Atlanta Transit Expansion Comes Closer as Region Prepares for Tax Referendum (Macon: loan, taxi driver)

[ATL Urbanist]

Not trying to dampen the flow of the regional-train discussion, but speaking of transit expansion in Atlanta -- a couple of recent news articles have stats that show how bad the metro's transit access is and also how bad our gas guzzling habits are. It made me think about how stats like these could serve as a good argument for expanding transit throughout the metro when it comes time to make final votes on project funding.


A new Brookings study, "Missed Opportunity: Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America" shows metro Atlanta to have transit accessibility that is far below the national average for US metros. An interesting statistic from the study:

38 percent of working age metro Atlantans are near a transit stop — the national average is 69 percent.

Brookings: Atlanta among worst for public transit

Obviously, this is a statistic most of us could have guessed about the Atlanta metro. And city-ranking articles online are a dime a dozen these days and don't normally warrant a second look. But it does come, interestingly, on the heels of another news report from Forbes that Atlanta ranks as the No. 3 gas guzzling city in America, with drivers burning 35 gallons of gas a year sitting in traffic jams.

Atlanta the No. 3 gas guzzler

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by ATL Urbanist

Not trying to dampen the flow of the regional-train discussion, but speaking of transit expansion in Atlanta -- a couple of recent news articles have stats that show how bad the metro's transit access is and also how bad our gas guzzling habits are. It made me think about how stats like these could serve as a good argument for expanding transit throughout the metro when it comes time to make final votes on project funding.


A new Brookings study, "Missed Opportunity: Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America" shows metro Atlanta to have transit accessibility that is far below the national average for US metros. An interesting statistic from the study:

Brookings: Atlanta among worst for public transit

Obviously, this is a statistic most of us could have guessed about the Atlanta metro. And city-ranking articles online are a dime a dozen these days and don't normally warrant a second look. But it does come, interestingly, on the heels of another news report from Forbes that Atlanta ranks as the No. 3 gas guzzling city in America, with drivers burning 35 gallons of gas a year sitting in traffic jams.

Atlanta the No. 3 gas guzzler

That's interesting. Thanks for the post. I quickly looked but did not see what it means to be "near" a transit stop. Any idea how far "near" is?

[arjay57]

Very interesting! Thanks for this link.

We're getting crushed by transit oriented cities like Las Vegas (86%), Los Angeles (94%), El Paso (94%) and Miami (89%). Atlanta fares much better if you look at the areas served by MARTA but beyond that we're in bad shape.

The Brookings report also includes an interactive map that lets you drill down by income, service frequency, etc.


Brookings - Quality. Independence. Impact.

[ATL Urbanist]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

That's interesting. Thanks for the post. I quickly looked but did not see what it means to be "near" a transit stop. Any idea how far "near" is?

Good question. I looked it over again and I think 'near' means that one's job is accessible via public transit within a 90 minute time frame from your home. I could be wrong.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by ATL Urbanist

Not trying to dampen the flow of the regional-train discussion, but speaking of transit expansion in Atlanta -- a couple of recent news articles have stats that show how bad the metro's transit access is and also how bad our gas guzzling habits are. It made me think about how stats like these could serve as a good argument for expanding transit throughout the metro when it comes time to make final votes on project funding.


A new Brookings study, "Missed Opportunity: Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America" shows metro Atlanta to have transit accessibility that is far below the national average for US metros. An interesting statistic from the study:

Brookings: Atlanta among worst for public transit

Obviously, this is a statistic most of us could have guessed about the Atlanta metro. And city-ranking articles online are a dime a dozen these days and don't normally warrant a second look. But it does come, interestingly, on the heels of another news report from Forbes that Atlanta ranks as the No. 3 gas guzzling city in America, with drivers burning 35 gallons of gas a year sitting in traffic jams.

Atlanta the No. 3 gas guzzler

Not surprising. But our love affair with cars may come to a sudden halt when gas starts to climb above $5 a gallon. The question is whether people--not just the politicians, but the people--will realize that this day is coming, that there is nothing we can do to stop it. And on top of that, our metro population is expected to keep growing, meaning the demand for transportation will only continue to grow.

I think that one of the greatest mistakes that big cities make is to just assume that bad traffic is here to stay. It costs TONS of money to fix that, but that can very easily be made up in terms of increased economic revenue, decreased fuel consumption costs, and direct and indirect medical costs, to name a few. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," the naysayers say. I got news for them: Our traffic system IS broke. We NEED transit options. Pouring asphalt everywhere is simply not going to make this work.

Originally Posted by ATL Urbanist

Good question. I looked it over again and I think 'near' means that one's job is accessible via public transit within a 90 minute time frame from your home. I could be wrong.

Considering some of the cities on the list, it might include buses.

[K-SawDude]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Not surprising. But our love affair with cars may come to a sudden halt when gas starts to climb above $5 a gallon. The question is whether people--not just the politicians, but the people--will realize that this day is coming, that there is nothing we can do to stop it. And on top of that, our metro population is expected to keep growing, meaning the demand for transportation will only continue to grow.

Part of it is also going to depend on Atlanta and Georgia voters getting real about taxes. When you've had ATL metro politicans and radio hosts (like Neal Boortz) who've been hammering home the idea that all taxes = evil over the past few decades, it's hard for people to adjust their thinking.

Sometimes it *does* make sense to use the government to initiate certain projects--or to at least partner with private enterprise--and transit is one of them. But you need revenues to support such efforts, and that means increased tax rates and/or increased revenues from growth.

To me it's telling that even conservative outfits like the Chamber of Commerce are now saying, "We need better transit, or we can't attract businesses here." We just need local politicians and leaders to get a clue and stop demagoguing to the public about the evils of government.

[LynnHarris]

Midtown-to-Cobb Transit Line At Risk if Voters Reject Tax


http://midtown.patch.com/articles/midtown-to-cobb-transit-line-at-risk-if-voters-reject-tax

[LynnHarris]

I guess the Mayor was making his rounds today trying to gain support for more transit...

Buckhead Projects At Risk If Regional Voters Reject Transit Tax


http://buckhead.patch.com/articles/buckhead-projects-at-risk-if-regional-voters-reject-transit-tax

[tonygeorgia]

http://www.atlantaregionalroundtable.com/docs/Staff_Developed_List_7-7-2011.pdf (broken link)

[tonygeorgia]

Final List….What do u think?

Mass transit

Clifton Corridor MARTA route to Emory University, $700 million

Atlanta Beltline, likely streetcars, $658 million

Atlanta to Cumberland (Cobb County) northwest corridor, possibly light rail, $879 million

MARTA state of good repair funding (various upgrades), $600 million

Restore Clayton County local bus service, $100 million

Preliminary work on a possible light-rail line from Doraville into Gwinnett County, $100 million

Georgia Regional Transportation Authority Xpress bus service, $180 million

Eastern MARTA extension in I-20 corridor, $250 million

Gwinnett express bus service, $40 million

MARTA heavy rail extension north to Ga. 140, $37 million