Is extending MARTA to the suburbs really beneficial to Atlanta?

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Minimal subsidies? Surely you're being sarcastic here??? The freight railroads received huge land grands at the beginning, and have done well under the protections of being considered interstate commerce. Then they get support for continued major capital projects like: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Gateway and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartland_Corridor
Plus, the freight railroads don't move people. Moving people is unprofitable! (that cutesy bus service you mention doesn't pay for the stops, or police, and probably skimps on maintenance)

The airlines don't have to pay for their airports, or the FAA directly, yes they're taxed, but it can't come anywhere close to covering 100% of the costs. If airports were truly profitable, wouldn't they be owned by the airlines and not municipalities?
It's not about telling anyone what to do, it's about providing the options. Plus, we are subsidizing the food industry, just take a look at the massive farm bills Congress has passed.

Sure there are subsidies in most every industry, but I would argue that most of those cause more problems than they solve and should be eliminated too. Such as our massive corn subsidies resulting in people eating so many cheap burgers (cheap food for cows) and guzzling cheap sodas (corn syrup in everything). But that is a separate point of discussion and a rabbit hole we should avoid. And, yes I would call subsidies in most other industries minimal as they are a small fraction of the industry's revenues.

Transportation is different because we don't just provide some money to private transit companies or transit vouchers to the poor. The government actually owns the transit companies and covers most of their costs from other tax sources. The government does not run the farms or the factories or even the power companies or gas companies. Roads and transit should not be any different and should be shifted closer to being self funded.

Also - look at the details of all those fees you are paying for on your ticket are covering almost all of the costs of the FAA and rent from the airlines, vendors, and parking fees cover the cost of the airport. In addition, many airports over seas are private and efforts are under way to start doing that here.

[avbanks]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Here you go buddy:
Public hearing to discuss options for MARTA expansion to Alpharetta - Atlanta Public Transportation | Examiner.com

Yes I am aware of that... That is a public discussion headed by MARTA to gauge interested in the 400 plan..

The city council and mayor are still against rail in Alpharetta, they advocate increasing bus service...

[Ant131531]

They need more rail in the Eastside neighborhoods. It would be a catalyst to high density development in those areas.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by avbanks

Yes I am aware of that... That is a public discussion headed by MARTA to gauge interested in the 400 plan..

The city council and mayor are still against rail in Alpharetta, they advocate increasing bus service...

Show me proof where Alpharetta city council and mayor are against extending the red line? If anything more people, especially the demand riders of North Fulton, are more likely to ride rail-based transit than buses. There is a stigma tied to buses in the South. Rail would provided a 1 seat ride to major employment centers.