Proposed transportation bill actually looks promising
To tell you the truth, it’s a bit hard to believe.
After years of disappointment and frustration, of false starts, unkept promises and half-baked proposals, state leaders have come up with a realistic means of financing and building much-needed regional transportation infrastructure, including transit projects.
It’s actually a serious, workable, well-thought-out and balanced piece of legislation.
To make things even better, state leaders seem strongly unified in their support for House Bill 1218, which was introduced Tuesday after weeks of negotiation behind closed doors.
Gov. Sonny Perdue, for example, had a big hand in the bill’s creation; his House floor leader is its chief sponsor. House Speaker David Ralston and Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Roberts are co-sponsors, which bodes well for its prospects in the House.
On the Senate side, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle also supports the approach and is “looking on it very favorably,” according to his office.
So … pass the thing, quickly, before this sudden outbreak of sanity ends!
As written, the bill divides Georgia into 12 special transportation districts. The metro Atlanta district, for example, comprises the current 10-county Atlanta Regional Commission.
Each county in the district would be represented in a regional roundtable by its county commission chair and a mayor. Together, those elected leaders would be empowered to propose a special 1-penny sales tax to be collected in the district for eight years, as well as a list of transportation projects to be funded through the tax.
Voters within the district would then be asked to approve both the tax and the list of projects.
Unlike some earlier legislative attempts, HB 1218 would ensure that all money raised by the tax would be spent on projects within that district rather than diverted into state coffers. In another crucial provision, individual counties would not have the ability to “opt out” of a district or a proposed tax.
Until now, those have been difficult provisions for state leaders to accept. Perdue, Ralston, Cagle and others deserve credit for stepping up and recognizing how important it is to the state and region to make this proposal workable.
The bill also marks another step in the gutting of the dysfunctional state Department of Transportation, once a powerhouse of state politics. Under HB 1218, the State Road and Tollway Authority, not the DOT, would be given primary authority to oversee construction of projects financed through a regional sales tax.
The most sensitive part of the legislation involves the power to decide which projects will be proposed to the voters of each region. Will that authority be given to the state transportation planning director, by law an appointee of the governor? Or will elected regional leaders have the power to decide which projects will be built in their region, financed with their constituents’ tax dollars?
There’s no question that regional projects have to be incorporated into the state’s overall transportation network, which argues for giving the state planning director a lot of influence.
On the other hand, it’s hard to justify giving an appointed bureaucrat more power over regional projects than local leaders answering directly to the voters who will pay for and use those projects.
HB 1218 tries to cut that baby in half, and to a surprising degree it succeeds.
The language lets the planning director guide the project selection process and set parameters, while giving regional leaders the final voice in selecting projects for submission to voters.
Of course, how that process works in real life, as opposed to how it’s described in legislative language, will depend a lot on the personalities and politics involved. But the bill does seem to have found a nice balance.
The bill also suspends a state law that requires MARTA to spend at least 50 percent of its sales-tax revenue on capital projects rather than operations. That change will give the agency some flexibility in addressing its immediate fiscal crisis, but it won’t come close to solving MARTA’s larger woes.
HB 1218 also doesn’t address the fact that Fulton and DeKalb counties already levy a penny sales tax to support MARTA, while other metro counties do not.
That’s an inequity that ought to be addressed, but this bill isn’t the place to do it.
One miracle at a time.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
60 comments Add your comment
22
February 19th, 2010
11:38 am
A smarter transportation bill?
23 Skidooo
February 19th, 2010
11:42 am
Tiger’s apology: zzzzz
I think you have to be simple-minded to give it one complete minute of thought.
CJ
February 19th, 2010
11:42 am
Does this bill contemplate extending rail, light rail, …? Also, why are we always limited to consumer taxes for funding transportation projects (and regressive ones at that)? Doesn’t business profit from the use of state roads too?
Paul
February 19th, 2010
11:51 am
Jay
I don’t know what you guys are adding to the water there in Georgia, but you could make a fortune exporting it to Washington.
I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for ya’.
I Report :-) You Whine :-( mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 19th, 2010
11:57 am
It may take awhile but Repugs eventually get things right, unlike dummycrats, who never do.
Mick
February 19th, 2010
12:04 pm
**It may take awhile but Repugs eventually get things right, unlike dummycrats, who never do.**
C’mon IR, they’re both in the tank for preserving their own interests, in that they are equals.
