Perdue wants to avoid special session on MARTA

So wait, because MARTA officials didn’t explicitly ask the Governor for help (even though the system’s budget problems have been publicly aired over and over) – and we know how sincere his “desire” to improve transportation in this State is anyways from the 2nd legislative failure in a row – those who use MARTA are going to have to suffer? Talk about a government for the people… I can’t wait for his term to end.

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Let get this right. Governor Perdue called a special sessions back several years ago because two people of the same sex wanted to get married because it was such a big threat to him and his friends. But when the Transportation system is about to shut down it is not a Threat to the people of ATLANTA …… come on. Perdue you are such a waste of my tax paying dollars.

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“The governor mentioned several times that MARTA made no effort to get him involved in passing legislation that would have freed up funding for the system.”

MARTA’s financial struggle during this economic downturn has been public news for months. Does our governor not consider himself a member of the public? Does his Veterinary Excellency require an embossed invitation before he becomes involved in matters that are vital to the general public?

Another unbelievable display of arrogance by our Republican elected officials.

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[...] challenges we faced, the biggest thing is we didn’t raise taxes on anybody,” Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle said in a story that appeared Sunday in the The Atlanta [...]

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Moreover, Perdue has made such an effort to be removed from the legislative process that it begs the question, would he have gotten involved? The answer is likely no, but if he had, it would have been to the same extent he got involved in his transportation governance reform but not the funding.

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I can’t fault Marta for seeking a special session; I can fault Sonny for not realizing the implications of his decision not to hold a special session. Essentially, he’s disregarding many who depend on Marta for their livelihood. He’s making an already dismal economy worse for them or me; this isn’t the time for platitudes or excuses of “we don’t do that.” I’m flabbergasted that Sonny would make such a direction for the people of Georgia–a very irresponsible thing for a “governor” to do. He should be ashamed.

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Sonny is a bigger embarrassment as governor than was Lester Maddox.
I hope you default on the $15 million you owe the banks, and your farm is taken. Perhaps then you will see this economy negatively impacts us all, including you and your Baptist Gestapo.

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Can you please stop playing politics and get to work? Peoples livelihoods are at stake here as well as the economy of the metropolitan area. Do what needs to be done or the people will see to it that we have “Change” in Georgia too!

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There is a reason I left the Republican party to become a Libertarian. The politicians are too interested in the politics instead of doing the right thing. Thanks Sonny! Is there any more damage you can inflict upon your party and your fellow citizens?

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Sonny does not and has never cared what Atlanta needs or wants. He has shown that time and time again. His base is the rural areas; he knows it and spends the money out there accordingly, even though the majority of the tax money comes from the metro area.

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would someone tell me what his paid staff does? Maybe a few more days off would help….anyone that did not know about this…well…maybe they are blind…this personal invite thing is unreal…just like he signed to extend teacher’s receiving their contracts until May 15th…that is a major priority…

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Wow, what a pompous SOB.

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Good….marta is unsafe, unclean and undesireable. raise rates marta, use that money to pay your workers, clean your trains. oh….and so people can watch flat screen tv’s as they ride the bus. sorry, sonny isn’t helping pay extra for that….NEITHER AM I!

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It’s fine and dandy to vent your frustrations on here, but we all really should be calling and emailing Sonny to tell him to call a special session and do the business of the people. Here’s the online form: http://gov.georgia.gov/00/gov/contact_us/0,2657,78006749_94820188,00.html , and his phone number is (404) 656-1776.

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Ok All of you comparing Augusta, Columbus, and Macons transit system to Atlanta’s are dissolusioned. How many people visiting the Aug, Col, or Mac actually ride their transit or should I say Bus system. People from all over the world depend on MARTA when visiting Atlanta and contributes to the city and states revenues because they spend money here. So if Augusta, Columbus and Macon wants to stop taking state money from money spent in the Atlanta economy, then I will be fine with Atlanta paying for MARTA. Without Atlanta, Georgia would be just another pass through state. So Yes everyone in this state has a responsibility to MARTA, not just Metro Atlantans.

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DL – aside from your uninformed, ignorant comments about the safety, cleanliness, and desirability of the system, you’re still not paying attention – no extra money is needed. It’s all about letting MARTA spend money in MARTA’s capital accounts. The State shouldn’t control MARTA’s budget. I’m betting you don’t pay for MARTA at all – probably don’t live in Fulton and DeKalb – so shut it.

BTW, the “flat screen tv’s” are free to MARTA: they bring in advertising money, so they actually help MARTA’s budget.

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I love MARTA but I don’t understand why they gave out 4% raises to their employees this year if they are struggling for cash. Most companies have not given out raises but MARTA has been beefing up their employee’s salary and yet asking the state for money. Their Police force is one of the highest paid. WHY?????

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When will you morons like “t” get it through your thick, dimwitted skulls that not one cent of MARTA’s funding comes from any other source but ticket fares and a Fulton and DeKalb county sales tax. MARTA receives ZERO state funding, ZERO county funding (except Dekalb/Fulton) and ZERO city funding – not even Atlanta funds it.

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Perdue’s response is very typical of this legislature and that’s an abomination. I agree with T.J. citizens (especially those of us that use MARTA) should have been calling our representatives to make them resolve this. Instead of legislators doing the easy thing to fix this problem, they choose to do the opposite adding to the problem and making it worse for everyone…especially during this recession. They are completely inept. I hope everyone took notes to see who opposed this bill!!!

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The Republicans in this State are hell bent on living in the past and running this State and Atlanta, which the Democrats for 150 years made one of the most prosperous and fastest growing states and cities in the country, into the ground. This legislative session amounted to allowing pick up truck drivers continue to drive without seatbelts, refusing to allow the voters to approve sunday alcohol sales, and passing embyro adoption. How ignorant. God, please let common sense prevail and lets elect a democrat as governor.

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Here is another prime example of the peanut boys and their associates trying to control and destroy somthing that they did not contribute to…The City of Atlanta. First, we have people that use this city every and all day; when they have gotten all of the “Peoples” tax revenue that they needed to build up the areas they live in, they make motions in the legislature to form their own cities and counties so that they do not have to contribute to the engine that built their communities, enriched their families and provided the lifestyles that they feel that they are entitled to. My suggestion, build toll bridges around the city. If you do not want to help maintain the city that you come into and destroy on a daily basis we will find a way to make sure that you pay. Will all of the the real ATLANTANS PLEASE STAND UP?!

