Texas trip has Fulton leader excited for transit (Atlanta, Alpharetta: living in, cost of)

[fourthwarden]

Originally Posted by cqholt

The LPA filed with FTA is HRT
http://www.itsmarta.com/uploadedfile...Initiative.pdf

I'm just waiting for one of the commissioners to try and override the LPA in favor of their now "enlightened" position.

[tikigod311]

The article seems confused by using commuter train and light rail. Maybe they mean commuters using light rail. Ugh. But they seem to be arguing against HRT expansion.

Has this guy even spoke to MARTA...about MARTA expansion? They are well into studies on extending HRT, progress that makes these projects more "shovel ready." If they go with light rail north of North Springs they will totally neuter the expansion. Might as well just stick with buses

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

The article seems confused by using commuter train and light rail. Maybe they mean commuters using light rail. Ugh. But they seem to be arguing against HRT expansion.

Has this guy even spoke to MARTA...about MARTA expansion? They are well into studies on extending HRT, progress that makes these projects more "shovel ready." If they go with light rail north of North Springs they will totally neuter the expansion. Might as well just stick with buses

Probably not. Like some of the other posters have expressed, getting an “up-close and personal” look at other transportation options was probably just an excuse for the Fulton County Commission to go on a fancy trip to Dallas at the expense of the taxpayers....Something which would not be surprising considering that the Fulton County Commission likely spends much of its time these days just trying to justify its continuing taxpayer-funded existence after virtually all of the county has been incorporated into city and town government jurisdictions over the last 12 years or so.

Heck, at this point with virtually all of the county now being incorporated into city government jurisdictions, I can't even say with certainty that the Fulton County Commission has even been a genuinely serious part of the conversation to expand high-capacity transit northward from the North Springs MARTA Station along the Georgia 400 corridor into North Fulton County.

The conversation to expand high-capacity transit service north into North Fulton County along the Georgia 400 corridor seems to be mostly between MARTA CEO Keith Parker, the Fulton County state legislative delegation and the mayors of Sandy Springs, Roswell and Alpharetta. Because all of North Fulton County has been incorporated into cities, the Fulton County Commission may very well be out of the loop when it comes to MARTA and high-capacity transit expansion conversations.

[magnetar]

If the county commission needed to see a successful suburban-urban transit system in person to get on board, the ends might end up justifying the means. Don't see where visiting Dallas automatically assumes any particular vehicle choice for a future expansion. To me it seems more like the Commissioners getting on board with the job they'll have to do to pass a transit referendum in Fulton outside Atlanta.

To those assuming the trip was on the taxpayer dime; I'd suggest confirming those suspicions before worrying too much, since the article says that the trip was sponsored by the Council for Quality Growth, which appears to be a political advocacy group made up of area businesses—not all of which are pure evil, since I see Perkins + Will, a firm intensely involved in designing the Beltline, on the list.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by tikigod311

The article seems confused by using commuter train and light rail. Maybe they mean commuters using light rail. Ugh. But they seem to be arguing against HRT expansion.

Has this guy even spoke to MARTA...about MARTA expansion? They are well into studies on extending HRT, progress that makes these projects more "shovel ready." If they go with light rail north of North Springs they will totally neuter the expansion. Might as well just stick with buses

It's MDJ, they have no exposure to quality transit in Cobb County.

[fourthwarden]

Fulton hopes to be transit expansion example for DeKalb officials

In Fulton County, officials are moving forward with planning to extend mass transit into unserved areas. And they hope to be an example of political unity to leaders in neighboring DeKalb and other counties that have rejected MARTA in the past with the aim of creating a regional transit network.

But a truly regional transit system is needed, the mayor says, and that requires cooperation and planning among leaders from Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb and Clayton counties. He also said there needs to be some kind of public transit that connects Doraville and Cobb along the Perimeter.

“What’s missing … is, not only is there not a real transit plan for Fulton County, there’s not one anywhere close to looking at the region as a whole,” Paul said. “If the political climate [in favor of transit] suddenly happened tomorrow … there’s still no plan in place.”

DeKalb County CEO Mike Thurmond agrees there is no DeKalb strategy on how to bring more rapid transit to the county. He says that’s because officials of DeKalb’s various cities, state officials and business and community leaders have yet to come together.

“I’m not opposed to MARTA – I’m just opposed to Fulton and DeKalb paying for it,” Millar said. He wants the state to put money into mass transit and not depend on individual counties’ taxes.

Last month, Millar, a member of the Senate Transportation Committee, voted down a bill in committee that would have let local voters decide whether to raise the sales tax by half a penny to fund MARTA rail and bus expansions in DeKalb County. The bill was backed by Thurmond and the DeKalb County Board of Commissioners.

“We’re a constitutional republic, not a democracy,” Millar said of his committee vote. “MARTA doesn’t have a plan for what to do with the money,” he said.

That last sentence is rather aggravating considering that the bill would have required MARTA to establish such a plan, which would more than likely been a formal conglomeration of existing MARTA plans for transit in the county (I-20 East, Clifton Corridor, & The Comprehensive Operations Analysis all come to mind). It's possible that the agency had told him something else, but that statement just seems ignorant to what's already on the table.

[primaltech]

Fulton County, with agreement from local mayors, is funding an Atlanta Regional Commission study of extending rail transit northward from North Springs Station and southward from the airport, possibly with bus service branching out to the east and west, said Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul.

I wonder if this means they're talking about extending the heavy rail south of Airport station, presumably along I-85.

That would give park&ride commuters on the southside a single-seat ride to the airport and to jobs in Downtown/Midtown/Buckhead/Perimeter/eventually Alpharetta. As well as allow building economy-boosting TOD along with the stations.

If there was heavy rail out to Fairburn, that would certainly make living in Peachtree City and Fayetteville a lot more attractive and connected to everything.

Then they could also do a BRT system on Camp Creek Pkwy and S Fulton Pkwy.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by fourthwarden

That last sentence is rather aggravating considering that the bill would have required MARTA to establish such a plan, which would more than likely been a formal conglomeration of existing MARTA plans for transit in the county (I-20 East, Clifton Corridor, & The Comprehensive Operations Analysis all come to mind). It's possible that the agency had told him something else, but that statement just seems ignorant to what's already on the table.

Millar is being obtuse here, but MARTA needs to also make that formal plan clear and public sooner rather than later. Don't wait on the General Assembly to get its act together.

[Chevalier de Saint-George]

They went to Texas to get some transit ideas? They could have went to NJ, NoVa, Chicago, or even the Philadelphia area. That's like going to the Dominican Republic & Cuba to scout great soccer players then heading to Brazil and Argentina to find elite baseball talent.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by 80s_kid

They went to Texas to get some transit ideas? They could have went to NJ, NoVa, Chicago, or even the Philadelphia area. That's like going to the Dominican Republic & Cuba to scout great soccer players then heading to Brazil and Argentina to find elite baseball talent.

It's called a "free" "fact-finding" trip. The context is irrelevant.