I Report :-) You Whine :-( mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 19th, 2010
12:06 pm
Rep. Joe Sestak (D., Pa.) said yesterday that the White House offered him a federal job in an effort to dissuade him from challenging Sen. Arlen Specter in the state’s Democratic primary.
Only among liberals is this not a crime.
Subjugating the will of the people, bribery, cronyism, just sayin…
TnGelding
February 19th, 2010
12:10 pm
Great. If MARTA is smarta then Republicans can. Throw Marta a lifeline, Sonny, now!
We need a sea change. Toyota is helping us to rethink our priorities. Live near where you work or work near where you live, would go a long way in solving our problems. Not to mention staying at home once in awhile.
TnGelding
February 19th, 2010
12:12 pm
I Report
You Whine 
mmm, mmmm, mmmmm!
February 19th, 2010
12:06 pm
Sestak is your worst nightmare. It would be hard to prove intent. I love the guy. He should beat Specter.
jefferson
February 19th, 2010
12:13 pm
Naw, just as bad.
jefferson
February 19th, 2010
12:14 pm
Sonny raised my taxes last year.
TaxPayer
February 19th, 2010
12:16 pm
Do the roads and train tracks and such have to line up across regions.
Whacks Eloquent (proud FairTax supporter)
February 19th, 2010
12:24 pm
Paul,
“I don’t know what you guys are adding to the water there in Georgia, but you could make a fortune exporting it to Washington.”
yeah, this quite a shock, I am totally with Jay on this one! I just wish Sonny had done this earlier. Sadly, I will most remember him for being the guy who neutered a dog (he is a vet) on his re-inauguration. geez…
Daedalus
February 19th, 2010
12:25 pm
I’m not so sure about this bill. On the one hand its a regional sales tax approach that Sonny rejected last year (was Sonny “agin it” before he was “fer it”?) — but given the track record of the Georgia Legislature in sweeping revenues from other programs — there is no way we can be sure that in future years the legislature won’t simply pass a law and transfer the regional sales tax revenues into the general fund — or use them for transportation projects in another district.
Two examples. The state solid waste clean-up trust fund. Every year the legislature passes a bill and takes the money from the trust fund (funded by a $1 charge on all tires recycled) and uses it for the general fund. The other is more recent. A couple of days ago the Governor announced that bond revenues generated by GEFA for drinking water and wastewater infrasctructure would be used to plug holes in the state budget. The legislature is going into recess so the Governor can figure out how to redirect those funds from its intended purpose. Missing in all of this is that GEFA bonds are also backed by grant funds from the USEPA. Giving Sonny’s recent track record of financial miscues (hello GDOT and the bus funding debacle from today’s Metro section) and we may have to pay back the USEPA capitalization grants for water infrastructure.
Finally, the bill makes no effort to ameliorate the impact on Fulton and DeKalb which already pays a 1% sales tax for transit. Given the legislature’s antipathy to transit and metro Atlana — I think that the temptation for the legislature to raid these funds in the future is just too great. Giving the State Tollways Authority control over them won’t solve that problem. If the legislation called for the revenues to be collected solely by a regional entity such as ARC so that the legislature could not raid the funds (sort of the like the arrangement by which MARTA gets the 1 cents sales tax and not the state) then maybe I could support the bill.
But without such a guarantee — this is just another way for the state to take tax dollars from metro Atlanta taxpayers to use for some other purpose.
scrappy
February 19th, 2010
12:25 pm
I bet the roads will meet up, but each district will insist on naming their section different. But hey – it wouldn’t be the south if all roads didn’t have 5 or 6 names…. or had Peach in it.
Paul
February 19th, 2010
12:27 pm
Whacks 12:24
[[Sadly, I will most remember him for being the guy who neutered a dog (he is a vet) on his re-inauguration.]]
So much symbolism comes to mind -
joe matarotz
February 19th, 2010
12:30 pm
It looks promising until it gets the mandatory Ga. pork attached. Then it just looks expensive. Remember to vote out the incumbents.
Whacks Eloquent
February 19th, 2010
12:30 pm
Paul,
bwahahahaha! it’s…embarassing. I can say I did not vote for him!
Hey, why are you reading a blog about Georgia’s transportation? Perry et al not making things interesting enough in Texas right now?
Paul
February 19th, 2010
12:37 pm
Hey there,. Daedalus
Welcome back!
