The ATL: new regional transit system (Atlanta, Dawson: school, shops, safe)

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

I'm not saying that North Fulton County factions were wrong or right either way about wanting to impose their political will on the rest of Fulton County as there have obviously been some significant issues concerning Fulton County government over the years and decades (from slow 911 response times, to the dysfunction of operating the Fulton County Jail, to the past issues with Grady Hospital, to the past issues with county-level zoning and governance, etc, etc) that motivated the cityhood movement in North Fulton back in the 2000's.

...I'm just illustrating some of the motivations for why North Fulton politicians might not be jumping on the opportunity to extend the MARTA Red Line farther up into the county under the MARTA banner, despite the worsening traffic congestion on a major commuter route like Georgia 400.

The desire by North Fulton political factions to compensate for not being able to recreate Milton County out of North Fulton County by dominating the public institutions of Fulton County as a whole (both for better and for worse), including MARTA, are playing a direct role in the decision of North Fulton political leaders to not fully embrace the MARTA Red Line extension, despite the apparent positives of doing so.

It appears that North Fulton political factions would likely be much more willing to quickly embrace an expansion of high-capacity rail transit up the GA 400 corridor if that rail transit expansion is executed by a regional transit agency controlled and dominated by Republicans in outer-suburban areas like North Fulton (and Cobb and Gwinnett counties).

Most (not all) of the North Fulton county politicians are fine with the Red line going up there under MARTA.
Now they had some higher priorities, but pretty much seem to be on board now that they got their first sales tax passed.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by primaltech

To some degree, I'd I guess be fine with any new status quo that eliminates CCT/CobbLinc, and hopefully brings MARTA to Cobb within a few years.

But being realistic and knowing how this state works, I'm now doubtful that MARTA will ever make it to Cobb or Gwinnett. Its direct successor entity surely will, though. And/or GRTA will take over MARTA.

MARTA has probably 3 years left to live. I'd guess. But its lines and stations and buses and people will still be here, and transit expansion at least will be in a renaissance like never before in this region, for years to come. That's my guess.

I really don't think it will happen. I don't see Cobb getting in for another decade (at least). I don't see Gwinnett getting in soon. So I don't expect any change.

They will talk about it some. Maybe the will do something in a couple of years towards some state funding for MARTA and more for GRTA. But I wouldn't expect them to actually make decisions until they were compelled to. And they aren't getting a lot of pressure from the public to do much. Its more just grumbling.

[primaltech]

Like I said, I don't see Cobb or Gwinnett joining MARTA ever.

More likely they will either join a re-tooled, re-named successor to MARTA geared for the 5 dense counties, or, MARTA/CCT/GCT will be all administratively merged into a vastly larger version of GRTA, which they won't have to join since they already have GRTA.

And I could be wrong. But either way, I don't think Cobb's or Gwinnett's own branded transit systems have more than a few years left, which will be a direct result of this regional transit council. Hopefully, at least.

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by bu2

Most (not all) of the North Fulton county politicians are fine with the Red line going up there under MARTA.
Now they had some higher priorities, but pretty much seem to be on board now that they got their first sales tax passed.

Those are some good points.

I don't think that many North Fulton political leaders are stridently against the expansion of the Red Line into North Fulton under the MARTA name and banner....Particularly since the idea of MARTA Red Line expansion seems to poll increasingly well with the North Fulton public in light of the worsening congestion on GA 400 as well as the desire by political leaders in North Fulton cities like Alpharetta to turn the area into a hub for high-paying tech jobs.

But I do think that North Fulton leaders seemingly may be holding back on throwing their full support behind the MARTA Red Line expansion if they think that they might be able to get into a setup where MARTA is folded into a larger regional transit agency (like a GRTA) that will dominated by Republican suburbanites in North Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett.

This was signaled when the Johns Creek city council unanimously adopted a resolution opposing the expansion of the MARTA Red Line further north into North Fulton County back in October 2015, both on the grounds on that they think the MARTA system is inherently flawed in the efficiency of its operation and that they didn't want any new taxes funding MARTA to be saddled on citizens who they did not think would get any benefit out of the system.

A united Johns Creek City Council on Monday adopted a resolution announcing its “full and complete” opposition to a proposed plan that would bring the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority deeper into north Fulton County.

The Council’s unanimous vote also expressed rejection of any referendum or vote by the Georgia General Assembly that would allow MARTA to collect an additional half-percent in taxes, which could be used to expand the rail system up the S.R. 400 corridor.

The resolution was proposed and introduced by Councilman Bob Gray, who said he believed his stance reflects the sentiments of Johns Creek citizens.

Gray told his fellow elected officials that he feels MARTA’s current method of operation is ”inherently flawed,” as it cannot efficiently move residents in and out of the city.

He also said he’s concerned that the additional tax would be saddled on residents who “largely don’t get any benefit out of the MARTA system.”

("Johns Creek Council Opposes MARTA Expansion...The resolution was introduced by Councilman Bob Gray at the Nov. 16 meeting." - November 19, 2015)
Johns Creek Council Opposes MARTA Expansion - Johns Creek, GA Patch

[fieldm]

Any new news on this?

[primaltech]

HUGE news coming in the next 2 weeks or so.

I'm seeing news snippets about a unified rebranded 13-county metro system for Atlanta, which would rebrand MARTA (and everything else). Also hearing that one version of a bill might actually merge some of the agencies. But it's not a takeover.

Sen. Brandon Beach wants to call everything 'The ATL'. Not fond of that name, but we need this so bad that I don't even care.

[primaltech]

11alive.com | New app, new name? State seeks "seamless" public transit

New plan could radically transform Georgia's mass transit system | WSB-TV

And I saw something on WABE that I can't find the link for.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by primaltech

11alive.com | New app, new name? State seeks "seamless" public transit

New plan could radically transform Georgia's mass transit system | WSB-TV

And I saw something on WABE that I can't find the link for.

11 transit operators? I've only heard of the 4 they specifically mention.

[PKCorey]

Originally Posted by bu2

11 transit operators? I've only heard of the 4 they specifically mention.

Cherokee, Douglasville, Hall have various bus or van services.

Coweta, Henry, Paulding have on demand services as well.

[primaltech]

Cherokee County has a transit system called CATS
Transportation | Cherokee County, GA - Where Metro Meets the Mountains

Plus there's stuff besides MARTA in town, like the buc
buc – Bucride

Plus GA Tech's transit system and Emory's transit system. And even Atlantic Station I believe actually has their own thing.

https://pts.gatech.edu/campus-transit
(I didn't know their bus runs every 6 minutes- that's awesome.)

Plus both the ATL Skytrain and the Plane Trane at the airport. Neither of those are MARTA.

And I believe Henry County has a small transit system, and Forsyth has something.