Ga. keeps getting left behind at the train station
OK, take a deep breath. Ready?
Austin; Boston; Charlotte; Dallas; Denver; Fort Collins, Colo., Hartford; Honolulu; Houston; Miami; Minneapolis/St. Paul; New York City; northern New Jersey; Oakland; Orlando; Portland, Ore.; Providence; Riverside, Calif; Roaring Fork Valley (Aspen, Colo.); Salt Lake City; San Bernardino; San Jose; San Francisco; Seattle; Stamford, Conn.; Tucson; Vancouver, Wash., Washington, D.C.; Wilmington, Del.
Those are the cities scheduled to receive a total of $1.8 billion for transit projects this year from the Federal Transit Administration. As you may have noticed, traffic-congested metro Atlanta is nowhere on that list. Nor is any other Georgia city.
Through the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Transit Planning Board, metro leaders have made it clear that they want transit to play a major role in the region’s transportation future.
But through the state Legislature, the governor’s office and the state Department of Transportation, leaders at the state level have made clear their opposition to rail transit.
That’s why no Georgia city is on that list. It also explains why last week, North Carolina received $545 million in federal funding to help build high-speed rail and Florida got $1.25 billion, leaving Georgia the crumbs that fell to the floor in the form of $750,000 in planning money.
And when U.S. Reps. David Scott and John Lewis correctly blamed that failure on the state’s lack of leadership and its clear aversion to rail, Gov. Sonny Perdue’s spokesman tried the Old Bamboozle.
“It’s so funny to me that Congressman Lewis and Congressman Scott are blaming Republicans, when it’s the Democrats that control the White House, the Congress and the agencies making these grants,” Bert Brantley told the AJC’s Jim Galloway. “Too bad they couldn’t use their influence to help our case.”
They couldn’t “help our case” because thanks to Perdue and others, we have no case to help. Georgia’s leadership has made it perfectly clear by any number of means that it opposes light rail, heavy rail, commuter rail and high-speed rail. That opposition has been so clear that Brantley’s defensiveness passes for a sign of hope — it suggests that maybe, just maybe, they’ve begun to feel heat.
Unfortunately, the layers of dysfunction in Georgia politics are many, particularly when the issue is transportation. And every time you think the logjam might have been broken, it gets worse.
Back in 2008, Perdue called a press conference to announce his “full support” for the metro region’s first commuter rail line, a project that has had federal financing for more than a decade but the state never funded. Perdue also lauded the leadership of the state Department of Transportation, calling it “the best state transportation board I have had the privilege to work with.”
A year later, Perdue was attacking that same board as incompetent and perhaps even corrupt, and led an effort to limit its power.
Less than a month ago, Perdue reversed form again, with his office announcing that the governor was “convinced that the state’s transportation governance system is functioning well, and is regaining the trust of Georgians.”
A week ago, Perdue was back to lambasting the board, accusing it of “a clear defiance of state law and a frightening lack of concern for our state’s financial systems.”
(Oh, and in the two years since announcing his “full support,” Perdue has proposed not a penny toward that commuter rail project.)
In the next few days, the governor is expected to release details of a plan to give metro Atlanta and other regions the right to tax themselves to pay for regional transportation. Conceivably, that offers a way to fund transit regionally that the state refuses to support. But it will be interesting to see how much power the metro region will be given to set its own future.
Early indications are that Perdue wants to give the state transportation bureaucracy a great deal of control over how metro Atlanta spends its money. And to be frank, that bureaucracy has provided no cause to trust its vision, its competence or its word.
It’s not a question of personalities. The state transportation planning director — a post now filled by Todd Long — serves at the pleasure of the governor, which means Long could be replaced when a new governor takes office in January.
That could put metro Atlanta’s transportation future — and its self-generated tax revenue — into the hands of, say, John Oxendine, the GOP frontrunner for governor.
Oxendine, you recall, wants to solve congestion by building a 15-mile interstate beneath Midtown and through East Atlanta, destroying thousands of homes in its path. That’s not exactly the vision of metro Atlanta’s future expressed by those elected to lead this region, those who understand and love it best.
It’s a simple proposition: Give those who pay a regional tax a strong say in how that tax is spent.
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152 comments Add your comment
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 5th, 2010
8:40 am
Like the choo choo in Bookman’s mind, this column runs nowhere, just sayin….
Mick
February 5th, 2010
8:41 am
At first, I didn’t think much of high speed rail but have you flown lately? If there was a high speed rail grid in this country that was competetive with airlines, why not?
