What needs to happen with the DOT and transit?
Time after time, the Georgia Department of Transportation seems to come off like the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.
AJC reporter Ariel Hart writes today that the DOT’s transit program “is riddled with financial management problems,” according to a federal report. The problems were so severe that the federal government has frozen DOT’s transit grants.
One problem: A Georgia grant funded a bus route with no stops in Georgia.
This news comes on the heels of scathing reports on DOT’s financial practices by the state auditor and inspector general, Hart writes.
We all know how important transit will become if we’re ever going to get out of our congested mess. Business leaders often say that transportation is the No. 1 issue confronting metro Atlanta’s future.
What should be done — about the DOT in particular or our transportation problems in general?
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10 comments Add your comment
Just Some Guy
August 5th, 2009
10:30 am
Amend the Georgia Constitution to: (1) provide that the GDOT Board be elected to 2 year terms (instead of the current 5 year terms) to make them more immediately accountable to their legislative delegations, (2) do away with the Planning Director position created this year and provide that the Governor appoints the GDOT Commissioner and that the Commissioner serves at the pleasure of the Governor (if we’re going to blame governors when GDOT is broken, we should at least give them some direct control and responsibility over the department and then hold them accountable), (3) provide that the GDOT Board’s function is to set policy (such as approving the GDOT Statewide Transportation Plan), not administration (that should be the Commissioner’s job), and (4) provide that the entire GDOT budget be proposed by the Governor and appropriated by the General Assembly (as it’s done with every other state agency). While you’re at it, elliminate GRTA and the State Roads & Tollways Authority and roll those functions into the overhauled GDOT.
Greater executive branch and legislative oversight is what is needed.
unemployed
August 5th, 2009
11:48 am
A small amount of money, but no less is still important and needs to be better managed and effective. Each GDOT district should have a Intermodal coordinator, who coordinates and manages the projects and needs of each local government within their district. The Central DOT office should oversee each district and manage the funding available from the State and Fed’s, and keep it within budget.
Sounds easy, but changing the ways things have been done in the past is tough. Lets hope we can get it right.
Pablo
August 5th, 2009
3:11 pm
This nugget buried in the last paragraph tells you all you need to know about the future of transit in the DOT:
“DOT’s Intermodal Division has 23 employees handling rail, transit, aviation and waterways, in an agency of 5,400″
Just change it back to the Highway Department and start over on transit. Let’s stop kidding ourselves – the DOT has no interest in anything but roads.
Former Manual Labor Employee - Retired :)
August 5th, 2009
4:30 pm
We do not need the Governor or the General Assembly making all the decisions for the GDOT. Yes GDOT has gotten out of control and needs to be put back as one of the top State Transportation Agencies in the U.S. We need to look back when Commissioner Mooreland was in charge and see how management, funding and jobs were handled. True things have changed since then, but things got done correctly, timely and in budget. Since the early 90’s the GDOT began it’s down slide due to more Legislative intervention and “Pork Barrel” dealings that have cut into budgets along the coarse of highway building and departmental restructuring. Not holding contractors to deadlines and hiring firms at a hire price to oversee road-building projects with ex-employees and retirees to do the same job that a lesser-paid GDOT employee could have done to start with. Of coarse everyone has an opinion and I feel fixing what we have and not totally overhauling the system would be the cheaper and more efficient way of resolving the problem. No special Legislative session needed to change the laws and rules governing GDOT.
This Sorry Government NOT working for Americans
August 5th, 2009
4:33 pm
How about just hiring qualified employees with experience to do the government jobs instead of a friend of a friend of a friend without even a highschool education. If you want a true look, look at whos working in the DEFACS. Those people dont even have college degrees let along a degree is social work. Thats the problem. You have nothing but unqualified workers handling jobs they know nothing about. I know this first hand. I went into the unemployment office one day to talk to a worker about setting up a job day and they could not write or read english. Whats up with that. I left and ran a ad in the paper. I cant deal with incompentence.
Northside Towing LLC Atlanta, Ga
August 5th, 2009
5:28 pm
Stop using the H.E.R.O. trucks as an indigent roadside assistance program and return it to what it was designed to do…Push, pull or shove stalled or wrecked vehicles out of traffic lanes. They would not need nearly as many units if they did this. The H.E.R.O. program has evolved into a monster adding trucks and employees at a staggering rate and now patrols the interstates giving away free gas, free tire changes and free jump starts. My towing company and other professional outfits used to do these items at a fair price and create payroll and use supplies paying taxes into the system. The government has forgotten how to make money…It only knows how to spend like no tomorrow
Single Driver
August 5th, 2009
8:40 pm
Well, its not surprising that GDOT screwed up things, but its not the employees its the high dollar salaried staff that are appointed for political favors. The state has mass transit its called Marta, stop allowing other State agencies from operating Transit programs, such as GRTA, and let Marta do their job. Change the brand of Marta and actually fund it instead of funding GRTA to operate buses that are not full of riders and spending money without working inconjunction with Marta routes and service times. If GDOT has screwed up, you might want to look at GRTA because they take money from GDOT to fund their bus program, so how many mistakes is GRTA making because of poor leadership and a thief like JRitchey. Eliminate GRTA and remove the GRTA leadership and elect individuals that actually want to improve transportation instead of just sucking it dry of high dollar salaries. Georgia has the opportunity to improve transit, but we need to elect a Governor that cares and General Assembly that wants to make change.
Inside Outer
August 5th, 2009
10:20 pm
Perhaps we should elect the Commissioner as we do Agriculture, and do away with the Transportation Board. That way GDOT would truly be responsible to the People and not some political agenda of a governot who thinks that what we need is more political meddling. So much of this can be traced right back to the appointment of Gena Evans whose marching orders from the Governot were to destroy the Department so that he could remake it in his image. Talk about cronyism! These are long-term ideas; in the meantime let the new Commissioner (who should have won instead of Eveans) and the Board work this out. With the new, actually pro-transit people in Washington (as opposed to those of the previous administration — don’t get me started!), I’m sure that this can be repaired and money can begin flowing once again in short order. I’m sure there’s no love lost between Obama and our Governot’s administration, but FTA isn’t going to want to loose one transit passenger anywhere because of a sanfu like this.
jboy
August 6th, 2009
1:21 pm
JUST SOME GUY– You are right on brother. I agree with you and would like to add one thing— Don’t co-mingle the gas tax revenue slated for GDOT with the general fund. That’s like giving NANCY PELOSI all of the
Federal Payroll Tax to spend as she sees fit (which is almost what is happening now)! #2) Restore the full 4% funding from gas tax that GDOT originally received. Transportation = access = growth = prosperity.. You got to take care of your roadways or the whole State suffers.
Trent Hastings
August 12th, 2009
9:37 am
The director of the Intermodal program, Erik Steavens, should be fired. He was placed there politically, and is grossly incompetent.