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It’s not as simple as “just let MARTA spend the money already in the bank”. When MARTA was enacted the powers that be mandated that half of all monies be invested in capital projects so that MARTA would continue to grow. While one can argue about how well that has worked out, just imagine the lack of growth if MARTA was allowed to spend all of it’s money on operational (day to day) expenses.

As one who has seen MARTA from the inside I have seen some of the most inexcuseable wastes of money – both capital and operating – that are clearly at the core of MARTA’s money issues. Instead of just passing this waste on to the taxpayer, how about MARTA board and management get involved in what REALLY happens and stop the waste – just as any FOR PROFIT business must do OR GO OUT OF BUSINESS.

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The accidental Gov fails at transportation again and his excuse is they didn’t ask for his help.That shows where his head and heart is.

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Hey Atlanta Son “If you do not want to help maintain the city that you come into and destroy on a daily basis” the people of Atlanta are already doing a fine job of destroying the city, they don’t need are help.

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Ok people now this proves my point – Sonny Perdue doesn’t care about anything not even MARTA. He has not stood up for the unemployed in Georgia nor will he stand up for MARTA. Yes MARTA has issues for years but MARTA is the key to ATLANTA growing, and no one from Sonny Perdue office has offered to help. Let MARTA shut down and watch the companies leave Atlanta – if you don’t believe me WHY do we have such high unemployment. Atlanta is in a mess and thanks to Sonny Perdue it will not get better. MARTA go ahead shut it down and let ATLANTA fall maybe they will help you after that point. So go ahead prevent the people who need to use MARTA miss work, going to the doctor, and school. And see ATLANTA fall !!!! We should take a stand and have an old fashion march on the capital regarding all these issues…

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MARTA has approx. $65 million in capital reserves. Based on their FY10 budget, they’d tap into $24 million of that in FY10 and then burn through the remaining $41 million in FY11. By FY12, they project an $89M shortfall (with no reserves left).

While freeing up the capital money is certainly a short-term fix, it is by no means a panacea as people have made it out to be. It spends money that was set aside specifically for expansion (i.e. Memorial Dr BRT, BeltLine, etc.). Using up the capital reserves (which MARTA can bond against) only makes those projects less viable in the long-run. There’s got to be a better solution to fix the operating budget.

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Everyone please take a break to read the annual report and audited financial statements (particularly note 4), as well as management’s discussion and analyis. Then try to make an argument for or against MARTA.

One thing I would like to point out (as a MARTA rider) is that MARTA has operated on an operating loss for a while. Their financial bind is not necessarily new. It’s just “hot” news. Kind of like shark attacks. When nothing else seems to be getting attention and everything else is played out, the national news talks about shark attacks. Likewise, Atlanta news will focus on MARTA. It’s easy to rile people up and increase viewership and readership…..As proven here.

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DL, do your research. As it has been stated many times during this post, MARTA isn’t asking for tax increases or extra pay from the state. All they want is access to money they already have in their coffers that is set aside for other projects. Also, those “flat screen tvs” you are talking about do not cost MARTA, they are actually generating funds through advertisements. All they play are advertisements and recorded local news. Neither you nor Sonny pay for that anyway. Do your homework or leave your uninformed comments in the “Vent” section.

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Enter your comments here

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Who cares about MARTA? That’s why it is so nice to live outside the city and not have to worry about all the crap that you people do. Gotta love that black leadership! MARTA, Clayton County, APD, Grady, the list goes on and on! No problems up here in Alpharetta

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If MARTA is allowed to tap the capital fund, and they blow through that as they surely will, they will then go to the GA taxpayer for operational funds AND funds for capital improvements. They need to make due with the budget they have.

And if you don’t think MARTA is playing polictics by picking a weekday as the day they close, you are fooling yourself.

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MARTA should be funded by all the metro counties that drive their buses into the city of Atlanta each day. To decrease services at this time is stupid. Have we forgot about the gas prices! The Georgia House and Senate needs to come together and come up with a solution to restructure MARTA so that all who benefit share the cost not just Fulton and Dekalb.

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PS -

“Christy,” we’re as glad as you are that you don’t live here in Atlanta. Please continue to keep your pretty racist head OTP.

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MARTA watcher… Please tell us, are you also a ROAD watcher? Do roads meet your lofty criterion of self-sustainability and profitability? Do ROADS pay for themselves without support from taxpayers? With the possible exception of GA-400, I think not!

So, why don’t we just put a halt to all expenditures relating to roads and highways and let the ROADS GO OUTTA BID-NESS TOO?

ROADS AIN’T PROFITABLE! ROADS COST TAXPAYER DOLLARS! SHUT ‘EM ALL DOWN!

Thank you, MARTA watcher, for your biased display of hypocrisy with regard to transportation.

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Thank you Christy!!! You just proved so many points about the type of person that you and so many of your people are. I am sure that your job and your sense of elitism/entitlement was made possible due to the hard work of the old Atlantans, both black and white, who worked very hard to make sure that Atlanta was a powerful economic engine that would surpass the rest of the south in almost everything. By the way, I am sure that you are not from here. Why did you come?

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What a coincedence that the day that has been proposed to drop Marta service is also the day that the city offices are closed; at least the city employees won’t be inconvenienced. What a coincedence also that both Marta and Shirley Franklin seem to be taking a similar stance where if they don’t get what they want they are going to make things very unpleasant for the citizens. Shirley wanted a tax hike which City Council refused so she layed off police and firemen and Marta now is threatening to shut down service. Assuming that Marta is really short of operating capital, perhaps things would not be like they are if they had not squandered money on things like personal trainers in their gym. How did Marta survive for years on the current arrangement? What will happen after they pillage this fund, are they going to ask for a tax increase to pay for necessary improvements to the system? FIRE THE IDIOTS IN MARTA AND THE MAYORS OFFICE AND GET SOME COMPETENT PEOPLE IN THERE.

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“Atlanta Son” I was born and raised here thank you. Why do blacks get so upset when someone SPEAKS THE TRUTH? That is all I did. Who is on the news NIGHTLY causing shootings? Who causes 99% of the violence in the city? Who ruined Buckhead? Who is ruining Atlantic Station? They are called facts.