USinUK
February 5th, 2010
8:44 am
Unemployment fell to 9.7% as 541,000 people in the national household survey reported that they found a job …
can’t malinger around … busy with with the PIIGS … have a great day!!!
Granny Godzilla
February 5th, 2010
8:45 am
Such Foolishness.
Love the trains….and it’s Friday.
Let’s hit the club car early?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awWhFChwHJk
Brad Steel
February 5th, 2010
8:49 am
No big deal. Atlanta has never had any need for trains anyway.
The region should continue to brag and promote it’s #1 attribute: the country’s most crowded and chaotic airport.
danjonglee
February 5th, 2010
8:49 am
Such an idiotic state run by idiotic people. Why would anyone want to live here?
Bosch
February 5th, 2010
8:55 am
But horse and buggies really are the best way to travel.
Shawny
February 5th, 2010
8:59 am
High speed rail?!? We don’t need no stinkin’ high speed rail.
We need 1 HOV lane in each direction into and around the city. Encourage drivers to carpool, in effect, removing cars from the road. That will reduce traffic immensly.
Extend existing HOV lanes (like I-85 to Hamilton Mill).
They work great.
No, we don’t need those stupid HOT toll lanes. That does not encourage removing cars from the road (carpooling).
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 5th, 2010
8:59 am
A sharp increase in the number of people giving up looking for work helped to depress the jobless rate. The number of ‘discouraged job seekers’ rose to 1.1 million in January from 734,000 a year ago.
But the libs still celebrate.
Odd, isn’t it?
TaxPayer
February 5th, 2010
9:00 am
Are you planning on doing the “I’ve been everywhere” Friday tune, Jay.
Outhouse Go-Kart
February 5th, 2010
9:04 am
“Through the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Transit Planning Board, metro leaders have made it clear that they want transit to play a major role in the region’s transportation future.”
The Atlanta “leaders” need to understand one important issue. This is the State of GEORGIA not the State of Atlanta.
High speed rail, light rail etc…just another govt boondoggle. Can you say Amtrak.
TaxPayer
February 5th, 2010
9:04 am
High speed travel within Georgia would essentially eliminate the original basis for our outlandish number of counties so just forget any change that would allow one to travel farther in one day than currently possible. We would not want folks to start thinking outside the box and reduce the number of counties and the associated overhead for taxpayers, now would we. Such a fiscally conservative thing would be so un-Republican.
Jackie
February 5th, 2010
9:04 am
Does this mean the solution to the Atlanta-area traffic problem(s) is more roads?
TaxPayer
February 5th, 2010
9:05 am
Jay,
If you are out there, what held up my 9:04.
Outhouse Go-Kart
February 5th, 2010
9:06 am
Obama or someone or something reduces unemployment by 0.3% BRAVO!!
Dudley Do Right
February 5th, 2010
9:06 am
Why build high-speed rails and give the terrorists another track to tie our womenfolk to?
No, the solution to Metro-gridlock is lower speed limits, staggered work start/stop times, bicycle lanes at the connector, horse-riding trails through cabbage town, hitchhiking on 75/85/285/675, and organized traffic-jam practice-sessions. I think there’s a traffic jam practice tomorrow at 6am on spaghetti junction.
Be there. We need your Camry.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 5th, 2010
9:07 am
“Brown’s whole candidacy was shown to be a joke today when he was sworn in early in order to cast his first vote as an objection to Obama’s appointment to the NLRB,” Patrick Kennedy said Thursday, in between lines of coke and popping sedatives, just sayin…
Call it like it is.
February 5th, 2010
9:10 am
While not a great fan of Marta, it is sad to me that more has not been done to help Atlanta’s traffic issues. Not many people know this, but Atlanta has a Maglev testing track in our own back yard in Powder Springs Ga. We already have a company with a working train, and a working test track in view of the city. I just wonder if any of our leaders know it exist and have ever taken a test ride on it?
http://american-maglev.com/index.php
Go to projects, then test tracks. Jay did you know about this?
Scout
February 5th, 2010
9:12 am
If you yankees hadn’t stolen the General we wouldn’t be having any of these problems.
getalife
February 5th, 2010
9:12 am
“”Dems favor Saints, GOP likes Colts.”Politico.
Get your stinkin politics out of my football.
Geaux Saints!
jconservative
February 5th, 2010
9:13 am
I would hate to think that an allegedly conservative governor and legislature would actually allow a region to tax itself only to have someone else spend their money. That smacks of 100% pure Liberalism.
