Atlanta Transit Expansion Comes Closer as Region Prepares for Tax Referendum (credit, casino)

[testa50]

For the people on-the-fence about the referendum, here's something you might consider:

The Transportation Investment Act contains penalties for regions that fail to adopt the penny sales tax. If a region adopts the tax, local governments will only be required to pay 10 percent in matching funds for projects receiving funding from the Georgia Department of Transportation.

If the region holds a referendum, but fails to pass the penny tax, local governments will be required to post 30 percent in matching funds. If the Roundtable fails to reach an agreement on the constrained list and fails to hold the referendum, local governments in the Atlanta region would be required to pay 50 percent in matching funds for state aided transportation projects.

Rail Projects Are Top Picks for Referendum List - Norcross, GA Patch

In other words, by voting for the sales tax, your local governments will have to contribute less towards maintenance and improvement of your local roads--even roads that aren't covered by the transportation SPLOST. Improving intersections, adding turn lanes, and so on: by voting for the SPLOST, your community will have to devote less of its CURRENT tax revenue to keeping up the local roads, and will relieve pressure to raise property taxes at the local level.

Just another reason to vote YES on the referendum.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by testa50

In other words, by voting for the sales tax, your local governments will have to contribute less towards maintenance and improvement of your local roads--even roads that aren't covered by the transportation SPLOST. Improving intersections, adding turn lanes, and so on: by voting for the SPLOST, your community will have to devote less of its CURRENT tax revenue to keeping up the local roads, and will relieve pressure to raise property taxes at the local level.

I thought the Founding Fathers said roads were supposed to be free to all tax-paying American citizens.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by tonygeorgia

People complain about our rail service but at least it's better than the rail in Vegas. At least our rail connects to the airport. I went this weekend to Vegas and their rail system does not connect from the airport to downtown, it sucked. You are forced to either spend $30+ on a taxi or you have to wait a long time for a shuttle.

Las Vegas has light rail? Did not know that.

Originally Posted by testa50

For the people on-the-fence about the referendum, here's something you might consider:



Rail Projects Are Top Picks for Referendum List - Norcross, GA Patch

In other words, by voting for the sales tax, your local governments will have to contribute less towards maintenance and improvement of your local roads--even roads that aren't covered by the transportation SPLOST. Improving intersections, adding turn lanes, and so on: by voting for the SPLOST, your community will have to devote less of its CURRENT tax revenue to keeping up the local roads, and will relieve pressure to raise property taxes at the local level.

Just another reason to vote YES on the referendum.

Right. As much as I love the transit component, some of our roads and bridges do need an upgrade. FWIW, that part of the road improvements appeals to me more than road-widening projects.

[testa50]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Las Vegas has light rail? Did not know that.

They have a monorial type thing. It's expensive, slow, and is usually a solid quarter mile off the strip. I've never set foot on the thing.

Right. As much as I love the transit component, some of our roads and bridges do need an upgrade. FWIW, that part of the road improvements appeals to me more than road-widening projects.

I'm all for road projects, I just think we need smarter roads rather than bigger roads. The I-75 reversible toll project isn't half bad in my book. It adds capacity, gets users to pay a significant portion of the road's cost, and fits into a smaller footprint than adding four lanes on either side would.

We need more superarterials and grade separation for existing roads. We need more connectivity and better interchanges. We need to get rid of senseless bottlenecks. All of the above will reduce congestion and improve safety.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by testa50

They have a monorial type thing. It's expensive, slow, and is usually a solid quarter mile off the strip. I've never set foot on the thing.

Ah, it runs parallel to the strip and connects to the airport.

So it's about 4 miles long and carries roughly 14,000 people a day--roughly 3500 passenger-miles per day. That sounds bad, but that's not far off from us (~5000 pass-mi/day) and not terribly far behind the Washington Metro (~8700 pass-mi/day). And remember, that's just for a single line: As more lines are built in the right locations, economies of scale can take effect.

I'm all for road projects, I just think we need smarter roads rather than bigger roads. The I-75 reversible toll project isn't half bad in my book. It adds capacity, gets users to pay a significant portion of the road's cost, and fits into a smaller footprint than adding four lanes on either side would.

I'd be more in favor of the I-75 project if it used existing lanes instead of building brand new ones. That's very expensive, not to mention that new lanes per se are very ineffective at reducing congestion. I have not studied that effect when the lanes are HOV or HOT, however.

We need more superarterials and grade separation for existing roads. We need more connectivity and better interchanges. We need to get rid of senseless bottlenecks. All of the above will reduce congestion and improve safety.

Yeah. One big, big thing I wish this area would do is take better effect of its traffic light sensors. Specifically, for lights that already have sensors, use those as the primary criteria on when to change the lights, not an arbitrary timer that cannot respond to the hour-by-hour fluctuations in traffic. This would merely require reprogramming the lights, not building new ones entirely.

Speaking of building new lights. What's up with entirely replacing traffic light structures with new ones? Yeah I know that metal poles look prettier than wires, but if the lights at least function, why get rid of them? Can't they just reprogram them as needed?

[testa50]

And the final (draft) list is here:

http://atlantaregionalroundtable.com/docs/Constrained_Draft_Final_List_08-15-11.pdf (broken link)

Looks very similar to the other lists. They mainly just fiddled with partial matches.

[Cameron H]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

Ah, it runs parallel to the strip and connects to the airport.

It doesn't connect to the airport. There's a planned extension, but it's been stuck in the planning phase for a while.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by Cameron H

It doesn't connect to the airport. There's a planned extension, but it's been stuck in the planning phase for a while.

lol I saw that. But that should help with ridership numbers even more, because the Strip is literally right down the road from McCarran airport.

[Cameron H]

Originally Posted by toll_booth

lol I saw that. But that should help with ridership numbers even more, because the Strip is literally right down the road from McCarran airport.

Yeah, it would have been considerably more useful if they'd built that phase first.

[toll_booth]

Originally Posted by Cameron H

Yeah, it would have been considerably more useful if they'd built that phase first.

Probably so. But was that that part going to be underground or at street level?