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Atlanta sucks. Georgia sucks. Purdue sucks. Christy from Alpharetta, you suck (”Gotta love that Black leadership!”).I’m getting out of this dumb state.

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MARTA Watcher…if you’ve watched MARTA from the inside then you should know that MARTA legislation was enacted in 1965…1965! Who’s still operating a business as if its 1965??? Ya’ll are backwards.

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Christy you are such an ignorant idiot! It is obvious that you are from a trailor park and live there! You are white trash!!!!

Just go back to your little trailor and get back in bed with your brother/father/cousin..shoot they are all the same person! You are so ignorant and a disgrace to human kind!

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ATLin83, you are a fool. My comments are not uninformed! I do live in Dekalb and have been ROBBED on Marta as well as have had several other friends that have been ROBBED on Marta! It is extremely unsafe! A person cannot ride the train alone and I would never let anyone I care about ride it alone. Get your act together and you can shut it! Why don’t you help them EBAY these FREE TV’s so they can stay afloat???? Ever hear of print advertising? Wouldn’t that help the budget? So….let me repeat, Marta is UNCLEAN, UNSAFE, and UNDESIREABLE! Perhaps bc people such as yourself are riding it ATLin83!!!!!

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Paul, the problem stems from the fact that the state has direct control over how MARTA spends its own money, even though the state contributes nothing to MARTA’s revenue stream.

In essence, a bunch of state legislators from OUTSIDE Atlanta are
(1) Telling MARTA that it cannot spend money on operations that it already has in the bank, and

(2) Telling metro Atlantans that we cannot tax ourselves to fund our own transportation solutions.

THAT is why we have such a problem with the state. The state wants to control what we do, how we spend our money, and tell us we can’t pool our own money together to spend on the transportation solutions that make the most sense for us.

In this sense, the Legislature and the Governor is setting a prime example of how Big Government works to take the power out of the hands of local citizens and concentrate it in the hands of the elite few.

Please correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think the state has any say over how the transportaion systems of Athens or Valdosta operate or spend their own funds.

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Well, Jena. If I wasn’t already 55 and getting close to retirement I would leave this backward State too. I’ve given up on intelligent responsible Republicans or Democrats running the State. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if General Robert E. Lee gets off of Stone Mountain and leaves the State too.

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Go Christy!

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According to that linked 2008 annual report, 78% of MARTA’s operating expenses are “labor and benefits”

I’m not sure how tapping into the capital improvements surplus will help fix this problem in the future.

Sounds like it’s time to propose some sweeping pay and benefit cuts. I’m sure in this economy there are plenty of people willing to take jobs if the current employees would rather quit than take the cuts.

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I have read several of the comments made on this site, and so many are valid…But, shouldn’t our comments and phone calls be made to the Governors office instead?

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Christy, Hate to bust your bubble but the state is 2 billon in deficet So Tts not just blacks that are not doin there job. This idiot cant even come up with transportation solutions.Georgia goverment is no different than Atlanta or Clayton probably worse.

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“Christy” you’re a complete idiot. Alpharetta sucks!!!

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Lucas: MARTA does have plans to expand. They have done preliminary studies and public involvement for line extensions in all 4 directions (that is north, east south and west for you, Sonny). The north line, then the east line seems most likely due to evaluation. They do NOT have the money to expand though. This is called PLANNING, something Sonny just (after 6 years)did with passing a bill with a Director of Planning appointed by him.

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Christy, Christy
I am embarassed to have grown up in Alpharetta right now. I just hope those more enlightened will understand that your narrow point of view is not indicative of the people who call Alpharetta their hometown. I certainly hope that you weren’t a teacher or Sunday School teacher of mine or if you were, I am proud that I have overcome that.

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“Christy”, the local nightly news is garbage – sensationalized claptrap designed to hypnotize the simple-minded into watching the ads. It’s NOT real journalism.

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Skeptical – I work, live and play in Gwinnett, and DO NOT want that MARTA mess in my back yard, NOR the crime that comes with it. I have been happily living in Gwinnett for over 30 years now.

I very rarely get on 85, or any other interstate in this town. See I chose to live close to work. I chose NOT to go into Atlanta. I like my quiet suburban living. I like that I don’t get stuck behind a vile MARTA bus on a one lane road.

But thanks for your concern.

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Purdue – Just one more RETHUGLICAN who couldn’t care less for people who actually WORK for a living. TYPICAL of ALL RETHUGS.

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Christy’s an inbred…HAHA!!

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CHRISTY, where are you from? Alphawhere?

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I ride MARTA most days and was raised taking public transit in other places. The idea that it’s unsafe isn’t supported by the evidence beyond some high profile cases that support people’s views. It can feel unsafe and it can be unruly, but you’re not any more likely to encounter real danger on the MARTA system than in other cities. I wish it got more support, that there were more cops on board there and in the City of Atlanta, but there’s no money.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Atlanta_Rapid_Transit_Authority#Criminal_activity

According to national comparisons, MARTA does a lot with a little money. All systems, roads, rails, even planes, are ultimately subsidized. As a state we just choose to put all of our money into roads.

Atlanta, and ultimately Georgia will lose private sector employers, federal contracts, and anyone else who needs basic infrastructure to do business. They’ll lose it to places that have a little forethought and an understanding that it’s not all about their rural county’s immediate self interest. Good cities with good city services have implications over the entire state they’re in. States subsidize systems that not everyone uses, and the whole state benefits. Places like Charlotte, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Denver are going to take jobs from here as traffic strangles our town ever tighter.

See this link: http://www.itsmarta.com/about/MARTA_materials_list/Cost%20Effectiveness%20brochure%20030409.pdf

… sure it’s on their web site, but it’s a good study with some pretty basic, unequivocal numbers.

MARTA’s rough because Atlantans and Georgians treat it like it’s a form of welfare. Someone once said programs that are just for the poor are poor programs.

Like every other piece of public property in this state, it’s drawn on racial lines like it was still 1955. Everywhere else, trains and buses are just a way of life. Mayor Bloomberg rides the NY system every day to work. Could you imagine Franklin or Perdue doing that?!

If Georgia wants to have world-class institutions, and to be taken seriously outside the South, golf courses, Gulfstream jets and interstates aren’t enough. No vision. All naked self-interest, like a bunch of reptiles. The guys in charge under the gold dome will lowball our public services until we look antebellum all over again. It worked pretty well for them after all.