Citizen of the World
February 5th, 2010
9:17 am
The train has pulled out of the station and Georgia’s not on it? No surprise there.
Georgia can’t look forward because it’s conservative Republican leadership is too busy looking backwards, wondering why things can’t be like they used to be, when government didn’t have so much power and influence over the way things progress (or don’t) — only they don’t realize that the move away from rail transportation would not have happened so quickly and thoroughly in the first place if government had not set policies in the 50s and 60s that hurt trains and supported roads.
Now we need the government to set policies and incentives to bring rail back — lots of people and businesses want this — but Georgia’s Republican base is so anti-government that we’re locked in the status quo and we have legislative gridlock in addition to gridlock on our roads.
Outhouse Go-Kart
February 5th, 2010
9:19 am
“lots of people and businesses want this”
Lots of people wanted O-Dumb-dumb for President also and you see where that has taken us.
Normal
February 5th, 2010
9:20 am
The first battle of Bull Run was won by the South because they rapidly moved re-enforcements into the battle by rail. Maybe the Neo-secessionists should take note and plan for the future…
Sam
February 5th, 2010
9:23 am
i like sonny but he shouldve stayed on the farm..
Joey
February 5th, 2010
9:36 am
“And to be frank, that bureaucracy (State Transprotation Dept.) has provided no cause to trust its vision, its competence or its word.”
No argument here on this statement. However, just a few articles ago Jay was opining that the State of Georgia should give MARTA the funds to do its will. Yet MARTA has provided no cause to trust its vision, its competence or its word.
Double standard?
Citizen of the World
February 5th, 2010
9:41 am
Outhouse @9:19, I like where President Obama has taken us — toward addressing our problems instead of just sweeping them under the rug and pretending that everything’s great, we’re great. George W. Bush (notice how I’m resisting the urge to call him a name?) avoided transportation, infrastructure, health care, the environment, etc., because to try to address these problems would have been to acknowledge them, and to acknowledge them would have been to admit that we’re not just the greatest in every way. We were all supposed to pretend that the Outhouse didn’t stink.
Jenifer
February 5th, 2010
9:44 am
When they said “train”, Porky Perdue thought they said “rain”, so that’s what he prayed for.
Outhouse Go-Kart
February 5th, 2010
9:47 am
Hey Citizen…9.7%
NEXT!
mike
February 5th, 2010
9:48 am
Every liberal needs to read this article. They are specifically talking about people like Jenifer, Citizen of the World, and getalife.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/04/AR2010020403623.html?hpid=opinionsbox1
Bosch
February 5th, 2010
9:51 am
Hmmmmm. Mike wants people to read an article about Jenifer, Citizen, and getalife. I wonder what it’ll be about?
mike
February 5th, 2010
9:52 am
“George W. Bush (notice how I’m resisting the urge to call him a name?) avoided transportation, infrastructure, health care, the environment, etc., because to try to ”
Bush definitely did not do much on most of those issues, but you can’t say that he ignored healthcare. Remember the Medicare expansion that is contributing to our massive debt?
Now he try to address other issues that rank far higher in the minds of Americans according to polls: Social Security, immigration, and education. Obama has paid little attention to these matters, but that is understandable. Presidents need to pick a few things to focus on.Bush just happened to focus on things that Americans care about more than the things Obama has chosen to focus on.
Daedalus
February 5th, 2010
9:53 am
Yo Jay — you forgot to mention Phoenix. Which opened up a light rail line last year and is beating all ridership expectations. The heritage foundation is eating some crow on that one. They claimed that nobody would ride it.
Also, check out this story about Portland getting $75 million last year for new streetcar lines. Oh, and the streetcars are being built right in the Portland metro area.
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/us_inks_deal_for_millions_for.html
That money was held up for years by the Bushies.
Just another example of how local, state and federal politicians can get together and promote regional transportation solutions. Of course, it could never happen here. Everyone in the Georgia GOP knows that public transit is only for welfare queens and gangstas.
mike
February 5th, 2010
9:54 am
“Hmmmmm. Mike wants people to read an article about Jenifer, Citizen, and getalife. I wonder what it’ll be about?”
Nothing too bad. He just addresses the fact that liberal belief that they are smarter and more moral than conservatives is leading them to ignore what voters are saying.
“Don’t they understand Massachusetts?