Lee
February 19th, 2010
12:38 pm
“The bill also suspends a state law that requires MARTA to spend at least 50 percent of its sales-tax revenue on capital projects rather than operations.”
MARTA couldn’t support operations from 100% of fares and 50% of the taxes. Look for them to suspend needed capital projects – you know, like replacing tracks – to subsidize loss leader fares.
Jay and his ilk keep trying to bring up that surrounding metro counties do not subsidize MARTA through a 1% sales tax. Nevermind that only a minscule percent of ridership comes from those counties. If MARTA would raise fares to a legitimate level, this wouldn’t be an issue.
Paul
February 19th, 2010
12:38 pm
Whacks
I try not to think about Perry…. it’s a matter/antimatter kinda thing.
It’s interesting to me to read the similarities and dissimilarities in how the two states handle transportation -
Whacks Eloquent
February 19th, 2010
12:50 pm
Paul,
I suppose that is true – both put a lot more faith in highways as city transportation solutions rather than investing in mass transit. Houston has a nice but limited little train there, and more loops than Saturn!
What part of the state do you live in? I love Texas, my sister lived in DFW metro for a little while. My favorite area is the Hill Country…
Jenifer
February 19th, 2010
12:53 pm
This bunch of clowns will find a way to screw it up.
Bosch
February 19th, 2010
12:54 pm
I guess Sonny and the legislators looked around and saw all the money they would be losing out on and that was like a dog passing on steak!
Finn McCool
February 19th, 2010
12:55 pm
I like the idea of letting voters decide which projects to tackle. Sounds like it would lower the opportunity for special interests to intercept needed projects in favor of pet projects.
professional skeptic
February 19th, 2010
1:07 pm
Daedalus
February 19th, 2010
12:25 pm
I share your skepticism, point for point. Show me the list of projects for the 12-County area including Atlanta. Will the expansion of rail transit ever make the list? If it does, will the 10 counties that don’t participate in MARTA ever approve? Can the implementation of Concept 3 be considered a qualifying transit project?
I agree that this is an encouraging step forward after the last seven years of ZERO progress, but I’ll reserve final judgment until I get a better understanding of how the list of projects is drafted.
professional skeptic
February 19th, 2010
1:24 pm
Off topic post, one and only for the day:
Here’s a brief copy/paste from Tiger Woods’ apolgy. Imagine getting the same from the Wall St. Banksters, and then imagine them actually changing their ways!! HAHAHAHAHA! I kill me sometimes!
The issue here is that I cheated, I am the only person to blame. I stopped living according to my core values. I knew what i was doing was wrong but thought only about myself and thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to, I felt I was entitled. I had worked hard. Money and fame made me believe I was entitled. I was wrong and foolish. I don’t get to live by different rules. The same boundaries that apply to everyone apply to me… This has made me look at myself in a way I never wanted to again. It is time to make amends and that starts by never repeating this behavior again. Its not what you achieve in life that matters, it is what you overcome. Achievements…are not what matters, decency and honestly are what matter.
Police Line Do Not Cross
February 19th, 2010
1:24 pm
All I know is my family does not ride MARTA unless I (and my little sidekick) are with them.
I rode MARTA to the airport a total of three times. One two of those occasions I almost had to make an arrest.
Gen. Halftrack
February 19th, 2010
1:25 pm
This is a terrible bill. It slants everything toward the Metro Atlanta area. Look at the division guidelines, population = Metro Atlanta / miles of State Routes incl. Interstate = Metro Atlanta per region. In the Region set up, what entity will co-ordinate those roads that will match other region’s construction and priorities voted on. Secondly, once a road is selected, how does the purchasing of Right of Way, paying Utility relocation, etc. work with the planning. When road priorities default in the lack of pursuing Pre-Construction activities in a region, who gets the blame and how is it reconciled to keep growth from creating and being gridlocked from the progressive region?
Brakeman
February 19th, 2010
1:30 pm
Tiger is now, well …………………
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sd0xxDmcCw&feature=related
Ron Mexico
February 19th, 2010
1:30 pm
“Under HB 1218, the State Road and Tollway Authority, not the DOT, would be given primary authority to oversee construction of projects financed through a regional sales tax.”
Great, this will give SRTA something to do after the bonds on GA400 are payed off next year. Why not give the money to GDOT, and get rid of SRTA all together, saving the taxpayers money on a do-nothing agency?