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Christy, Christy
I am embarassed to have grown up in Alpharetta right now. I just hope those more enlightened will understand that your narrow point of view is not indicative of the people who call Alpharetta their hometown. I certainly hope that you weren’t a teacher or Sunday School teacher of mine or if you were, I am proud that I have overcome that.

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After Marta shuts down on Friday’s let Sonny and the GA Legislature transport Marta passengers.

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Gwinnett is now a hub for the Mexican drug cartel. Now thats a cesspool

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The only nice/safe areas left are Buckhead (barely), East Cobb, most of Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton, Forsyth. All of course, white areas.

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Could we have a governor that cares less about the people of the state? Looks like more traffic on the Atlanta highways.

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@ Christy
Crime stats have nothing to do with the issue at hand. How in the world can a group of south and middle GA redneck yokels have a say so in what an Atlanta quasi-governmental agency does with IT’S funds. We here in the Metro don’t give a rat babies @ss what happens in other parts of the state, so why should they care what goes on in Atlanta? Only the citizens of Fulton & Dekalb pay for it anyway, so once again why should some yokel from Colquitt, Georgia get to have a stake in metro ATL tax dollars? Not to mention that Atlanta contributes about 70% of the tax dollars yearly, so it’s safe to say that without the city of Atlanta, Georgia would be just another Alabama or Mississippi, probably worse, at least they get revenue from casino taxes. So once again, what do crime stats have to do with the issue at hand? I’m a white ITP male who is concerned about crime as well, but that has nothing to do with this MARTA situation. Also crime is not precipitated by blacks, as my girlfriend was mugged in Cabbage Town by two teenage white males no even two weeks ago. Not to mention that I live in the 4th Ward area, not to far from the infamous open air drug market that is Boulevard, and trust me when I say that I see more teenage Honda Civic driving white males with Fulton, Cobb, and Gwinnett County tags stopping at those corners and buying god knows what from the drug dealers than anything else. So with that said, go outside and get your kids from the bus stop, and start preparing dinner for your husband for when he gets off work, and tell your teenage son and his friends to stop buying drugs from these ATL thugs that feed into the vicious cycle.

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I’ve never seen so many ignorant comments in my entire life.

1. Marta does not receive money from the state.
2. Marta does not receive money from Savannah, Macon, or Columbus, although those cities recieve tax money from Atlanta.
3. Marta is not asking Georgia for money.
4. Marta is asking for access money that it has already collected, but by law is forced to use for capital projects, not operating expenses.
5. Marta is clean, safe and efficient, but it is not a limo.
6. Marta is used by tens of thousands of people every day, many of which have not other means of transportation.
7. Many people, like myself, choose to ride Marta every day because the traffic situation in this town is insane. It’s just insane.
8. Sonny, Casey and Glen have done nothing for the people of Georgia with regards to a comprehnsive transportation plan. Nothing.

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Sonny PerDon’t and the General Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight…..what a crew!

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Christy, I’m going to have to ask for proof of this 99% of who commits violence in the city. Sure there are blacks in the city who commit crimes. There are also white, hispanic, asian, etc who commit plenty of crimes in the city as well. Unless you can provide proof of this 99% you speak of, I call BS.

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I guess blacks caused the current U.s.mess too?

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David I couldn’t agree with you more. This is the dumbest governor this state has ever had. His priorities are so far out of touch with the residents of the Atlanta metro area. He takes all of the tax revenue generated by Atlanta and sends it to these counties in Georgia that no one has ever heard of. He sees gay marriage as a threat and will do whatever it takes to stop Sunday alcohol sales. However, when it comes to a vital part of the economy of his state’s largest city, he turns a blind eye. Without metro Atlanta, Georgia would be one giant trailer park!

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… this kind of thinking is precisely why Georgia always seems to be ranked 49 out of 50 for everything that’s good about a place. Thank heavens for Mississippi…but not for long!

“Who cares about MARTA? That’s why it is so nice to live outside the city and not have to worry about all the crap that you people do. Gotta love that black leadership! MARTA, Clayton County, APD, Grady, the list goes on and on! No problems up here in Alpharetta ”

…if only we could all be like Alpharetta. All our problems would disappear and we’d all live in some lily-white Republican paradise of paranoid people, strip malls and bad chain restaurants. Clean living. How I long for the day.

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This villification of MARTA for wastefulness and having increased ridership shows ingnorance of what occurs in a tax-subsidized system. If more people ride it, there is no increase but a loss. Salaries at MARTA are way below corporate pay, so that’s not being wasteful either. GRTA riders gets free transfers into MARTA, so that ride is totally subsidized by Fulton, DeKalb and Atlanta; not by the county where those riders live. And traffic is not getting any better!!!

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Georgia, Perdue, Chisty–ALL Bass Ackward!!!!

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And to the gentleman who said that Gwinnett knew what it was doing when it turned down MARTA, well I say to them that they were so worried about crime traveling out to their “lily” white county, that all the while the largest and most violent organized crime organization in US history set up shop right under their noses, via cars & trucks of all things!!! Gwinnett can turn down MARTA again and again for all I care, I just hope they enjoy the distinction as the new organized crime hub of the USA. Serves them right, Gwinnett was always trashy looking to me anyway, even before the Juarez and Gukf Cartel moved. LMAO @ this backwards state full of right wing yokels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Christy pays for Marta, lol.

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The Republican leadership in Georgia is a joke!!

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Christy get off your soap box. Those areas are not as safe as you think. I can think of a couple of murders that have taken place and the suspects were white. The inner city-ATL and others-get the greatest coverage becasue they’re the biggest target while small cities get little coverage and their dirt gets swept beneath the carpet only to surface later to the surprise of the inhabitants who knew about it in the first place.

What the media doesn’t show you are the very well to do blacks who are are not movie stars or atheletes but just everyday people. Becasue of where I work I see them every day and I know for a fact that many of them have a very solid finacial portfolio and they live not in Alpharetta, Johns Creek and those stuffy areas, but right here in ATL-Fulton and Dekalb Counties.

So before you generalize you need to get your info straight…

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Getting a lecture on MARTA from people in Gwinnett and Cobb counties is hysterical!!!