Well, they understand it through a prism of two cherished axioms: (1) The people are stupid and (2) Republicans are bad. Result? The dim, led by the malicious, vote incorrectly.”
Outhouse Go-Kart
February 5th, 2010
9:54 am
LOL!!!
“The dim, led by the malicious, vote incorrectly.”
mike
February 5th, 2010
9:55 am
I can’t tell you how many of my liberal friends have provided that analysis that Krauthammer describes.
jewcowboy
February 5th, 2010
9:57 am
Whether you are for or against transit/high speed rail/commuter rail the fact is that there are other cities and regions in the South East willing to make the investment…and are seeing the economic benefits of doing so. Employers want to be centered around places that make it easier for their employee to get to work…period.
Watch as cities like Charlotte and Tampa eclipse Atlanta. Watch as Fortune 500 companies and small companies decide to relocate their headquarters and manufacturing centers to these other cities.
If you build it, they will come…and leave Atlanta a faltering has been with only a mega-airport where people do not stop…just change plans.
So regardless of your stance on rail…if you are for economic development for Georgia…then you must get on board.
Granny Godzilla
February 5th, 2010
9:57 am
Charles Krauthammer…..Bless his heart!
Mick
February 5th, 2010
9:58 am
Outhouse
Hey Citizen…9.7%
That’s better than 10.3% Give this pres a break, why don’t ya?
mm
February 5th, 2010
9:58 am
Jay,
The smart ones among us know that Republicans can’t lead. They just try to bring down the ones that DO try to lead. The result – status quo.
professional skeptic
February 5th, 2010
9:58 am
Since praying for rain worked so well here in GA, I’m going to start to praying for rail transit. Maybe it’ll fall out of Georgia’s sky. Oh, and funds for education. And a winning lottery ticket while I’m at it.
Oh yeah, and Georgia’s state politicians are puppets of the road builders, which is why we see no investment in rail.
JohnD
February 5th, 2010
9:59 am
JC — you are dead wrong. Its a core conservative principle in Georgia to take tax dollars from liberal Atlanta and spend them in conservative rural Georgia.
Its been going on for years. Sure, rural democrats used to control the house and senate in Georgia — but they sure weren’t liberals. They were just as mighty-whitey-righty as you are. The only reason they didn’t call themselves Republicans is because of that little dust-up about abolishing slavery.
There has never been progressive state government in Georgia. Whether its dems or Repubs, progressive they are not.
Fergit hell.
Mick
February 5th, 2010
10:00 am
**“Don’t they understand Massachusetts?**
Simple analysis: the better candidate won, nothing more – nothing less.
Outhouse Go-Kart
February 5th, 2010
10:02 am
A break? Kinda like Obama is giving the unemployed?
LOL!
Well we will see what the coming months jobless rate number are. Hopefully they will improve.
Jenifer
February 5th, 2010
10:02 am
Wallace Awkwardly Tries To Defend His ‘Hope’ That Palin Will Sit On His Lap During Their Interview.
I will give Imus a tip of the hat for his beautiful setup of Wallace.
Other than that it would be fun to see the look on Wallace’s face when (and if) Palin swishes into the studio to do the interview.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/02/05/wallace-palin-2/
Joey
February 5th, 2010
10:02 am
But the Atlanta Commuter’s opinion stays constant, “As long as I have a parking space I will drive my car. Alone.”
Jenifer
February 5th, 2010
10:06 am
Bosch, 9:51,
It’ll be worth your time, I guarantee it.
Matilda
February 5th, 2010
10:06 am
OMG, now THIS is the train we need today! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2urpAl081kY
jewcowboy
February 5th, 2010
10:07 am
Outhouse Go-Kart,
“The Atlanta “leaders” need to understand one important issue. This is the State of GEORGIA not the State of Atlanta.”
Yes…and what area of the state contributes the most income for the state? Rural GA is tied to cities such as Atlanta, Savannah and Macon, as surely as those cities are tied to rural GA.
“High speed rail, light rail etc…just another govt boondoggle. Can you say Amtrak.”
Boondoggle…or economic development? Employers want their employees to have easy access to their job site…and have shown willingness to relocate to areas that provide that access…say hello Charlotte…wave goodbye to Atlanta.
Amtrak…yes great if you want to go to Birmingham, AL or Colombia, SC.
mike
February 5th, 2010
10:07 am
Mick:
“Simple analysis: the better candidate won, nothing more – nothing less.”