Wait, I know why! Sonny’s girl Gena Evans is the executive director of SRTA, and she was run off by the DOT board…
Something stinks about all this.
Jenifer
February 19th, 2010
1:37 pm
Where’s Porky Perdue been for the last 7 years?
Oh yeah, that’s right, he went fishing.
Paul
February 19th, 2010
1:39 pm
Hey Whacks
DFW/Ft Worth metro area. Not my choice – family considerations.
Houston? They were on their way with a mass transit system until DeLay stripped the funding and moved it to highways. Doesn’t take a genius to figure out which lobby was bribing him. DFW/Ft Worth’s doing a lot better. Very aggressive mass transit program. Get this: for a couple years now, the entire region has gone, united, to the Legislature and asked for local tax authority, for the locals to fund mass transit. Republicans blocked it with the reasoning “the masses don’t want a tax increase.” Even if they pay for it? Made my vote in the next election very easy.
Jenifer – from downstairs:
So Pres Obama’s for tort reform? Really?!!? Didja catch the date on the clip? Five months ago! And what’s he done since? Answer: nothing. Especially since the Democratic Congressional forces are dead-set against doing anything to tick off one of their biggest bribe providers – the trial lawyers.
Y’know, all that talk about reforming entitlements, bringing the deficit under control…. could you do us a favor and show us a clip from the Basement Boys that has the President’s upcoming budget proposals where he addresses this? I’m sure he’s moving aggressively on that!
BTW – how are those Obama warrantless wiretaps workin’ out for ya’?
Daedalus
February 19th, 2010
1:49 pm
Howdy back Paul.
Went to Mexico while Atlanta was in the deep freeze. That was nice. Even the airport security people are friendly in Puerto Vallarta. Big contrast to the security folks at Hartsfield upon the return — that wasn’t fun. Nothing like a surly TSA worker to let you know you are home.
If you go do PV, check out Yelapa and Sayulita. Couple of great little beach towns. Nice beaches, cheap drinks, makes for a nice vacation.
Daedalus
February 19th, 2010
1:56 pm
Hey Skeptic — nice map you found. Looks like the TPB really updated the Georgia Commuter Rail Map. And to ride the system, all you need to do is find some funny mushrooms and sit back and enjoy the ride, cause the lines only exist in an imaginary world that will never be:
http://www.dot.state.ga.us/travelingingeorgia/rail/Documents/CommuterRailMap.pdf
http://www.dot.state.ga.us/travelingingeorgia/rail/Pages/CommuterRail.aspx
Brakeman
February 19th, 2010
1:59 pm
“Off Topic (a little)” :
From “The Bonfire (the Seize and Burning of Atlanta)” by Marc Wortman:
“Grant’s Army of the Tennessee commander William Tecumseh Sherman was so frustrated by the difficulty of operating in Tennessee that he advocated removing the entire rebellious Southern population – or killing them. “Don’t expect to overrun such a country or subdue such a people in our two or five years, it is the task of half a century,” he warned his brother John Sherman in the U.S. Senate. “To attempt to hold all of the South would demand an army too large even to think of. We must colonize and settle as we go south.”
He underestimated the South then and they are still trying to subjugate us ………..
Base
February 19th, 2010
2:00 pm
If Sonny and his henchmen are for it,it must be crooked! It is a way to build more roads.
Paul
February 19th, 2010
2:01 pm
Daedalus
We have a new blogger here – Southern Comfort. Employed by those folks at TSA. Just to let you know. He’s a good guy -
Outhouse GoKart
February 19th, 2010
2:02 pm
Someone needs to straighten Mr Woods out. He did nothing wrong, has nothing for which to be apologizing. It pains me to see himself allow these continued attacks on his person. All the media and these womens groups with their typical beeeatching, whining etc.
Takes two for the dirty deed and these fem fatales are the truely guilty ones.
Tiger, give em all the finger!
special Ed
February 19th, 2010
2:12 pm
do we have Jenifer’s IEP ready? We have to have a plan to keep her mind occupied.
Whacks Eloquent
February 19th, 2010
2:24 pm
Personally, I am a bit concerned about today’s news story regarding the GRTA bus funding. It is not good that the one effort Atlanta really has taken for transit now is in question. MARTA just does not go far enough out to be of real impact to the metro area, and costs too much to expand. If we do not pursue commuter rail and soon, Atlanta will lose its edge as the economic powerhouse of the south.
