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You mean like P3? I've always believed that better quality transit is handled by the private sector, but P3 is good too.
That's one approach and a good one.
How about a transit impact fee, similar to other development impact fees for road improvements, policing and parks? Or a transit surcharge that is built into leasing arrangements? Or parking fees and/or bonuses for parking reduction? There are a lot of options out there.
Well, that's not up to the legislature. That's up to Cobb and Gwinnett county leadership, and any other county leadership in the future, to decide whether to put it to the voters in their county. This just enables that.
I'd simply like to see Cobb County pass a countywide 1 penny sales tax, that would contract 7-days per week bus transit service and any potential rail transit out to MARTA under the ATL moniker, and we could permanently do away with CCT and its associated budget and property tax impact. Sell all its assets to MARTA.
Even if that's only 3/4 for transit and 1/4 for road project stuff, or even 1/2 and 1/2, fine- we'd still end up with 10x better transit than we have now, and at least have mass transit links to Cumberland from Atlanta.
Sounds like I might get what I want, next year.
If Cobb votes yes, do you think MARTA would keep the Cobblinc branding?
If Cobb votes yes, do you think MARTA would keep the Cobblinc branding?
I mean, if I am reading the bills correctly (I may not be, it's all confusing), then Cobb is required to adopt the ATL branding within a few years, even if they do nothing with a transit/MARTA vote or if the vote is no. The bill doesn't necessarily doom CCT from existence if Cobb chooses to do nothing, but it does sort of doom CobbLinc since that is a brand, conflicting with ATL, the intended regional brand for all transit in 13 counties.
And definitely will ditch their brand if they do vote to contract with MARTA for improved transit in the county, which all of MARTA's stuff will definitely have the ATL brand within 4-5 years. And in that case, CCT would go away, and their assets would be sold to MARTA. That probably will happen in some form, if this is done right.
But yes, as long as the county is included in the ATL commission area, CCT is I presume a transit operator (even though they contract their actual operations out to some other entity), and thus is subject to rebranding to ATL just like MARTA is, and is subject to better operational coordination with MARTA as per being under the ATL commission.
Though, exactly what re-branding entails, is a big open question that remains to be seen. It might be thorough and nice, or it might be just awkwardly slapping an ATL sticker over the CobbLinc logo, I dunno.
The more important thing is the coordination of operations. Even if CCT were still to exist, I know one thing's going away which is their own route numbering. Everything will be the same as MARTA, from fare to app to everything, and it will all be one system. And I'm sure the ATL commission would find a way to make CCT operate limited hours on Sunday on all its routes, even if that means cutting a route. In order to be the same user experience as MARTA.
Realistically though I think within 5 years both Cobb's and Gwinnett's systems will be complete history, and MARTA will be the sole operator within the 5 counties. That's not mandated by the bill but it's clearly the goal.
3-hour video from that Cobb transit meeting today, with the commissioners and everyone discussing everything. I haven't watched it yet, but I will tonight:
Gwinnett will turn 200 years old later this year. Since we are celebrating Gwinnett County’s bicentennial this year, I have spent time reflecting on the opportunities and decisions that created the Gwinnett of today.
Visionary Gwinnett leaders in the past recognized that the Atlanta area was going to grow. Their decisions to build modern infrastructure and excellent schools set in motion the transformation of Gwinnett from rural landscape to the unique, special and thriving place it is today.
At almost one million people strong, our population is bigger than that of six states. We’re likely the most diverse county in the Southeast as the opportunities available in Gwinnett have brought individuals, families and businesses from across the U.S. and around the globe.
As part of Atlanta’s roughly six million residents, we also understand that we’re part of a much larger community. Our opportunities, challenges, and successes are inextricably linked.
In order for Gwinnett to continue to be great – and for our greater metro community of Atlanta to maintain its greatness – we have to embrace new approaches and innovations rather than being limited by what has worked in the past.
Specifically, our very success threatens the livability and prosperity we enjoy. Congestion has become unbearable as more and more people and goods must move across the region. We are at a time where our county and our region must seek different approaches to mobility to preserve both quality of life and economic vitality.
For the past year I have been part of a legislative study committee looking at ways to relieve the burden of our growth through alternative mobility solutions. Specifically, we’ve looked at the many ways and agencies involved with delivering transit alternatives. We’ve looked at how transit has been funded. We’ve looked at how we’re going to grow, and how our next generation of employees will get to work.
