Anyone plan on using Ga 400 once it is free? (Atlanta: transportation, land)

[gerrythesnake]

Today is the day

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by cqholt

Forsyth County will never allow MARTA! Also, its not dense enough for HRT. North Fulton is the farthest is needs to go.

I agree that MARTA will never allow MARTA in its current state which is extremely poorly-perceived by much (if not most) of the public in the Atlanta region outside of Fulton and DeKalb counties.

But if MARTA (and mass transit in general) can somehow manage to turn around its woeful public image in the Atlanta region from something no one outside of Fulton and DeKalb counties wants no parts of to something that everyone outside of Fulton and DeKalb wants to be apart of, and with Forsyth County continuing to permit new development at a very-high rate (much of which is surprisingly increasingly dense), and with peak-hour traffic on GA 400 only continuing to grow increasingly worse over the long-term, by no means is it completely out of the realm of possibility that passenger rail transit could eventually operate in Forsyth County, particularly if the quality and perception of passenger rail transit service is rehabilitated and upgraded significantly where it becomes in-demand rather than shunned outside of Fulton and DeKalb counties.

The Washington D.C. outer-suburb of Loudoun County in Northern Virginia (which in many ways...particularly demographically and geographically...is similar to Metro Atlanta's Forsyth County) is set to receive heavy rail transit service in the not-too-distant future with the extension of the Washington Metrorail Silver Line (...though it should be noted that one major difference between D.C.'s outer-suburb of Loudoun County and Atlanta's outer-suburb of Forsyth County is that D.C.'s Loudoun County is home to a major international airport in the form of Dulles International Airport).

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

I agree that MARTA will never allow MARTA in its current state which is extremely poorly-perceived by much (if not most) of the public in the Atlanta region outside of Fulton and DeKalb counties.

But if MARTA (and mass transit in general) can somehow manage to turn around its woeful public image in the Atlanta region from something no one outside of Fulton and DeKalb counties wants no parts of to something that everyone outside of Fulton and DeKalb wants to be apart of, and with Forsyth County continuing to permit new development at a very-high rate (much of which is surprisingly increasingly dense), and with peak-hour traffic on GA 400 only continuing to grow increasingly worse over the long-term, by no means is it completely out of the realm of possibility that passenger rail transit could eventually operate in Forsyth County, particularly if the quality and perception of passenger rail transit service is rehabilitated and upgraded significantly where it becomes in-demand rather than shunned outside of Fulton and DeKalb counties.

Exactly. People who are opposed to MARTA are not necessarily opposed to rail transportation.

[gerrythesnake]

Im going to ride Ga 400 for the first time from Buckhead to the Perimeter and back to Buckhead in a few minutes

[Pacifico]

Yes, will continue using 400 and will be happier about it too, not having to fork over 50 cents

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by Pacifico

Yes, will continue using 400 and will be happier about it too, not having to fork over 50 cents

I am a big fan of user fees and was more than happy to pay the small 50 cent toll for using GA 400.

However, as is too often the case, once the government gets it hands your money they start using it for all kinds of outlandish purposes.

The 400 toll was supposed to be ONLY for the construction and maintenance of GA 400. But it didn't take long for the state to start spending the money for all sorts of ridiculous purposes, including land acquisition at Atlantic station, a trip to Spain, a $118,000 study in Savannah, salaries, overhead and travel expenses of dozens of administrators, engineers and financial experts, an $8,778 history of the State Tollway authority, the I-85 HOT lane project, you name it.

Those shenanigans are shameful. They further undermine the public's confidence in sensible user fees and in government generally.

Very bad.

[gerrythesnake]

That ride from the Perimeter to Buckhead is beautiful.

[myspoonistoobig]

Had to ride 400 today to go to the barbershop. Good that I don't need to avoid it since it's free.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by myspoonistoobig

Had to ride 400 today to go to the barbershop. Good that I don't need to avoid it since it's free.

Why would you avoid it in the first place?

[gerrythesnake]

Originally Posted by Gulch

Why would you avoid it in the first place?

What kind of question is that?