There is no doubt that she was a terrible candidate, but lets not forget that we are talking about Massachusetts and we are talking about a landslide. Let’s also not forget NJ, VA and the massive anti-incumbent mood.
I hope that most liberals believe the way you do. It is exactly the kind of self-delusion that Krauthammer is talking about.
Outhouse Go-Kart
February 5th, 2010
10:08 am
Lets all take a break and get on board the SSSOOOOUUUuuulll Train!!
HDB
February 5th, 2010
10:08 am
@Mike: I took the time to speed-read Kaauthammer too; much of what he says is bogus and partisan anyway…..but there’s a bit of truth on this edict: ‘Liberals act in the public interest, while conservatives think only of power, elections, self-aggrandizement and self-interest.”
Since 1964, conservatives have always voted towards the desires of business, while ignoring the needs of the masses. Note the decreases in domestic spending….which affected more of their brotheren than visioned. The preponderance of the people on the public dole live in Appalachia and the Mountain West…and they vote Republican — which leads to your second statement: “The dim, led by the malicious, vote incorrectly!”
That statement DOES haver truth inflected in it; conservatives always portray those who are primarily on government programs as minorities…and continue to paint people in the negative light. The media, conservative in nature….since it’s owned by Corporate America..pushes this idiom….so those conservative voters vote against their own interests…and keep putting Republicans in control. Since 1968, no Republican President has balanced the national budget…and the “saint of the GOP”, St. Ronald of Reagan, QUADRUPLED the national deficit in his FIRST year…and continued that path through the 80’s. Jimmy Carter’s budget was FLAT for his Presidency, runnning deficits of only $48B for EACH of his 4 years!! Bill Clinton has a SURPLUS at the end of his Presidency….and increased domestic spending….and an unemployment rate of less than 4%.
Look at the State of Georgia……Republicans are in charge…and look how this state’s been affected: worsening in education since 1990, no vision in transportation, #6 in job losses nationally……
You get the picture……
mike
February 5th, 2010
10:10 am
mm –
“The smart ones among us know that Republicans can’t lead. They just try to bring down the ones that DO try to lead.”
LOL. This again is what Krauthammer was talking about.You think that people who share your views are smarter and more moral.
What a joke, LOL
Mrs G –
“Charles Krauthammer…..Bless his heart!”
That’s your only response? Bless you heart!
mike
February 5th, 2010
10:12 am
HDB –
Right. You are just the latest in a long line of liberals who think that those who share your ideological views are more moral than those who don’t.
Don’t feel too bad. Plenty of your peers among Rush’s dittoheads are suffering from the same self-delusion.
jewcowboy
February 5th, 2010
10:12 am
Joey,
“But the Atlanta Commuter’s opinion stays constant, “As long as I have a parking space I will drive my car. Alone.””
Patently false…example… GRTA XPress. In every incidence where GRTA has started XPress service, the service is a resounding success. People DO NOT want to sit in their cars if there is a moderately priced, convenient and safe alternative.
mike
February 5th, 2010
10:13 am
Gotta run. To my friend on the left, enjoy being smarter and more moral than the people who don’t share your views. That is what “tolerance” is all about, right?
Mick
February 5th, 2010
10:13 am
Mike
Krauthammer suffers from the same disease he espouses, namely talking down to people from his high and mighty perch! He is a loser along the lines of cheney, pearl and all the other neoCONS..
Hard Right Hook
February 5th, 2010
10:13 am
High speed rail lines. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm
Norfolk-Southern and CSX already have thousands of miles of track laid in the SE; why do you suppose they don’t offer passenger service?
Because they can’t make any money at it! And the libs want regionalized AMTRAKs to be a panacea for all the local transportation woes. Just another subsidized endeavour.
Road Scholar
February 5th, 2010
10:14 am
Jay: “But through the state Legislature, the governor’s office and the state Department of Transportation, leaders at the state level have made clear their opposition to rail transit.”
Au Contraire. Many upper managers and boardmembers at GDOT favor rail. It’s been the Governor who has thwarted any attempt to implement the commuter rail system.
Shawney: You would need two lanes of HOV in each direction along the north, NE and NW side of I285 as well on I75NW and S OtP, SR400 OTP,I20 OtP and I85NE with HOV 2 (2 persons/car). If you go to HOV3 you would still need 2 lanes in each direction in the long run. The HOV expansion would provide operating room for transit.No room for HOV expansion downtown.
Road Scholar
February 5th, 2010
10:15 am
Hard Right Hook: Because they make there money on moving freight. A third pair of tracks would be needed at many locations.