GRTA is a STATE FUNDED transit system that provides STATE money for bus service in those counties. Yes, STATE MONEY!!!!! MARTA receives NO state money.

These buses are overflowing with people traveling INTO the city of Atlanta to go to work. Just as MARTA parking lots are full of cars with Cobb and Gwinnett tags on them!!!

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Charlotte is losing population, the banking and insurance companies that are the foundation for their success are shrinking. Charlotte is more infected with sprawl than Atlanta.

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Sorry folks. I have to respond to people like Christy. Passionate people with “facts” hate it when you can actually site a source, such as GBI crime statistics or MARTA’s annual report and financial statements.

The truth is somewhere in the middle my friends.

MARTA does have capital improvement plans. It’s called Concept 3 and discussed on page 14 of the annual report here: http://www.itsmarta.com/about/annualreport/default.aspx

So I do have a concern that taking funds from capital improvements now will leave us less for later and potentially higher taxes.

Anyway, just food for thought. Let the irrational debate continue.

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Are we really living in a metro area or what? It’s sinful that our state government cannot pass a bill that would help the people of the state….and not only that, but the people who got them elected to office. It’s time that we start holding our elected officials responisble for what they are doing. They are supposly there to serve the people, however it really doesn’t seem that way. I am so glad that Perdue’s term is almost over, I am jumping up and down!!!!! Hope the next one isn’t the same or worst!!!!!!!

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As a former MARTA employee, I can say without hesitation that management there HAS been incompetent if not sometimes outright criminal in their actions (i.e. former CEO Nat Ford who was as detrimental to MARTA as Perdue has been to Georgia). However, the solution for MARTA, like so many other issues, must include a combination of personal and social responsibility.

MARTA, has been attempting to fix its financial problems on the backs of its employees for years with frozen salaries, furloughs, and even lay offs. So while other companies were living the good life and robbing the citizens of this country blind (think Enron…who received much less vitriol for their incompetence than say MARTA, Grady, etc. does), MARTA employees were getting paid less and less. I am pretty sure the increase recently received still doesn’t bring those on the bottom rungs of the ladder close to a true cost of living increase.

Yes, MARTA must improve and the hiring of the current CEO was, for many, a step in the right direction; but she should not be held accountable for the poor decisions of past leadership. Dr. Scott, who is well respected in the transportation industry, should be given the opportunity and the resources to sink or swim. I always thought it ironic that first of all the GA Legislature would lecture anyone on fiscal responsibility and then have the audacity to say we will help you but only when you don’t need it.

Just as important is social responsibility. MARTA suffers from the same malaise as does Grady. Too many people use the service with little to no state support. The solution MARTA has proposed is indeed a short term fix. When we, as a COUNTRY, acknowledge that not everything is supposed to generate a profit, we will experience a much needed paradigm shift and begin to better manage our expectations. Everyone benefits from transportation whether you are the the employee going to a job or the employer who needs workers. An employer in the suburbs is even more vulnerable as they usually have a harder time finding minimum wage workers in nearby communities.

Transportation should be about getting people from point A to point B as quickly and efficiently as possible and providing a pleasant experience while doing so. Maybe there shouldn’t be a profit expectation for industries like transportation, healthcare, etc. I know that is “anti-capitalism’ talk, but some rights should be inalienable, such as the right to be able to get around your city even if you don’t own a car (esp. the elderly) and the right to see a doctor if you get sick.

Unfortunately in Atlanta, these two institutions in particular have divided us across racial, class, and geographical lines, with no solutions in sight.

Unless Georgia’s leadership steps up to the plate and into (at least) the 21st century, Atlanta will remain a big country town with visions of grandeur. The citizens of this state deserve better.

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looks like some peeps need a day job…..my lord! this has been fun egging you bored, lazy people on but i gotta get back to work so i can support all of you!

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“DL” Please, we know what that stands for…You’re probably on welfare and using a computer from Aaron Rents..LOL…Christy, you too

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If you only knew, who the COWBOY really is…Hope scares the crap out of you doesnt it?

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Ummmm….cause the city kids can’t qualify for hope???? since when? it has been awhile since i engaged someone so completely ignorant! This has been fun, but seriously, I gotta get back to work Cowboy. I gotta feed your kids! Have fun watchin TV and playin on the computer all day. Don’t believe those work from home ads and those infomercials you watch all day, they aren’t true and prey on peeps like you! I am so happy that I know you won’t be on the roads the same time as me, I would be terrified of being close to you in a vehicle but I know there is no chance you would be heading home from WORK!!!!

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He doesn’t use it. What does he care? What a jerk.

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Hey DL… just exactly when were you robbed on MARTA? I want specifics… otherwise I consider you a liar and an instigator…

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How about some of the outrage towards Sonny (OK, he deserves it for being stupid, but still…) directed towards your GA LEGISLATORS for not getting this bill passed in the first place???

No need for a Special Session if the GA Senate and House could of stepped up and passed a bill changing the percentage from a 50/50 split to a 65/35 or something.

The Special Session will cost ALL taxpayers money, straight out of the GA budget.

Sonny has multiple other issues we can bash him on; but this one should fall squarely on the Legislature.

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If the idiots who run MARTA had not spent countless millions on new computers that have been stored rather than being used, had not spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on service contracts for those “unused” computers they would not need to go begging for additional funds to run MARTA! Stupid management team I would say.

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why is it always race with people like christy. Why is it that to people like them only people in gwinnett and cobb counties only pay taxes. I beg to differ her point and let her tell all the people of Dekalb and Fulton who has been paying their share for over 30 years. By the way i bet if it wasn’t for the economic engine atlanta is today christy would be 7 months preagnant with her brother’s child, somewhere in a trailer park along the Chattahoochee.

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By reading these comments including the Governor is the fact that there’s no consideration for those who use public transporation which is sad. Which is more sad is the racist comments (Christy), which tells me that there are some spoiled sorry ass Atlanta people that need to shut the hell up unless you have commuted on Marta back and forth to work and not just for pleasure. I’m no big Marta fan, but damn come on, wake up, understand this damn situation is serious.

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Yes, Christy Let me ask you this what has is the current most violent drug epedimic in georgia now ? I think it is METH and that would be in your Trailer Park wouldn’t it? oh I forgot people who ride around with their children with labs are not criminals but people needing to be rehabilitated? right that your train of thought isn’t it ?

