MARTA to make an $8 billion pitch to change the face of Atlanta (Buckhead: developers, owners)

[primaltech]

If you're going to extend heavy rail all the way out to the Mall of Georgia, might as well go one final stop to the Hamilton Mill park&ride, at the end of the county.

Definitely at least have the space to build the line along the side of the highway, out there.

And, I do really like the idea of splitting off for a spur line along 316, with Gwinnett Place as the last transfer.

[bu2]

Sounds like they are just brainstorming.

But I agree, Gwinnett Place Mall would be about as far as HRT or LRT would make sense.

[fieldm]

Originally Posted by primaltech

If you're going to extend heavy rail all the way out to the Mall of Georgia, might as well go one final stop to the Hamilton Mill park&ride, at the end of the county.

Definitely at least have the space to build the line along the side of the highway, out there.

And, I do really like the idea of splitting off for a spur line along 316, with Gwinnett Place as the last transfer.

They didnt even bring up the southeastern part of the county around east of Stone Mountain

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by bu2

Sounds like they are just brainstorming.

But I agree, Gwinnett Place Mall would be about as far as HRT or LRT would make sense.

The way their brainstorming is being reported makes it seem like they're using it to dismiss MARTA early.

[ccdscott]

Yep, and using eye popping figures like $7 billion (oh the humanity) to show voters, see that's alot of money!

[primaltech]

Originally Posted by ccdscott

Yep, and using eye popping figures like $7 billion (oh the humanity) to show voters, see that's alot of money!

Yeah, I mean, they don't dare say, "Just a simple 1% sales tax over 40 years to join MARTA, that would bring us up to a reasonable 7% total (same rate as Fulton and DeKalb), and would fund however many billion dollars of multiple high quality transit lines serving the whole county, plus go ahead and double that funding amount because of federal 1 to 1 matching, and that 1% tax would easily cover our county's transit needs for now and well into the future, easing everyone's commute times every day and giving people options."

Because that would just be too honest!

And honestly, MARTA wouldn't even be required to do that. They could always tax themselves 1% for their own comprehensive rapid transit system if that's what they want to do.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by primaltech

Yeah, I mean, they don't dare say, "Just a simple 1% sales tax over 40 years to join MARTA, that would bring us up to a reasonable 7% total (same rate as Fulton and DeKalb), and would fund however many billion dollars of multiple high quality transit lines serving the whole county, plus go ahead and double that funding amount because of federal 1 to 1 matching, and that 1% tax would easily cover our county's transit needs for now and well into the future, easing everyone's commute times every day and giving people options."

Because that would just be too honest!

And honestly, MARTA wouldn't even be required to do that. They could always tax themselves 1% for their own comprehensive rapid transit system if that's what they want to do.

To the county leadership, that would be turning over control to the Atlanta-dominated agency and democrat leadership.

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by cqholt

To the county leadership, that would be turning over control to the Atlanta-dominated agency and democrat leadership.

Which doesn't make much sense, really. Gwinnett would be the one with the leveraging power here. They're the ones who have the money. They can negotiate pretty much as much of their 1% allocated to rail and high-capacity transit to nearly any node or along any corridor as they want.

Of course MARTA would like to confirm that those corridors are feasible, but Gwinnett would be the one laying down the ground rules. For as long (and that would be a long time) as those expansions are being paid off, Gwinnett would have control over their own county's service.

[primaltech]

They don't want to admit what they are, which is, a residential suburb of Atlanta. They're totally dependent on Atlanta and the inner counties, from the office jobs, to the major commercial airport, to supply chain logistics, to everything.

If they had all those things covered on their own, if their residents all worked inside the county, that would be a different story. But, that's not the case. They are located in Metropolitan Atlanta, which already has a Rapid Transit Authority.

[cqholt]

Georgia Lt. Gov. Cagle Discusses Regional Transit, Vetoed Bills | WABE 90.1 FM

Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle is proposing a major overhaul of the board that governs MARTA, in exchange for something MARTA has long wanted: state funding. The proposed change would be a step in developing a larger, regional transit system for the Atlanta area.