HDB
February 5th, 2010
10:15 am
@ Mike: No…there are some conservative principles that I do hold on to….but POLITICALLY, there are some liberal ideas that should be looked at HONESTLY…as should there be some CONSERVATIVE….but the GOP, since 1964, has ALWAYS voted against my interest….so why should I vote against what I feel is not just better for me…but those like me??
Granny Godzilla
February 5th, 2010
10:17 am
mike
Charles deserves kindness. Little else.
O'Jays
February 5th, 2010
10:21 am
LoveTrain.
the #s game
February 5th, 2010
10:22 am
About 2.5 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force in
January, an increase of 409,000 from a year earlier. (The data are not
seasonally adjusted.) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted
and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior
12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched
for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey.
Mick
February 5th, 2010
10:22 am
Chris matthews actually had a good show last nite about uncle ron and how he raised taxes twice during his term. He also didn’t get sucked into war after the lebanon marines tragedy. Today’s repubs are nothing like him and maybe they bounce back this next election cycle but what is it exactly that they are going to do? Yeah I know cut taxes – the answer to everything ad infinitum.
Granny Godzilla
February 5th, 2010
10:23 am
mike says
“Gotta run. To my friend on the left, enjoy being smarter and more moral than the people who don’t share your views. That is what “tolerance” is all about, right?”
Thanks, we do enjoy it.
Hell, we’ve tolerated Andy for years!
Kamchak
February 5th, 2010
10:24 am
this one is specifically for you mike.
http://humanresources.about.com/b/2007/12/21/is-a-poisonous-attitude-a-reason-to-fire-an-employee.htm
RW-(the original)
February 5th, 2010
10:25 am
Greetings day shifters! Those of you touting this 9.7% figure as good news are really making it hard to enjoy my coffee through the laughter you’re inducing. Just as a wake up call let’s follow your logic.
Since we lost even more jobs the percentage drop isn’t because a whole lot of folks found work, it’s because enough people fell into the category of hopelessly unemployable and out of the count. By your way of counting this as good news it would follow that if the economy totally collapsed with no hope for anyone getting a job ever again you’d be high fiving over what a great job you did getting unemployment down to 0.0%
Bravo!
/see y’all this evening, the drowning forest awaits.
Mick
February 5th, 2010
10:25 am
Outhouse
Take the next connection to the PEACE train..
jewcowboy
February 5th, 2010
10:29 am
“enjoy being smarter and more moral than the people who don’t share your views. That is what “tolerance” is all about, right?”
That is interesting considering all of the liberal bashing I see on here…While there is considerable back and forth between the right and left on this blog (and both can lack civility at times)…it seems those who espouse “conservative” views more often than not, resort to name calling and personal slights instead of reasoned arguments. Those on the left resort tend to lean to sarcasm rather than personal insults.
Perhaps it is just my perception…of course it could come from all those who try to “teach” me the “right” way to think…and if I do not follow what they say, they intone I’m not thinking and that I’m stupid.
Ah well…
ty webb
February 5th, 2010
10:29 am
and here I thought lewis blamed everything only on racism. hmmmm.
Joey
February 5th, 2010
10:29 am
jewcowboy;
First, I support expansion of public transit, bus and rail, but I have serious doubts about MARTA the organization, and every confidence in human nature.
That said:
If what you write is true, then we need only to open one express route after another until everyone is riding the bus. No need to spend money and time on rail construction. We could open a new express bus route as quickly as we could take delivery on a bus and train a driver.
But you know and I know that this would not succeed. Only from certain origins to certain destination will express buses work. Even on these routes riders are subject to abandon the bus at the instant driving becomes more convenient.
In my use Convenience is a combination of availability of a car and parking, cost of fuel and parking, the ability to change destinations and time consummed in the commute.
TaxPayer
February 5th, 2010
10:30 am
Our Georgia Republicans would demonstrate that they’ve actually advanced far enough along the evolutionary scale to come down from the tree limbs if they could only present a cognizant train of thought, on anything. Other than bumper stickers and such, that is.
Hard Right Hook
February 5th, 2010
10:32 am
Road Scholar
February 5th, 2010
10:15 am
Hard Right Hook: Because they make there money on moving freight. A third pair of tracks would be needed at many locations.
Precisely my point, Scholar. I’m sure the planners and development people at both railroads have looked at the capital expense of extra track, cars, etc. in contrast to the potential revenue. It’s a loser.
