Hopefully We Can Get MARTA Money Now! (Atlanta: tax, live)

[netdragon]

DeaconJ:

You make some good points. So basically I'm all for rail expansion into the suburbs, but for lighter rail in most cases than the heavy rail trunks used by MARTA. I just have a couple issues with public money going to a private entity like MARTA that has centralized operations in Atlanta city proper:

1) A high percentage of suburban metro commute traffic is between suburban zones, usually to regional activity centers like Cumberland, Kennessaw Town Center, Perimeter, etc or just heavy commercial cooridors like Cobb Parkway or Windward Parkway. I imagine MARTA would be planning around a centralized transportation network with Atlanta as the hub, since that's where their infrastructure already is. I don't know if they would do things like connecting Perimeter to Cumberland.
2) I would rather tax dollars from both state and county be locally controlled by Cobb government rather than by an outside private entity. I know that Cobb has only busses right now, though it has been doing a lot of studies on other forms of mass transit and I believe it is ready.
3) There are already commuter rail planned to places like Douglasville. I'd rather we focus on those State initiatives rather than getting that mixed up with MARTA. If MARTA wants to serve those lines, then they can probably compete for the rights with Amtrak and other entities.

Atlanta is starting to operate as a unit as far as multi-modal transit (as opposed to homogenous "one-size-fits-all" transit solutions). We have large groups like ARC that work with smaller groups like CCT, the Cumberland Improvement District and others that are working on coming up with transportation visions and already pouring over the data from massive studies. We don't need a private entity like MARTA to handle that. What we need is funding to get the projects off the ground.

As far as Atlanta NW, I believe that MARTA should expand out to the I-285/I-20 interchange on the West end, mainly to help spur development there (not any further) and also up to Bolton along Marietta Blvd on the NW via midtown.

I also believe that the Beltline should be partially finished -- especially to Atlantic Station and Ansley Park, since otherwise it'll hurt the credibility of Atlanta for future developers.


coolyfett:

Atlanta has changed a lot in the few years I have been here. Large swaths of the urban core (and also suburban cores) have been revitalized. Unfortunately, everyone has been a little slow on the uptake for mass-transit improvements and now we are cut off by a failing economy which could have a cooling affect on the momentum that was recently created for it, if things don't move quickly.

[gt6974a]

Originally Posted by KevK

Hopefully with the new Obama administration, we can get some money to expand MARTA outward and get some funds for decent commuter rail service here. Obama, being from Chicago, is probably more pro public transit than the Republicans are. It is common for people in Chicago to use it.

We need to expand MARTA west to Fulton Ind/ Six Flags and south to Riverdale. We need commuter rail to Cobb, Gwinnett, Douglas and Rockdale. We are choking on traffic and it cannot happen fast enough!

LMAO! Change, Change, Change! Obama will solve our traffic problem! The messiah can fix Atlanta's traffic.

Wow, I needed a good laugh after my Jackets lost. Thank You Very Much

[aries4118]

For this thread, I'm conjuring up an old city-data favorite (for reference)...

www.cfpt.org


Take a look, everyone! Learn and let's discuss...

[kayrob]

Originally Posted by KevK

Hopefully with the new Obama administration, we can get some money to expand MARTA outward and get some funds for decent commuter rail service here. Obama, being from Chicago, is probably more pro public transit than the Republicans are. It is common for people in Chicago to use it.

We need to expand MARTA west to Fulton Ind/ Six Flags and south to Riverdale. We need commuter rail to Cobb, Gwinnett, Douglas and Rockdale. We are choking on traffic and it cannot happen fast enough!

I live in Douglasville and have to deal with 20 East M-F. If it's going to expand Westward it needs to go farther than that or why bother. At least to Thornton or even Lee Road.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

Wouldn't it be a better idea if more people could view Metro Atlanta as a unit - especially for transit? That way it would be governed as one system rather than 12 systems trying to interconnect. As long as people continue to think that it is "Cobb County's Transit" or "Gwinnett County's Transit" rather than "Metro Atlanta's Transit" the situation won't significantly improve and we will continue to have small, fragmented public transit systems. A comprehensive system is really the way to go - at least for the main core of Metro Atlanta.

Just moved away from ATL after 28 years...good luck with that.

[skipcromer]

Originally Posted by DeaconJ

We have the equivalent of pennies when it comes to federal funding of transit programs. Maybe sometime very soon a few billion can be diverted from Iraq to public transit.

Um, no...the population density is not low in Riverdale/Clayton County or on the west side/Douglas County. Those are areas where rail tranist is most definitely needed. I very much agree that calling anything a "MARTA expansion" will kill that project very quickly. Call it the Beltline - or better yet call it widening the highway.

