were some hundreds there before," the general manager confirmed. 

The legislation is on the full council agenda for Tuesday.

If the measure passes, the GM will have 30 days to submit his plan of action.