Penile Cancer Surgery: Promising Results in India : Aptamera
February 19th, 2010
2:28 pm
[...] Proposed travel check essentially looks promising | Jay Bookman [...]
professional skeptic
February 19th, 2010
2:34 pm
Daedalus
February 19th, 2010
1:56 pm
From your link:
“The Georgia Rail Passenger Program (GRPP) contains seven commuter rail lines, seven lines of intercity rail service as well as the MMPT…”
How dare the DOT make such fraudulent use of the present tense!
Jenkins
February 19th, 2010
2:40 pm
Well of course it’ll end up Metro Atlanta slanted; it has the highest population that would benefit from any of it’s projects, plus they’d pay the most taxes as they already do. Did you think it would be Brunswick slanted?
tgone
February 19th, 2010
2:42 pm
Business may benefit from rail, light or heavy and may benefit from buses but businesses DO NOT pay taxes. There is not business that goes home at night a writes checks while eating dinner with the wife and kids. The business is a group of people that get together and decide how to make a profit while providing a product or service. If you tax them more the business just takes that information and adjusts their pricing accordingly. If the business decides that 10% profit is acceptable overall then all of their costs (salary, raw materials, rent, marketing, taxes) are taken into account to determine the price of their product or service. In summary, there is no pile of money sitting out there for you to use. All taxes are paid by people, whether directly or indirectly and once you accept that fact maybe you will stop spending other peoples money on your wishes.
professional skeptic
February 19th, 2010
2:42 pm
Whacks Eloquent
February 19th, 2010
2:24 pm
It strikes me as odd that there was a mad rush to preserve the federal funding for this project, yet the $87 million of federal funds for the Lovejoy commuter line has sat unused in the bank for so long, in danger of being sent back.
Williebkind
February 19th, 2010
2:43 pm
OMG! Perdue has done something Obama can not do! Get something together that makes sense. Perdue for President!
Whacks Eloquent
February 19th, 2010
2:51 pm
skeptic @ 2:42
I have wondered about the Lovejoy line. Why that one? There was more citizen interest from the Brain Train option (Atlanta-Athens). Would make more sense to focus on one that was popular. Seriously, Clayton County just stopped their bus service because they could not make it generate enough revenue, there is no way that county can be counted on to support a light rail line. It needs to start with a base that is willing to pay to ride, i.e. Gwinnett or Cobb. And those counties have shown some interest when MARTA name is not included…
Whacks Eloquent
February 19th, 2010
2:52 pm
“Perdue for President!”
heaven help us…
Bosch
February 19th, 2010
2:57 pm
OMG!!! Numbers!!!!! They are gonna kill me!!!!!!!!!!!
professional skeptic
February 19th, 2010
3:14 pm
Whacks Eloquent
February 19th, 2010
2:51 pm
I’m not sure why Lovejoy. I agree with you about the Brain Train. Last I heard, Athens even has a rail terminal ready and waiting, so the Athens line would have been a logical starting point.
However I would ultimately like to see the whole system up and running (as per Deadalus’ link), and, if Lovejoy has to come first, then so be it:
http://www.dot.state.ga.us/travelingingeorgia/rail/Documents/CommuterRailMap.pdf
Swede Atlanta
February 19th, 2010
3:19 pm
Yes, hurry up and pass this bill.
It seems that reality is finally loosening the grip of power and control the boys and girls under the Gold Dome want to have across Georgia.
Georgians are among the strongest voices calling for respect of the rights of the individual states. The idea is most things are best decided at the “local” level.
Well the same thing applies to addressing problems inside the state. Some things are best decided by the individual cities, counties or regions.
I don’t want someone from St.Simon Island making decisions about traffic in and around Atlanta. Similarly no one from the metro Atlanta area should decide about traffic projects around St. Simon.
Road Scholar
February 19th, 2010
3:24 pm
Williebkind; Didn’t we already send a Georgian to the White House? Do you think the American People are ready for another?
Enough of the Tiger posts…
Jay, remember before GDOT got into their alledged financial problems what happened? With Perdue’s Fast Forward he sold bonds to “accelerate” projects, and then, due to the debt service to pay back the bonds with interest, the whole Department came to a skreaching stop (and he knew about the accounting). Now the policy proposes to sell $300 M worth of bonds per year and pay them back with money from the general fund.
