Metro Atlanta Speaks survey shows strong support for public transit (Washington: leases, how much)

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

If I can quickly recall my MARTA history, MARTA opened in 1979 right? Therefore, it's been roughly 33-34 years since the opening of the MARTA rails.

Correct. I kept thinking "time period since MARTA previously extended HRT" which is a lot shorter than 33 years. My bad.

Regarding HRT in the Emory area, the Tucker-North DeKalb Branch was in the original Referendum Plan, and would have run from the East Line (the turnout still exists just west of East Lake) along the CSX ROW up to North Druid Hills Road with stations at Emory (North Decatur Road) and NDH, with long term plans to go to the Northlake/I-285 area. That branch was killed by NIMBYs in the Lake Claire and North Decatur areas back in the late 90's.

[bryantm3]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

You're an idiot.

ant, cut out the name calling!

[cqholt]

Clayton County approves MARTA and gets BRT along major corridors.
I would think that major business centers, like Cumberland, that have their own CID could help fund MARTA rail lines to their areas.

[WmMeeker]

BRT is really the way to go for our metro. I can see maybe extending MARTA rails north into the dense population corridors up to Forsyth County and maybe west to Fulton Ind and into Mabelton/Six Flags but BRT is a better and cheaper way for most of the rest of the metro. The Express busses out to Hiram are full all the time proving that people do want the service even in the suburbs. So if we could build BRT right-of-way at much less cost, that would be the way to go.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by WmMeeker

BRT is really the way to go for our metro. I can see maybe extending MARTA rails north into the dense population corridors up to Forsyth County and maybe west to Fulton Ind and into Mabelton/Six Flags but BRT is a better and cheaper way for most of the rest of the metro. The Express busses out to Hiram are full all the time proving that people do want the service even in the suburbs. So if we could build BRT right-of-way at much less cost, that would be the way to go.

Only certain corridors. Rail-based transit is more appropriate fro 400 north, 75 north, 85 north, and 20 east.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

This is not news.

People like the idea of transit. However, they don't like paying for it and riding it. They want others to pay for it and others to ride it to make their commutes easier.

The same is true of roads. People like roads (though it seems not as much as in the past), they just don't want to pay for it. Yet we dump trillions more tax dollars into roads than transit. We need to stop spending so much on roads so transit can compete.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by gtcorndog

People like the idea of transit. However, they don't like paying for it and riding it. They want others to pay for it and others to ride it to make their commutes easier.

That's a valid point. Whiles it's certainly not true of everyone, a lot of people do feel that way.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by arjay57

That's a valid point. Whiles it's certainly not true of everyone, a lot of people do feel that way.

Yep. Thats why both should go to 100% user fee funded for both roads and transit. Pay $15 in tolls plus gas or $4 in fares to get in from the 'burbs? Let consumers have the choice.

[#1MARTAFan]

Originally Posted by jsvh

Yep. Thats why both should go to 100% user fee funded for both roads and transit. Pay $15 in tolls plus gas or $4 in fares to get in from the 'burbs? Let consumers have the choice.

How did you come up with those numbers?

Role back gas tax and MARTA tax and see what fees are like.

If you are going to do that, MARTA would cost about $7.50 one way.

How did you make up that auto charge? Logic would dictate that it would be far less than the number you quoted.

It is funny when transit people want to use expense as a reason for mass transit when that is about the worst, self defeating argument they could make.

[jsvh]

Originally Posted by #1MARTAFan

How did you come up with those numbers?

Role back gas tax and MARTA tax and see what fees are like.

If you are going to do that, MARTA would cost about $7.50 one way.

How did you make up that auto charge? Logic would dictate that it would be far less than the number you quoted.

And where did you come up with your numbers?

Many of the world's major transit systems were built by private companies and many are still privately, profitably run with fares less than MARTA. Most private transit companies in the US in the early 1900s charged $0.05 flat rate. Which is $1.18 today.

Many existing toll roads already charge more than a dollar a mile like the Delaware Turnpike (And that is before you add in the costs of gas, maintenance, deprecation, etc that are associated with owning a car. Those average another $0.60 a mile).

So I was actually being quite generous.

Originally Posted by #1MARTAFan

It is funny when transit people want to use expense as a reason for mass transit when that is about the worst, self defeating argument they could make.

Right, cause one person going 10 miles by themselves in a 3,000 pound metal vehicle on a quarter mile wide surface that has to be repaved and has multiple bridges and fly overs any time it crosses another road is cheaper than a hundred people splitting the cost of a 10 mile ride on one train on a track a few feet wide?

Where is your evidence that without tax dollars, roads are cheaper per person, per mile? Because I call BS.

Edit: But even more so, what are you afraid of if we force people to pay the full cost of both? The free market will push people to ride transit like it already does in other countries that don't spend as much tax money on highways? And then you would be wrong?