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People with attitudes like you is what makes the state of Mississppi the shining star of the south.

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Why cut service out on Friday? Sounds vindictive. Friday afternoon is the worst traffic day for Atlanta, every week. That is the day all the corporate communters leave to go home for the weekend (per GA DOT). Why not Sunday when there are less paying patrons? The threat of a Friday no service day sounds vindictive…

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OK, I just realized that Alpharetta is in Fulton County. My bad. So I guess Christy is entitled to his/her opinion. But not the rest of you.

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“DL” I am near six-figures, I own a home have no debt, I get no public assistance and I am a young BLACK man…HOPE is flawed and that system should benefit those that fund it more. Pre-k is good, but the scholarship is welfare for the wealthy…LOL…You probably eat at Joe’s Crab Shack, you hick!!!

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@ Dave

Taxpayer bailout?!?!?!?!? WTF are you talking about, MARTA is only asking for it’s own money. Do some research before you let your small minded yokel views become known to the masses.

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look at what Sonny and the Republican General Assembly has done this session to help relieve traffic and he wants to control the GA DOT come on you got to be KIDDING right? thats got to be a Joke right? come on pinch me I’m dreaming. I must be in HUEY LONG”S Lousiana.

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Dark Knight, do you honestly believe that MARTA will spend that money wisely? That money will be mismanaged into the same failing system they are running now, and then they will be left with nothing. We will pay for it in the end, I assure you.

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See Christy voting for the party of white flight and hate just don’t hurt atlanta it hurts us all. just wait until the verizon’s companies start complaining about the traffic, I think the atlanta chamber has already came out for the reform of transportation policies in ga, just wait alpharetta will be just another enclave for cheap priced homes and has beens. Christy the good thing about free enterprise system we have in america, is colorblind to all colors but green. and the white and black game republicains love to pit against it’s citizen’s won’t play for long oh wishful thinking to many trailer park residents and decendants.

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Christy i know it’s hard getting the trash out of your system but i know in time sonny will lead us all to a better sunny day

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Those are good suggestions for revenue enhancements, Dave. Let’s not forget

(5) charging a daily parking fee to drivers from outside Fulton and Dekalb, and
(6) charging a transfer fee to persons who currently use MARTA at no charge when they arrive on some external transit system.

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Dave, very good comment. If Marta used the money they are trying to get for operating expense, it would be gone in a matter of two or three years. If they used the money for its intended purpose, capital improvement, they could generate more revenue. Your ideas would certainly be considered capital improvement. The reasons the founders of MARTA put the restrictions on the income are for the very reasons the current leadership is trying to take the restrictions off.

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Scape you’re stupid!!!

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I hae to agree leave the split in place, because when government takes money from captitol improvements it will never go back until it is long over due or somebodies hurt or killed. If you want to look at what will happen just ask the water departments of many cities around georgia. it will never go back for preventive maint

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How is it that the State of Georgia has any say whatsoever in how MARTA runs its budget? The state contributes nothing to MARTA yet it dictates how MARTA can spend the revenue it collects? Am I missing something here or are the big government Republicans in the red neck parts of the state trying to interfere with the affairs of a local problem. I love how all the tax revenue Atlanta generates is spread out over the state and somehow to all these Republicans that kind of redistribution of wealth is ok. I think the area inside the Perimeter should secede from the State of Georgia. That way the rest of Georgia can on about being ignorant rednecks like the fine people of Alabama and Mississippi and the people of Atlanta can keep it’s revenue and improve things that matter to us.

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First off I agree that Perdue must have had his head in a place where the sun doesn’t shine if he didnt realize MARTA had financial problems.. But the state shouldn’t be paying for it. Raise the rates for service that way only the people the people that need it and rely on it will foot the bill. If they don’t want to pay for it let it shut down.

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Not Scared – I could not agree more.

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Have you all ever seen a Marta bus get rear-ended. If you had, you would then see 25 or more people filing off the bus holding onto their backs and various other body parts. All in the expectation that they will soon be receiving an insurance settlement.

Cowboy, you sound like a nasty snake. I expect you won’t be making “close to 6 digits” for much longer. Business is in the process of weeding out people like you.

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I think marta should go ahead and shut down…just for a trial run…if the city believes that we can all get allong with a full on service cut then why not!…id say no beer sundays…no marta mondays!

lets see how fast marta gets their session

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The REAL reason Sonny got elected was because he promised to put the confederate emblem back on the flag and he chickened out when some of these fortune 500 companies started talking about moving their HQ’s out of GA if he went through with it, so he talked the talk to get in but didn’t walk the walk when he won and he got re-elected because the majority of voter’s were republican’s and now the tides are about to change don’t worry my fellow Democrats, we are about to take charge once again after eight years of republican rule.

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I don’t give a Damn who they are. If the democrats start winning again all of the republicains will change parties. A idiot is an idiot no matter what party their in.

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yeah and sonny is a strong runner up!

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Sad….

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Not Scared: I am not disagreeing with you when I ask you this. But I really, really can’t understand the double standard that exists when it comes to comparing MARTA with highway system managed by the GA DOT. Why does the double standard exist?

Let’s compare roads to rail for a minute:

Georgia’s roads are severely mismanaged at the state level. They are insanely expensive to build and maintain. They require huge annual influxes of state and federal taxpayer support, because user fees (gasoline taxes) don’t come anywhere close to covering the building and maintenance costs. Yet, people accept this status quo because roads are necessary for people to get around. No one ever, ever complains that Georgia’s roads are not self-stustaining. In fact, whenever someone suggests that we raise the gas tax in Georgia to cover more of the cost of our highway system (so that the USERS are the ones who FOOT THE BILL, cough, cough!), the Republicans whine and cry and moan and complain and wail and gnash their teeth until it’s back to business as usual: An enourmously expensive and inefficient highway system run by incompetent politicians that is HEAVILY subsidized by taxpayer dollars.

On the other hand, when it comes to MARTA, the VERY SAME people who are comfortable with a socialistic, taxpayer-subsidized highway system, all of a sudden become champions of capitalism! Thet point their fingers and look down their noses at MARTA and hold it up to some golden standard of profitability that they pull out of thin air. “If MARTA can’t be profitable, then shut it down!” they say.