Just a reminder that the GF has had to be cut due to the downturn. The latest cut was $1 B from the mid year adjustment. The Gov is estimating our immediate future growth is to be 4.6% when it is presently on the negative side of zero! So where is the money to pay back the bonds going to come from?
The Chamber of Commerce along with the Atlanta Regional Commission, GDOT,SRTA,and GRTA has been testing projects including transit for their possible selection of those projects to be included in the referendum for years. ARC,Grta,and SRTA with GDOT have been testing a B/C methodology to use in prioritising projects. So why do we have to wait until 2012 to vote on this?
Bud Wiser
February 19th, 2010
3:36 pm
So what happens if one of the district wants to run a line from point A to point B, on another district line, and the other district has no interest in connecting?
At least it is a start.
Do you suppose they will go to ‘no bid’ contract awards like Obowo, when he had just recently given his “transparency’ crap again?
If Obowo were a local yokel in politics, or even a governor, he would have been recalled by now. Too bad we’re stuck with this ignorant sap another 3 years.
Swede Atlanta
February 19th, 2010
4:25 pm
BudWiser
Actually, thank God we have this “ignorant sap” for another 3 years. We had the ultimate ignorant sap and his sidekick Darth Draft-evading Cheney for 8 long painful years.
Bud Wiser
February 19th, 2010
5:25 pm
If you believe that after what has transpired in the last year, the continual string of straight out lies from the man himself…
- what happened to TARP money, where did it go?
- where did the stimulus money go?
- where is the transparency?
- why raising taxes on everyone, not just the ‘rich’?
- why the push for health care when so many are unemployed?
- why is he being literally run over by Reid and Pelosi, who is really in charge?
- why the pathetic string of tax cheats and incompetents being appointed to cabinet and czar positions, as well as a self-avowed communist (Vann Jones)?
- why is Charles Rangel not on the same road to prison you or I might be for tax evasion, and why does the Senate continually give it the shuffle to the back of the deck on ethics investigation?
- what planet have you been residing on the last year, and why is it you people cannot get by your pathetic refrain about Bush/Cheney?
- when are you going to lay any responsibility whatsoever on the lying, incompetent Obama, for what he has done? I’ve given you just a meager list of his failures to begin with; why do you people ignore that, and just start moaning “Bush/Cheney, Bush/Cheney, Bush/Cheney”; are just oblivious to what is happening or are you just plain selectively stupid?
Selective stupidity by parties and their people is what has gotten us to this precipice. I say push them all over and out in November.
Yet, as I first said, we are indeed stuck with this lying, incompetent sap for the next 3 years.
So just get over it. Grow up. Better yet, grow a brain.
NRB2
February 19th, 2010
7:11 pm
Together, those elected leaders would be empowered to propose a special 1-penny sales tax to be collected in the district for eight years
————————————-
And then 1 cent per year after that, for the following ten years, than in year 18 when the system is flat broke they’ll invent some other tax and whine about how “the system is broke” etc.
NJ
February 22nd, 2010
12:57 pm
The stimulus money was established for a single purpose. To create jobs rapidly. North Carolina had “shovel ready” or at least job ready projects on line. Georgia spent too much time trying to come up with a plan that would allow the wealthy business owners to keep as much of that stimulus money as possible.
Scott
February 25th, 2010
1:46 pm
Promising???? For me “Promising” would translate to a story like this:
Perdue admits time and money have been wasted, but on Wednesday announced that we would finally move along with the Lovejoy to Macon rail. We have acknowledged the fact that Marta can no longer be our commuter rail provider. We must have a system in place that people will admire, and not look at as another Billion dollar waste of our tax.
Wait for THAT day to say PROMISING, because this state always has promising ideas, but look at us right now weighing the same options for rail that we were weighing 20 or even 30 years ago…
How clueless are ALL THESE PEOPLE RUNNING THIS ****** STATE?????????
GDI insiders
February 26th, 2010
8:26 pm
Sonny need to get rid or reshape DOT instead of SRTA. The good people of Macom and Athens were promise a rail to Atlanta about 15 years ago, but they have yet to lay a single track despite having millions in federal funds. GDOT does not have the common sense to develop rail projects, nor will they work with anyone to build a rail system.
On the other hand, SRTA will be more willing to bring in outsiders to work on projects. SRTA will not shift funds from one project to another project; thus letting one project fall by the side. May be the good people of GA can get some projects off the books.