Any Atlantan who uses public transportation is familiar with MARTA's Breeze cards. Breeze cards are plastic smart cards that can be loaded with money or fare products, and you tap the cards on readers installed at stations and buses to pay fares. MARTA was one of the early adopters of such cards in the U.S., introducing the Breeze card in 2005, launching it systemwide in October 2006, and discontinuing all other payment methods (except cash on buses) in 2007. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of the systemwide launch of the MARTA Breeze card, this cache is being launched in October 2016.
A decade later, now finally many other transit systems across the U.S. have similar fare payment systems with reloadable plastic smart cards.
This cache starts with a Breeze-related homework puzzle for you. Then, with the homework done you will go to the published coordinates (birthplace of the Breeze card) and get the final piece of the puzzle that will take you to the final container nearby.
Your first task is to identify these Breeze-like cards from across the country. For each card, identify the main city associated with the card. Then add up the values of the letters in the name of that city. That will be your number for the puzzle. Confused? Here is an example. If you saw a picture of a MARTA Breeze card...
- The main city that the card is intended to serve is Atlanta. Note that you can also go to Decatur and College Park and Chamblee and many other cities with a Breeze card. But the main city, the core of the metro area, is Atlanta. So ATLANTA.
- A T L A N T A
- A=1 T=20 L=12 A=1 N=14 T=20 A=1
- 1+20+12+1+14+20+1 = 69
- So the number you would use for a MARTA Breeze card is 69.
Now here are your cards....
Got all the cards and their numbers? Great. Now head to the published coordinates. At the published coordinates you will find a sign with a four digits number. What is that number? It's Z for the formula.
Now that you have all your numbers, it's time for the dreaded math in the field. The formula is constructed such that any small error in any number will put you way off. So if the result is not nearby, redo your numbers or your math.
North 10 x (A x B + D) x (Z + C x J / 16) / E
West (G x P + F + K - L - N - 10) x Z + H x M + F
It should be pretty obvious when you have the final coordinates, but if you want to be extra sure just use GeoChecker.com.
Cache is along a nature trail that is only open from one hour after sunrise to one hour before sunset. Please respect trail opening hours.