Then, after they’re done telling Atlantans how to run their own business and how to spend their own money, they get right back in ther SUVs and drive 60 miles home to the burbs on their socialistic, communistic, freebie-loving, government-gimme, taxpayer-supported roads and highways.

Would someone please explain this hypocritical double standard to me? Please?

Why can’t the citizens of Fulton and Dekalb decide for themselves how much MARTA should be supported by user fees and taxes, without people from the outside butting in with their hypocritical views?

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Okay, Christy. Score one for you on the City of Atlanta versus State of Georgia. I did misread that. However, I would have thought the statistics were similar for the state and the city. I do find it amusing that you do nothing to back up your 99% statistic. Well, here’s your chance. I found the source, you do the math.
http://www.atlantapd.org/ucr/2008/Dec2008.pdf
Just looking at December, “Blacks” accounted for 8 out of 13 (62%)offenses. “Whites” accounted for 5 out of 13 (38%). Maybe December is an abberation. You do the math and tell us. You are the one quoting 99%, not me.
And for the record, I have no skin in the game on this argument. I’m neither black or white.

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The stats for December 2008 for Atlanta are here (page 12 of 56):
http://www.atlantapd.org/ucr/2008/Dec2008.pdf
You’re welcome Christy!
Still waiting for you to back up your claim of 99%.

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Dave, one of the only things the legislature accomplished this session was to let MARTA sell concession foods. They’re lifting the ban. But when the GA legislature has to approve your every move, how do you expect them to run it “like a business”? If they could, they’d be dipping into the reserve money without all of this hassle.

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I think the foundation of the problem is the ill-conceived overall management of MARTA. From the start the transit system was high jacked by Atlanta’s black community. Its mission was changed, from moving population in and out of congested downtown Atlanta, to moving underprivileged to downtown. At this point, the more populated counties refused to join. This caused extreme limitations on the operation foot print and rendered the system largely ineffective.

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Christy – I am feeding you the information. You’re 99% is close. When I look at November and December it’s about 88%. Again, close but not quite the point you’re trying to make. Sorry. I am going to say that your facts are going to be proven wrong if you try. Heck, maybe I should be afraid of both blacks and whites? Nah….maybe I’ll just be afraid of you. Then again, maybe not. Little white girls don’t scare me. And certainly not the ones from Alpharetta.

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I hope Sonny realize the Republican party is quickly becoming exinct.

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Just wait until we get $4 gas back. Look at the GRTA, CTRAN and CCT buses. All the suburban buses are running standing room only some days. Just think if there were a working regional system like Metro in DC. You really could commute.

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christy et al whom are commenting, you are partially right, the north fulton area is relatively safe and it has been a great place to grow up in and raise my family in, my mom’s side and my dad’s side go back to before the civil war in the north fulton / south forsyth area so i feel i am qualified to comment on this matter, but marta needs to be modernized as far as it’s funding goes, it is funded by fulton and dekalb taxpayers via a 1965 vote, this needs to be changed, marta needs to benefit all of metro atlanta and be funded by all of metro atlanta and thus expand to all of metro atlanta,
i have travelled all over the u.s. and europe and eventhough i am a “country boy at heart” i enjoy visiting large cities / metro areas, and we used to be state of the art, but political leadership – be it black or white / democrat or republican, has failed to properly run marta since the mid 80’s, i believe it is now 100 million dollars a mile to run rail, needless to say it will be sometime before any of the lines are expanded,
this is not a black or white issue, it is an economic issue and we need to strive to become “economically free”, then, we as a region can accomplish our transportation goals, and marta needs to be included in all 17 counties of the metro region which contains 4 million people,
yes, i am a moderate republican white male with a family, and i live in north fulton but i work in south fulton, i see the “haves and the have nots”, but this is about economics and economics – like death – doesn’t care about black or white, economics only cares about green, be responsible with “green” and one can accomplish most anything within reason, live within your means,
consolidate all of the metro atlanta transit agencies into marta or a different “acronym” – pick one, demand that the political leaders that speak bad about a region “not like theirs” – and these “leaders” know who they are – be voted out of office, then let the police and the district attorney’s and solicitor’s office do their jobs to arrest and prosecute the individuals who try to turn our metro region into their own “personal chaos kingdom”,
this is 2009 – time for everyone to strive toward personal traits like maturity, honor, duty, class, character, and so on…
and oh yeah by the way – go georgia bulldogs (#1 son), and lsu tigers (#2 son) – i’m proud of my boys – this gives me 8 more years to save for our daughter!!! – ahhh – economic freedom

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To clear up some publicly-proliferated nonsense that people who talk about this stuff with a troubling avoidance of reading anything, ever spread:

1. MARTA can’t run at a profit because transit isn’t a plausible business, at least not to the extent that it’s needed in the United States. That’s because the United States government at every level has subsidized highways for 60+ years, and has encouraged a nation of drivers. Unfortunately, a.) that system isn’t universally equitable–not everyone can drive, because they’re disabled, they’re too young but they still have a reason to get around, or they can’t afford a car (and would fall into an economic trap of having no transportation access to get a job to afford any kind of wealth-attainment, including a car, if MARTA and other essential transit services didn’t exist), and b.) Roads can’t handle traffic growth, because they encourage people (racists, or otherwise) to move to the suburbs. Georgia 400 was a land value-giveaway to Alpharetta and Roswell. But how much can you expand roads? Can we expand them forever? That will cost more state investment that reasonable transit subsidy ever will. Additionally, Atlanta specifically and the region generally are losing jobs because of awful traffic, and local business leaders are almost universally behind supporting mass transit as a tool to get employees to-and-from work, realizing that the highways-only system we’ve tried in this state forever isn’t the answer. Also, c.) considering the state of the environment, and America’s dependence on terrorism, we need to find an alternative to every driving 30 miles to work on the highway. That’s where buses and trains come in.

(Sorry I have to invent the wheel here, but there’s galling ignorance going around. Sometimes you have to take people step-by-step through the process constantly.)

So #1 reiterated–we need mass transit.