We know that young adults are less wedded to their autos and generally have less tolerance for long solo commutes. Many employers are seeking locations that provide transit options to be able to attract and keep that young talent. Expanded transit is critical to the region’s ability to maintain a competitive edge, especially when recruiting high-tech, high-wage jobs. Transit options are also part of the arsenal we must use to help people get where they need to be, on time and still sane.
Our legislators are now considering a bill that will provide more flexibility to counties that wish to connect with our neighbors via transit. The Atlanta Transit Link (The ATL) is an opportunity for us. It continues to allow counties to choose their transit destiny and make local funding decisions. It also sets up a new dedicated funding stream from the state, as well as an independent board selected by local elected officials and legislators to coordinate planning and federal funding to solve our congestion issues at a regional level.
Gwinnett has responded to challenges boldly in the past—-today’s challenges deserve nothing less. As we enter Gwinnett’s third century, I am convinced that significantly expanding transit is Gwinnett’s next big decision, on the order of past ones to build a countywide water system and develop a world-class school system.
I am also convinced that we are ready to make this big decision and help create Gwinnett’s future.
I urge our Legislators to focus on what the region and state needs as they consider this year’s transit bills and pass legislation that will help the Atlanta region and Gwinnett fulfill our promise of a bright future.
We are definitely in changing times. All this going down is amazing IMO, considering where we've been with transit for so long in this metro. Particularly mass transit sounds like it's going to happen in both Cobb and Gwinnett, and all of it united in the same system as Fulton and DeKalb, and all of it operated by MARTA. That is so exciting.
MARIETTA — Several leaders of Cobb’s business communities and cities told county commissioners Monday that more transit options are needed to support both residents and commercial interests. Some community members, meanwhile, expressed some skepticism over legislation proposing to expand transit in metro Atlanta, including Cobb, and the government body that would be tasked to coordinate transit spending in the region.
Monday’s commissioner work session on transit, during which no action was taken, came exactly one week after commissioners met with the Cobb Legislative Delegation to discuss the issue as two transit bills remain alive in this legislative session.
House Bill 930 from House Transportation Committee Chairman Kevin Tanner, R-Dawsonville, would create “transportation districts” that would allow voters who would benefit from transportation services in their area to decide whether they want to fund it through a 1-percent sales tax, as opposed to countywide referendums called for in the similar Senate Bill 386, which had been put forth by state Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta.
Both bills would create a regional transit authority dubbed Atlanta-region Transit Link, or ATL, which would be tasked with expanding bus and rail through metro Atlanta, defined as the 13-county region currently under the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority’s jurisdiction: Cobb, Cherokee, Clayton, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Paulding and Rockdale counties.
BUSINESS LEADERS: TRANSIT A ‘MISSING INGREDIENT’
Tad Leithead, who was named the Cumberland Community Improvement District’s interim executive director last week, said his organization has been advocating for greater connectivity to MARTA for two decades.
“It’s sort of the missing ingredient for Cobb,” Leithead said, adding that the CCID wants to see Cobb have a transit presence that connects Cumberland, south Cobb and the Town Center areas to the rest of metro Atlanta.
Tracy Rathbone, Leithead’s counterpart at the Town Center CID, said her organization believes a regional transit system would be “a win for Cobb County,” but said her CID would benefit as such a system could serve a growing millennial population who may be more apt to using public transit, seniors who may no longer be able to drive, and those attending or working at Kennesaw State University, which has about 36,000 students.
“The more you expand a road, the more cars go on a road. Roadways cannot be the sole solution for traffic infrastructure and mitigation in our county any longer,” Rathbone said.
Also given time to address commissioners were representatives of the Council for Quality Growth, South Cobb Redevelopment Authority and the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. Sharon Mason, the chamber’s president and CEO, said the county’s lack of robust transit has led to some companies bypassing Cobb in favor of other locations, with many firms that had chosen Cobb desiring more transportation options to better get workers to and from work.
Michael Paris, president and CEO of the Council for Quality Growth, cited an Atlanta Regional Commission survey that showed that more than 50 percent of Cobb residents would be willing to pay more in taxes to fund public transit.
Paris was posed a theoretical scenario by Chairman Mike Boyce — if Cumberland wanted to connect to the Arts Center MARTA Station via light rail or bus rapid transit line, why would Fulton County be willing to use its money to build something that would benefit primarily Cobb County.
“Sixty-one percent of our residents work outside the county. A great number of those folks work in Fulton County,” Paris responded. “It benefits Fulton to provide greater access for our residents to come work in that county.”
Paris said the greater transit connectivity would also make existing transit infrastructure and future expansion more economically feasible.
