Why all the opposition to MARTA and public transportation? (Atlanta: tax, exemption)

[johnatl]

Imo, one of the MOST effective changes can come at the ballot box next Fall with the defeat and replacement of State Rep. Jill Chambers.

I'll be doing my part.

[AcidSnake]

If only Mrs. Chambers was a rep in my district. I'd SO fire her. Are there not term limits for MARTOC chairpersons?

She is way too shrill and unreasonably demanding. Also, considering her own past personal financial faux pas, she is the LAST person who should be in a position to demand better fiscal accountability from MARTA.

Talk about living in a glass house!

Originally Posted by johnatl

Imo, one of the MOST effective changes can come at the ballot box next Fall with the defeat and replacement of State Rep. Jill Chambers.

I'll be doing my part.

[johnatl]

Originally Posted by AcidSnake

If only Mrs. Chambers was a rep in my district. I'd SO fire her. Are there not term limits for MARTOC chairpersons?

She is way too shrill and unreasonably demanding. Also, considering her own past personal financial faux pas, she is the LAST person who should be in a position to demand better fiscal accountability from MARTA.

Talk about living in a glass house!

Touche!

Sorry AS, I have no idea re: term limits for MARTOC.

[J2rescue]

Originally Posted by AcidSnake

We don't have savvy enough people within the leadership of MARTA to do that. I am not trying to downgrading the great skills that Beverly Scott brought to Atlanta because she has done a lot to keep MARTA operating in black, despite the best attempts of the state legislature to muck things up.

But like the previous MARTA CEOs before her, she just another bureaucrat. She is only going do what she needs to do keep MARTA running, not to go to the bully pulpit & take the gospel of good transit to the people.

If I was the MARTA CEO I would have each and every one of my workers convince riders to call the legislature & demand more money for transit. I would create a list of each key Georgia senator & representative who has influence on transportation issues & have my MARTA workers from the rail operators to the Police pass these lists along to the riders of MARTA and encourage them to call or e-mail those senators & reps, effectively overwhelming their phone lines until the transit issues in Georgia are solved.

That in my opinion is much more cheaper & much more populist & democratic than paying $500,000 for a lobbying firm. Also it leaves NO DOUBT in the minds of Georgia's leaders that we citizens do indeed want better transportation alternatives to cars.

I understand your frustration but I think the state legislature would get a good chuckle out of that plan. That would probably tick them off more than anything else.

Business leaders with actual influence, the metro Chamber of commerce, has been trying to get this state to do something about transportation for well over a decade with little results. The problem at the state level is that despite metro Atlanta now having a majority of the state population, the state legislature doesn't yet reflect that reality. Furthermore, metro representatives don't often work together on these issues. If all metro area representatives voted in favor of the bill to allow a regional transportation tax referendum, it would have already passed.

Based on polls conducted by the ARC, the transit issue isn't so much matter of opposition from residents anymore but that any progress toward transit expansion is being roadblocked by the state government. They refuse to allow any regional entity to have the power to fund transportation and they seem beholden to the road building industry.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by johnatl

I know I've mentioned this before, but my next door neighbor is a native in her late 70's.

According to her, between the streetcars and the various interurbans, you could make your way from Marietta to Stone Mountain - and then some.

She also told me that the streetcar on Peachtree went as far North as Oglethorpe University, which was considered "the country" back then.

Roy Barnes even talks about how he took the trolley/streetcar from Mableton to Downtown Atlanta when he was a kid/teenager.

[AcidSnake]

I hear ya. There is just way too many dichotmies at work here: City vs. Rural, Urban vs. Suburban, and Republican vs. Democrat. Is there an electoral college thing at work here? How can these rural state representatives and senators have so much power?

Originally Posted by J2rescue

I understand your frustration but I think the state legislature would get a good chuckle out of that plan. That would probably tick them off more than anything else.

Business leaders with actual influence, the metro Chamber of commerce, has been trying to get this state to do something about transportation for well over a decade with little results. The problem at the state level is that despite metro Atlanta now having a majority of the state population, the state legislature doesn't yet reflect that reality. Furthermore, metro representatives don't often work together on these issues. If all metro area representatives voted in favor of the bill to allow a regional transportation tax referendum, it would have already passed.

Based on polls conducted by the ARC, the transit issue isn't so much matter of opposition from residents anymore but that any progress toward transit expansion is being roadblocked by the state government. They refuse to allow any regional entity to have the power to fund transportation and they seem beholden to the road building industry.

[tyler124green]

MARTA being controlled at the state level is ridiculous! The rural representatives go up to Atlanta to "prove it" to the "uppity city folk" by not letting us get anything and diverting all money away from things that Atlanta actually needs financial help for (like MARTA). If we had a real regional authority, say expanding MARTA to actually include its originally proposed counties, then made it so that it was governed by a board, not attached to the state, it would work greatly. The state needs to get on top of things if they are going to control MARTA, starting with funding. How can they expect to control an agency that they refuse to fund?

[skipcromer]

Originally Posted by carrot

yeah, and its failing...plus as someone who rarely uses the expressway, I would rather make them truely use based (toll) and save the tax dollars at the pump.

Motor Fuel Tax is failing?

No...no its not.

[SEAandATL]

Originally Posted by carrot

yeah, that is something a lot of people forget about...we are taxed for our roads. They are not funded by use base.

What would Atlanta look like if you were tolled on every on-ramp of an expressway...The people who use it should pay for it.

That is how it is in Japan. There was an issue with the new Prime Minister proposing to do away with the tolls on the expressways, but many people do not drive on the expressways as they commute by alternate means such as trains, and many of those people were against the idea because they would have to pay more taxes for something they don't use.

[carrot]

Originally Posted by skipcromer

Motor Fuel Tax is failing?

No...no its not.

It is failing in the since that it does not cover the true cost of maintaining the expressways we have, let alone widening or expanding.

so, yes...yes it is.