2. MARTA’s not run particularly poorly. The agency is around the median for cost-per-employee-hour, which is really quite good when you consider the median transit agency is a lot smaller than MARTA (something like the 9th largest transit agency in the country), with a concurrently lower demand for professionals with specific training. MARTA has the lowest cost-per-passenger for any rail system of its size in the country–I’m pretty sure that includes both BART (the train in the San Francisco Bay area), and WMATA (the train everyone raves about in Washington D.C.). Additionally, MARTA’s general manager–whose hiring was supported explicitly by the MARTA board, and implicitly by the state government that doesn’t push for her being fired–Beverly Scott, has only been there for a year or two, probably isn’t responsible for what went on under other MARTA management, and Nat Ford (the system’s last “bad” general manager–probably a fair assessment) has been gone since 2006. Besides,

3. Nobody who rides MARTA, pays for MARTA, or looks and MARTA and decides they like or don’t like something about it votes for the MARTA board or the MARTA CEO. We vote for the governor, the state legislature, and local municipal leaders. So we really shouldn’t care what MARTA’s board or CEO do–that’s between them and their employers, the state legislature, who are our employees. And when they do as bad of a job as they have in this past session, we have the right to demand they do it right in a special session.

4. MARTA is only paid for by Fulton and Dekalb counties. The state legislature gave MARTA a few million dollars to implement its Breeze fare system, but that was stated as an effort to create a regional transportation fair medium–they basically claimed that money was for GRTA (the Xpress bus agency) and other county providers. Other than that, MARTA never gets money from the state, and only rarely for operations from the federal government.

5. Nobody’s talking about raising taxes in SB 120. It just allows MARTA to spend any amount of its budget on transit operations, instead of the state-mandated 50/50 split between capital expenditures (typically for maintaining the system and expanding it), and operational expenditures (paying drivers and mechanics to actually run the system). MARTA has a $65 million surplus in its capital budget, and it wants to use $20-something million to plug the operational deficit the agency will accrue because of a serious recession (MARTA’s funded by a sales tax). To be fair, that capital money isn’t just for expansion–its for planning the system, buying new buses, buying new trains, replacing light fixtures, and rebuilding train tracks. Even if the agency were to never expand further, it would still need some operational money.

It’s also worth noting that the MARTA you’ve come to know and love, or not, has actually benefitted from a temporary easement of the 50/50 sales tax–the legislature issued an amendment to the MARTA Act allowing the agency to spend 55% of its money on operations, instead of only 50%, after the serious 2004 cuts the agency faced. That provision expires at the beginning on this fiscal year, so MARTA not only has less money to work with–it has a smaller percentage of a smaller pie.

6. MARTA’s service is getting more expensive to run. Transit-dependent and transit-utilizing riders are spreading out into the surburbs. Since most of MARTA’s operational costs involve running buses, that means longer routes, sacrificing frequency for going out to Rainbow Dr., Palmetto, or the Winward Park-and-Ride, at the same operational cost. However, when less buses operate on longer routes, how often a bus comes (its headway) gets worse. Additionally, the impact of a cut on headway is worse–cutting 1 bus out of a route that runs 3 buses means riders have to wait 1.5 times longer, while cutting 1 route in 5 on a shorter route means a smaller reduction in service. MARTA may be faced with the choice between cutting the now-dispersed riders who use the agency most, and lacking a critical mass to maintain a level of service adequate to a city remotely this size. The whole thing is a disaster–humanitarian and economically.

7. MARTA’s not “built out enough”–the agency could certainly stand to expand its rail network, and is talking about doing so with the Beltline transit component, a new station west of H.E. Holmes station, three new stations into north Fulton (are they racist, again?), as well as likely 2 stations when, one day, Gwinnett county inevitably approves and ad hoc arrangement to extend rail transit into their county. On the other hand, MARTA can’t afford to operate the service it currently provides. That means that expanding is not sustainable. The system just needs more money if it’s going to expand, and if it never gets more money, it should remain the same size.

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Thank you Pierce Randall. It is refreshing to find people contributing real informatoin instead of the tit-for-tat ‘blacks cause this’ vs. ‘whites are rednecks’ nonsense that clutters these blogs to the point of making barely being readable. As long as we as a species continue to separate our problems along arbitrary lines of division we will continue to be sold short by our leaders. This ignorance allows them to easily target and manipulate us through division. There are no ‘black’ problems, there are no ‘white’ problems, there are only human problems. We better start getting on the same page in this age of rapidly depleting resources. We’re all going to look back in disgust at ourselves when we realize how far over the boundary we have pushed things, and how much time has been wasted through the political and religious inventions of subgroups.

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It’s no wonder Georgia is 47/50 in education – people like Christy define dumbass.
While I’m no fan of Purdue, I do think MARTA has some responsiblity in this particular problem. They should have been lobbying the entire session for this need and should have had community partners and citizens talking to thier legislators. Why so late? Why in the last week of the session was this just coming to everyone’s attention. This issue should have been front and center from January and legislators accountable. Now they are out of session they are not accountable MARTA is. This is not 1968 marching and shouting is not a communications plan and no longer moves people. Yes only Fulton and DeKalb taxpayers fund MARTA fully people so each of these legislators should have been contacted and then use them to work with other state legislators to get support for the budget effort. If they can’t get it done we all need to FIRE all these USELESS legilators and get people in office who actully work effectivly vs. grandstanding.

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Christy, please do all open-minded people a favor and stay in Awfulretta. As the metro Atlanta area tries to move forward narrow-minded bigots like you aren’t needed. And while your A$$ is sitting on 400 stuck in bumper-to-bumper gridlock think about how MARTA could have helped you. You’re probably another one of those backwoods yahoos from south GA who say “we don’t wont no marta bringin’ coloreds up here causin’ trouble and bringin’ crime ‘n lawless to dese here parts”.

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Christy, just thought you might like to know I used to work with a woman who lives in Cumming (it’s Forsyth County), and she said they have just as much crime up there as they do in Atlant, they just sweep it under the rug so people like you continue to think it’s some sort of “heaven” up there. I’ve been to Cumming, and their efforts to keep blacks out is meaningless since there are a lot of Mexicans up there now. Was the moonshine you’re drinking strained through a car radiator? It must have been because you sure have some dead brain cells.

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Christy, I bet those 600 Verizon jobs don’t pay more than $10-$12 per hour, so guess who’s coming to Awfulretta to take those jobs???

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[...] to this story from the AJC, the Governor says that, “Special sessions are something we shy away from.” He said [...]

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We got past slavery and then segregation. In time, we’ll get past this. On another note, Google “Jury Nullification.” You could save someone’s life some day.

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