Granny Godzilla
February 5th, 2010
10:35 am
HRH
“I’m sure the planners and development people at both railroads have looked at the capital expense of extra track, cars, etc. in contrast to the potential revenue. It’s a loser.”
You’re sure? Well I am comforted.
ROLLERGIRL
February 5th, 2010
10:35 am
Mass transit sucks because you give up control and personal space. For doormats with no life, that might sound exciting..for most, it doesn’t work.
I would, however, ride the mythical nonexistant trains mused about endlessly by liberals, if they use that awesome robot voice from the airport subway in the 1990’s
I think its a cylone
“The next station is concourse A. The color-coded maps and signs in the vehicle match the station colors. Please move to the center of the vehicle and away from the doors.”
Mick
February 5th, 2010
10:38 am
** For doormats with no life, that might sound exciting..for most, it doesn’t work.**
Sweetheart I’m offended!!
Citizen of the World
February 5th, 2010
10:42 am
Well, in the last election, 20 of the richest 25 states tended blue, and 17 of the 25 most educated states tended blue, so that would seem to bear out the idea that liberals are smarter and more moral, at least according to the Republican mindset that the poor and uneducated are thus because of some sort of moral failing, rather than perhaps having the deck stacked against them.
ROLLERGIRL
February 5th, 2010
10:46 am
Mick..
“You may charge me with murder–or want of sense–(For we are all of us weak at times): But the slightest approach to a false pretense Was never among my crimes!”
In other words I don’t intend to offend but if someone does consider themselves a doormat, I can’t help that.
Outhouse GoKart
February 5th, 2010
10:49 am
“25 most educated states tended blue”
A pompous attitude does not an educated person make.
Granny Godzilla
February 5th, 2010
10:51 am
OGK
Facts aren’t pompous.
Railroader
February 5th, 2010
10:52 am
Hard Right Hook — you know why railroads can’t make money moving people? Because this country built the highway system with the people’s money. That, my friend, is Socialism. Had this country been true to its capitalistic creed, the roads and highways would have been built with private dollars, just as the railroads were, and the privately owned and operated passenger train would be alive and well in the US today.
And how is $8 bn for high speed rail more of a boondoggle than the $80 bn we gave to highways last year? I’m just sayin’…
jewcowboy
February 5th, 2010
10:53 am
“Mass transit sucks because you give up control and personal space. ”
Actually I find that amusing as those who choose to sit in their car staring at the tail lights in front of them breathing in the particulate matter being spewed forth are not in control of anything except maybe the radio station…the traffic is controlling their lives and limiting their movements. They are most certainly not in control of their money, as gas costs and wear and tear on their vehicle eat away at their budgets, inhibiting them to “control” where else they would like to see that money go, whether it be entertainment, durable goods, home improvements, charity, or savings.
They become a slave to their car. The road becomes a master to their lives.
But, at least they don’t have to sit next to “those” people, though.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
February 5th, 2010
10:56 am
Well, I’d be for more trains if they made them to haul our cars and pickups while we were in them. I don’t want to be inside one where I have to be around people I don’t know or like. I don’t want to have to ride in the same rail car with the hippy wearing shower shoes that shoe his big hairy toes. Or the kids with pants down around their knees and trying to look tough. Or the guy that don’t wash or shave.
Give me a train that takes me where I’m going in my Ford F-450 and I’ll ride it. I don’t want to get where I’m going and then have to walk to get there. Or take a cab. Me and my pickup are good friends, and no train is going to keep us apart.
Have a good day everybody.
ROLLERGIRL
February 5th, 2010
10:58 am
more ode to Lewis Carroll…
how to converse with others on mass transit…
“I said it in Hebrew–I said it in Dutch–
I said it in German and Greek:
But I wholly forgot (and it vexes me much)
That ebonics is what you speak!”
“‘Tis a pitiful tale,” said the BOOKMAN, whose face
Had grown longer at every word:
“But, now that you’ve stated the whole of your case,
MY debate would be simply absurd. “
Dusty
February 5th, 2010
11:00 am
Well, congrats to the state of Georgia….one of the few states that did not take all that CHINESE owed money and rack up another trillion or so.
Georgians take care of their own complaining liberals who moved here . But NEW Georgians must remember,the people of GA value the USA and try to support themselves. Independence is the magic word!
And our liberal reps in Congress are a big help!! Yeah! They’re up there complaining ’cause we are not trying to get our hands on every cent of owed money that increases the national debt. They still have not learned (like Obama) that the more you spend, the more debit you have. Whoopee!! An awakeneing!!
