AJC poll show majority of Metro Atlanta residents willing to pay a transportation tax (Marietta: sales tax, cost)

[tikigod311]

The AJC recently put out a comprehensive poll asking citizens of the metro to give their thoughts on transportation solutions in Atlanta. There are some interesting points in the article.

The poll contradicts some long-held assumptions - for instance, that suburbanites oppose rail while intowners loathe road spending.
Sixty-eight percent of Cobb and Gwinnett respondents supported “strongly or somewhat” expanding train service beyond Fulton and DeKalb; 39 percent supported it strongly. Only 22 percent in Cobb and Gwinnett opposed it strongly.

This doesn't really surprise me. I think many folks here on the board assume that suburbanites are flatly against any public transport. I have always believed that is not true. They are just looking for a practical, productive, and efficient solution. I have stated many times that the T-SPLOST failed because it did not represent a solution, it was a wishlist of projects from local governments. There was no cohesive solution.

** There is no clear preference for what level of government should be in charge; city, state and regional government scored within a few points of each other, each garnering more than 40 percent support. By a thin edge people preferred small groups of counties voluntarily working together. They’re not so hot on individual counties being in charge, and they want federal involvement least of all.

Personally, I think the most effective and most popular solution to this would be a VOLUNTARY regional coalition. It is foolish to try to bring along counties that we all know will fight any sort of transit solution. Another option could be to have the regional coalition, but have two layers. One overall layer that provides solutions to existing infrastructure, another that deals with regional transit. Point is, either separate transit from roads or don't include certain counties. I believe it would be most popular if the state was left out as much as possible

Other stats:

* More than two-thirds would pay a new fee or tax of some kind to help reduce traffic congestion in the region overall, if a program is well designed. More than two-thirds would do so to improve their own streets.** Nearly two-thirds, 64 percent, would pay a new fee or tax to create well designed public transit options that would benefit the region.
** Sixty-eight percent believe limited transit options are a problem, and more 76 percent believe traffic congestion is a “major” problem.

There is plenty of good info in the article, check it out here : Poll: Trust the big roadblock to regional solutions | www.ajc.com

[RoslynHolcomb]

Much as it pains me to say this, but this issue is dead for the forseeable future. The political realities just cannot be overcome. The mayor and governor have moved on. Unlike serial killers, politicians rarely return to a corpse.

[onemanarmy]

Originally Posted by RoslynHolcomb

Much as it pains me to say this, but this issue is dead for the forseeable future. The political realities just cannot be overcome. The mayor and governor have moved on. Unlike serial killers, politicians rarely return to a corpse.

Yep, too much political capital was used to get the TSPLOST on the voting table, it want be coming back anytime soon. We had our shot and we blew it, looking for a perfect solution...

[Adric]

I have to say that while the TSPLOST list wasn't perfect, it was our only shot at doing something like this for a good while. I would have liked to see a more focused approach on the list such as a single northern arc limited access freeway from northern marietta/I-575 all the way over to Lawrenceville as well as heavy rail and BRT expansion into the suburbs (commuter rail maybe?). Instead we got a bunch of little things here and there that would have helped but only a select group that travels those areas.

If we were to put in place a 2nd northern bypass arc, I would like to also see the Georgia regional commission put in place certain growth boundaries to prevent the additional northern sprawl it would encourage.

However as it's already been stated, a transportation tax is off the table for the foreseeable future.

[cqholt]

If we were to put in place a 2nd northern bypass arc, I would like to also see the Georgia regional commission put in place certain growth boundaries to prevent the additional northern sprawl it would encourage.

Growth boundaries are communism!
The least cost and most efficient use of money is to implement a metro wide Commuter Rail system using current rail and expanding capacity. Build simple stations at first and expand as needed. MARTA needs to be extended to the first inner-ring suburbs, eg: Marietta, Norcross, Lawrenceville, Lithonia, Forest Park; and up 400, since no rail exist up that corridor.

[tikigod311]

I agree its off the table for awhile, but polls like this help. Sure we may not due an all inclusive regional tax. But this poll shows that planners or politicians that the concept is not total political suicide.


I do wonder about the success of a comprehensive regional system. Something simple enough to put on one map with nice color coded connected lines. Maybe this map has a plan for the entire metro, but is compartmentalized by county. Not every county has to sign up initially. Let a few of the big counties implement the systems on the map. Come up with times where a county can opt in, kind of like enrollment periods. The idea being that there is a vision for the entire metro, but it is up to the counties when or if they want to join. I think that is the only way this will ever work, from a transit perspective.

[cqholt]

How do we pay for it? The liquor/cigarette tax idea is a joke.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by cqholt

How do we pay for it? The liquor/cigarette tax idea is a joke.

Sales tax per county. I think that is the hardest part. From what I have gathered, the state makes it fairly hard to implement a multi county tax.

[MathmanMathman]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

Sales tax per county. I think that is the hardest part. From what I have gathered, the state makes it fairly hard to implement a multi county tax.

I thought we voted on just that and it was shot down.

[cqholt]

Raise the gas tax, have a portion collected from the whole state go into an account for metro Atlanta transit. Atlanta is the economic engine of the state, what's good for Atlanta is good for Georgia.