Didn't the change to the GA Constitution pass that allows TAD spending of school system funds for area improvements? i.e. The Beltline? I think it did...so that transit project can get back on track hopefully.

You can't expect the federal government to give money for transit improvement when the state does absolutely nothing to improve the infrastructure.

If you look at US cities with Above average to Great public transit (New York, D.C. , Chicago, Portland) they all have one common factor, local and state government (obviously excluding D.C.) pay their fair share.

I moved to Atlanta last September and only stayed for 9 months. It wasnt that I didnt like that city, there were many great things about it. Climate, ALTA tennis, Virginia Highlands, Great Universities, etc etc etc.

However, I could not stand sitting in traffic anytime I wanted to go anywhere. I lived just north of the intersection of Piedmont and Roswell and worked way down in morrow. My work commute was not too bad. I would usually work from 7-3:30 or 4 o'clock in order to beat rush hour. This usually left me with about a 35 minute commute with a few exceptions here or there. This did not bother me much. What bothered me was taking 30-35 minutes to drive 4.5 miles down Piedmont Road to play platform tennis in the evening.

I left Atlanta for Chicago. And the big thing that Chicago has over Atlanta is that I have a choice in if I want to drive or hop on the bus/train to go wherever I need to go.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by skipcromer

You can't expect the federal government to give money for transit improvement when the state does absolutely nothing to improve the infrastructure.

If you look at US cities with Above average to Great public transit (New York, D.C. , Chicago, Portland) they all have one common factor, local and state government (obviously excluding D.C.) pay their fair share.

I moved to Atlanta last September and only stayed for 9 months. It wasnt that I didnt like that city, there were many great things about it. Climate, ALTA tennis, Virginia Highlands, Great Universities, etc etc etc.

However, I could not stand sitting in traffic anytime I wanted to go anywhere. I lived just north of the intersection of Piedmont and Roswell and worked way down in morrow. My work commute was not too bad. I would usually work from 7-3:30 or 4 o'clock in order to beat rush hour. This usually left me with about a 35 minute commute with a few exceptions here or there. This did not bother me much. What bothered me was taking 30-35 minutes to drive 4.5 miles down Piedmont Road to play platform tennis in the evening.

I left Atlanta for Chicago. And the big thing that Chicago has over Atlanta is that I have a choice in if I want to drive or hop on the bus/train to go wherever I need to go.

And that is the point of public transportation! Very well put.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by skipcromer

I left Atlanta for Chicago. And the big thing that Chicago has over Atlanta is that I have a choice in if I want to drive or hop on the bus/train to go wherever I need to go.

Glad it worked out for you in Chi-town. I just wanted to point out that along with that bus, you get the highest sales tax rates in the nation at more than 10%, high property taxes, 6 months of brutally cold winter, and although you have the lake you're more than 1000 mi from either coast.

Not "dissing" Chicago or saying that Atlanta is paradise, but just pointing out that everything is a trade off. If you look at the cities with decent transit, they usually have accompanying high taxes and other issues.

[skipcromer]

Originally Posted by neil0311

Glad it worked out for you in Chi-town. I just wanted to point out that along with that bus, you get the highest sales tax rates in the nation at more than 10%, high property taxes, 6 months of brutally cold winter, and although you have the lake you're more than 1000 mi from either coast.

Not "dissing" Chicago or saying that Atlanta is paradise, but just pointing out that everything is a trade off. If you look at the cities with decent transit, they usually have accompanying high taxes and other issues.

Which I think I mentioned in my above post.

Also, with that highest tax rate comes benefits as well. For one, I drive at most once a week, which is saving me quite a bit of money (even though gas prices here suck).

Six months of Brutally Cold Winter? Well, its the second week of november and it has yet to get cold. I was at the Obama rally all night and it was above 60. So unless it stays "brutally cold" through the end of May I am going to disagree with that statement. Even though you were exaggerating you are correct, winter in Atlanta was a breeze. I would get quite amused at the people thinking it was 'brutally cold when it was in the mid 40's.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by skipcromer

Six months of Brutally Cold Winter? Well, its the second week of november and it has yet to get cold. I was at the Obama rally all night and it was above 60. So unless it stays "brutally cold" through the end of May I am going to disagree with that statement. Even though you were exaggerating you are correct, winter in Atlanta was a breeze. I would get quite amused at the people thinking it was 'brutally cold when it was in the mid 40's.

I lived on the MA/NH border for 15 years and know really cold weather. I haven't lived in Chicago, but I know what happens with lake effect snow and the arctic cold fronts. Maybe it's not 6 months of winter there, but it was close in New England some years (Nov-April).