I hope when North Carolina and Florida get all those big new rail lines going they have a good time going around Georgia. Maybe Obama (?China) will loan them enough money to build a bridge over Georgia. All you groaners & complainers can hop on the bridge and catch a ride to some heavenly state you would enjoy more.
So long! Have fun! We can manage without you. (And if you don’t live in Georgia, ..please….shut up!)
Mick
February 5th, 2010
11:00 am
ROLLERGIRL
It’s OK, I’m a person who takes responsibility; one persons doormat may be another persons golden fleece.
Granny Godzilla
February 5th, 2010
11:01 am
Tom Tancredo seems to have a problem with “those” people too.
Tea Party opening speech was a real humdinger
Hef
February 5th, 2010
11:01 am
I’m all for a transit system that will relieve congestion in metro Atlanta,as long as we don’t increase taxes or use stimulus dollars(one in the same) to build & support it.
Outhouse GoKart
February 5th, 2010
11:05 am
“Facts aren’t pompous.”
Fact is, I’ve experienced interaction after interaction with many of these so-called “educated persons” and many wouldnt have sense enough to come in from the rain. They just float around in the ozone waiting for a life-line. Not all mind you but many.
Granny Godzilla
February 5th, 2010
11:07 am
OGK
Funny, me too!
Most still lookin’ for WMD’s and “w” keys….but they deserve kindness anyway.
jewcowboy
February 5th, 2010
11:08 am
Joey,
“If what you write is true, then we need only to open one express route after another until everyone is riding the bus. No need to spend money and time on rail construction. We could open a new express bus route as quickly as we could take delivery on a bus and train a driver.”
XPress is a great infill for areas without rail transit as way of growing ridership, and to serve places that rail costs cannot be justified by population numbers…but eventually, once you’ve established a hearty bus system, rail is the next logical step. You cannot sustain adding more and more buses, when rail can start accommodating more passengers. Routes like Douglasville, Lawrenceville, Kennesaw and Marietta to Buckhead, Midtown and Downtown are prime place for rail, while routes such as Marietta to Decatur would be great for Xpress routes.
“But you know and I know that this would not succeed. Only from certain origins to certain destination will express buses work. Even on these routes riders are subject to abandon the bus at the instant driving becomes more convenient.”
That is not true at all. Convenience is but one factor in people’s commute. Cost is a significant factor. Studies have shown that once people use an alternative commute mode for 90 days, most continue regardless of outside factors. In addition transit is more immune to spikes in energy costs. Look at what happened in 2008 with the sudden explosion in gas prices…people who drove alone to work were scrambling to find other ways to work, in many cases totally freaking out…while those who were taking transit only had to endure more crowded trains and buses.
“In my use Convenience is a combination of availability of a car and parking, cost of fuel and parking, the ability to change destinations and time consumed in the commute.”
This is where factors such as car sharing services like Zipcar and light rail come into play. Being able to move around once you are at your destination is a big part of the solution.
Hef
February 5th, 2010
11:09 am
OGK-I agree passing tests may make you book smart but not always common sense smart. I’ll take common sense smart any day of the week.
Mick
February 5th, 2010
11:10 am
ROLLERGIRL
I just find your poetic side so clever and sexy…got any more?
Hef
February 5th, 2010
11:12 am
GG-To funny,another example is all that believed in “hope & change” from snake oil salesman pres.
jewcowboy
February 5th, 2010
11:13 am
Dusty,
“I hope when North Carolina and Florida get all those big new rail lines going they have a good time going around Georgia.
Don’t worry…they will. For as companies flee to areas that invest in their infrastructure, there will be absolutely no need to visit GA, except to change planes. By lagging behind other cities that are willing to invest in their future GA is setting Atlanta up to be the footnote in economic progress.
Mr Right
February 5th, 2010
11:14 am
Way to go, Dusty!!
Granny Godzilla
February 5th, 2010
11:15 am
Hef
“snake oil salesman”…..bless your heart
Mick
February 5th, 2010
11:16 am
**all that believed in “hope & change” from snake oil salesman pres.**
I wouldn’t go too far with that, after all it was a choice between obama and mccain and as usual it might have been the lesser of two evils for many. The palin pick was the nail in the coffin.
Hef
February 5th, 2010
11:19 am
Mick-Agreed,but “snake oil salesman” just the same. GG-How many bottles did u buy?