CITY LEADERS ALSO SEEKING MORE TRANSIT
Also expressing interest in transit expansion were leaders of three Cobb cities — Acworth, Austell and Smyrna. Brian Bulthuis, Acworth’s city manager, said that if a transit bill were to pass and open the door for more transit in Cobb, he would hope the county would give his city the “first look” at possible new transit projects before expanding routes or services where there already are CobbLinc offerings.
Bulthuis said Acworth’s only transit offering is an Xpress bus line that starts from a park-and-ride lot on Lake Acworth Drive near Highway 92 and travels to Town Center before continuing toward downtown Atlanta.
“We just want to be linked with the CobbLinc system so people have access to get to other places in Cobb,” Bulthuis said.
Smyrna Councilman Ron Fennel said his city was doing a transit study in an effort to learn what transit options residents may want to see and transportation needs within the city, while Ollie Clemons Jr., Austell councilman and mayor pro tem, said that while CobbLinc has some presence in his city, Austell leaders would like to be “part of the discussion” on future transit expansion.
RESIDENTS VARY ON NEED FOR REGIONAL TRANSIT APPROACH
Other Cobb residents also were given the chance to share their thoughts on transit during Monday’s meeting.
For Mableton resident Linda Bell, who spoke on behalf of the Sierra Club, more transit options would have environmental benefits, saying that it would reduce the amount of vehicles on the road and therefore a major contributor of greenhouse gases.
“I think that’s one of the appeals we need to make,” Bell said. “Riding transit, you should look at it as a good deed, something that you’re doing for your community.”
Vinings resident Ron Sifen, who frequently weighs in on county measures, reminded commissioners that previously researched transit proposals have carried large price tags, estimating a potential $1 billion cost just to connect Vinings to MARTA.
He also cited the county’s previously proposed bus rapid transit line connecting Kennesaw State University with midtown Atlanta. The proposal was unveiled in September 2012 with a price tag of $1.1 billion, though county officials later revised the potential cost down to $494 million. Strong public support for the project never materialized.
“The biggest problem with this legislation is that it’s focused too much on economic development and trying to attract Amazon to the Atlanta region, and it’s not focused enough on actually improving mobility in Cobb County or elsewhere in the region.”
But Bob Hovey, a former member of the Cobb Planning Commission, questioned the need to have state lawmakers pass what would essentially be a 30-year sales tax and therefore three decades of control of Cobb’s development pattern by the ATL board, which he dubbed “a remote bureaucracy.”
“Y’all assume they will build something to serve your preference, but what if they don’t? Thirty years is a long time for us to pay taxes with no control and no service,” Hovey said. “We’re better off with our own commissioners addressing the problem.”
Cobb Chairman Mike Boyce said input received during Monday’s meeting would be shared with the county’s legislators when commissioners meet with them around midday Wednesday in downtown Atlanta.
Basically it went as expected. All the informed and open-minded and smart people from every community and different interests, all got up there and told the commission we need transit. Then a few random idiots at the end like Benita Dodd, touted their usual line. And a few 90 year olds trashed MARTA and advocated for the raised drawbridge and the status quo.
IMO people who are going to be dead of old age before 2020 should not get to be deciding and voting on our transit future.
Basically it went as expected. All the informed and open-minded and smart people from every community and different interests, all got up there and told the commission we need transit. Then a few random idiots at the end like Benita Dodd, touted their usual line. And a few 90 year olds trashed MARTA and advocated for the raised drawbridge and the status quo.
IMO people who are going to be dead of old age before 2020 should not get to be deciding and voting on our transit future.
That may be true, but those 90 yo get out and vote, which is what matters if a referendum is held. If Cobb and Gwinnett are serious about transit expansion, supporters need to show up at the polls and public meetings!
That may be true, but those 90 yo get out and vote, which is what matters if a referendum is held. If Cobb and Gwinnett are serious about transit expansion, supporters need to show up at the polls and public meetings!
Does this all fall apart if the voters in Cobb and Gwinnett don't pass a tax increase?
Does this all fall apart if the voters in Cobb and Gwinnett don't pass a tax increase?
The legislation would still created the new "ATL" agency to coordinate transit across the 13-county region. The House bill would still have new state taxes (50c taxi/ride hailing/limo, 1% at Hartsfield). But the counties would only get what transit they pay for.
In Cobb, Chairman Boyce is going to advocate for road funding to be equal to transit funding from the 1% sales tax.
Tell Cobb residents you are going to fix the worst local road problems (there will be a list of specific projects) AND increase county transit funding 5-fold (from .1% to .5%) is a winner at the ballot. 1000% tax increase going strictly to transit is not.
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