Atlanta Weather

| Traffic

Search
The Biz Beat

Transportation a top business issue in governor’s race

8:57 am June 4, 2009, by Henry Unger

It’s a quick and unscientific survey, to be sure.

But the readers who voted in our Biz Beat poll named transportation and mass transit as the No. 1 business issue for gubernatorial candidates to address.

Of five topics, transportation garnered 79 percent of the vote so far.

As we all know, traffic congestion has been a major problem in metro Atlanta for years, with little accomplished to deal with it, given all of our growth and sprawl.

We’ve paid a price in many ways, including wasting time and energy, increased anxiety before even arriving at work, and the loss of potential relocating businesses.

The airport turns out to be a major plus for Atlanta, while the highways are a major negative.

Over the past few years, the business community has mobilized around the key problem — lack of funding to do much about it. Along with other interests, business has tried to urge state officials to approve a regional sales tax to fund transportation.

So far, the effort has failed.

Will the governor’s race change those dynamics?

  • Print

3 comments Add your comment

Dick Hodges

June 4th, 2009
12:55 pm

For the all-too few metro Atlanta citizens who have been trying for many years to call attention to our area’s transportation failings, recent evidence that an increasing number of influential political and business leaders– and media– have finally “got the message” is heartening. Now is past time for meaningful “action”. Years and years of lack of vision, knowledge, true leadership and political courage regarding the need for increased public financial support for all appropriate and proven modes ef transportation–not just highways–have been disappointing and costly for the future. Now there is reason to “hope” that some meaningful “action” is in the offing, sooner than later.

Road Scholar

June 5th, 2009
6:50 am

We’ll have to wait and see. They have given it lip service in the past with no plan. GDOT started the design on many projects when Perdue started his first term based on his comments to address additional funding. All he did was sell bonds for a few initial projects, change the encumbered fund accounting system to a monthly pay out system , then back to the encumbered fund system. That is one reason why there is an immediate shortage of transportation funding. When you move proposed monthly payments to present worth, you hold all your money, leaving little for new projects. The other is due to paying off the bonds; this amounts to about 20% of GDOT’s budget.

The prioritization of projects based on need and not political influence is a must. Would someone PLEASE analyze the GRIP system and see what rate of return we have received on these 4 lane rural projects. Where is the development they were suppose to bring? It appears that there is very low traffic counts on these roads even after widening. Was this a wise investment considering the needs of the rest of the state?????

Rick

June 8th, 2009
3:32 pm

Also, poor transport is the main cause of poor air quality. What intelligent, healthy person wants to live in a community where you can’t go outside because the air is too unhealthy?