Transit investment a necessity for metro Atlanta
Based on the draft list approved earlier this month, 55 percent of the Atlanta region’s proposed transportation sales tax would be used to support mass transit, a fact that has generated considerable grumbling in some quarters.
Benita Dodd of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank, points out that just 5 percent of commuters in metro Atlanta regularly ride a bus or rail system, concluding that with its emphasis on transit, “the project list ignores this reality.”
State Sen. Lindsey Tippins, R-Cobb County, believes the list should favor road projects that deliver more immediate relief than longer-term transit projects. State Rep. Sharon Cooper, also a Cobb Republican, argues that the bond between Southerners and their cars is so strong that transit might not work here.
All in all, there’s a sense among many in metro Atlanta that transit is somehow experimental and untested and represents too much of a risk. I’d argue that the exact opposite is true. The real gamble, the real experiment, would be in refusing to make major investments in transit.
Look at who we are. According to the 2010 Census, the 20-county metro Atlanta region has grown to 5.3 million people, an increase of 1 million over the 2000 Census. By 2030 — less than 20 years from now — the region is predicted to host 7.4 million people, which by any measure makes us a major metropolitan region.
So here’s a challenge: Name a major metropolitan region anywhere in the industrialized world that has not made or is not making a major investment in transit. I’m aware of none.
Some people might challenge that claim by pointing to the example of Los Angeles. However, given that region’s severe problems with congestion and air quality, I’m not sure that helps the anti-transit case much. And the truth is, Los Angeles is now trying to hard to retrofit itself, adding subways, light rail and high-speed rail to its auto-centric system.
In addition, Los Angeles already boasts an extensive bus system. According to a new study by the Brookings Institution, Los Angeles ranks second in the country in the percentage of its population within reach of mass transit, behind only Honolulu. Metro Atlanta ranks 82nd out of 100 U.S. metro areas in that category, and most of the areas ranked below Atlanta, such as Chattanooga, Augusta and Baton Rouge, are considerably smaller.
In every human endeavor, changes in scale force changes in systems. In business, for example, small companies are forced to go outside their comfort zones and adopt new ways of doing things as they grow. The systems that worked when you have 10 employees or 100 employees don’t work when you have a payroll of 1,000. The same is true of metro regions. If metro Atlanta chooses to try to grow without a major investment in transit, it takes a course that no other region on the planet has found workable.
Furthermore, the transportation sales tax is our only feasible source of transit investment. Under Georgia’s constitution, revenue from the state’s gasoline tax is restricted to use for roads and bridges and can’t be used to fund transit. The Legislature has made it clear that it has no stomach for altering that provision, and it is even less likely to fund transit directly through general revenues.
(In fact, state leaders are so fearful of transit and taxes that earlier this month, they balked at moving the date of the transportation referendum to an allegedly more favorable date, lest they be accused of supporting such a noxious combination.)
It’s also important to remember that gasoline-tax revenue will continue to be earmarked for construction of highway projects, such as the proposed new toll lanes on I-75 through Cobb County. Taking those projects into account, total transportation spending in the metro region would continue to be weighted toward asphalt over transit.
– Jay Bookman
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456 comments Add your comment
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
10:29 am
“if someone simply says something that you disagree with do you attack them like this?”
You mean like this Woodstock MIke?
Bosch, I quit caring about anything you say a while back man… Your are simply an ignorant human being…You make people not want to even come on this blog. I bet you are so proud, that’s what is really disgusting.
Hypocrisy, thy name is Woodstock Mike…..
jewcowboy
August 30th, 2011
10:29 am
USMC,
“In Europe, they don’t put up with near the level of disobedience, crime and garbage that is found on MARTA. ”
Do you just make up this stuff? You do realize lying is a sin in your god’s eyes, right?
Jefferson
August 30th, 2011
10:31 am
Gas should be priced based on the vehicles’s MPG, poor MPG pays more. Or, you could limit imports and ration gasoline, let americans sell to other americans if you want to waste gas. Plenty of ways to lower consumption. Regulate speed with governers and make speeders park their cars for hours at a time if caught. According to the DMV driving is not a right.
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
10:32 am
“This blog is really becoming vicious”
Says Woodstock Mike, but Woodstock Mike also says things like this (weirdly enough right before he writes about how “vicious” we all have become:
“Uh, they drive their car you idiot. Don’t think there are many people that work in downtown Atlanta that don’t own a car you fool.”
Again, hypocrisy — meet Mike.
md
August 30th, 2011
10:32 am
Personally, I have no problem with expansion…….as lonf as they get some competent planners/engineers………….who the heck planned the southern line where one has to go to GA ST station to walk to a Braves game?? It isn’t like the stadiums weren’t already there…………………….
1811/0311
August 30th, 2011
10:33 am
Granny @ 9:57
I think you meant “perspicaCious” …………….
But certainly not “pussilianimous” ……………..
jewcowboy
August 30th, 2011
10:34 am
Marie,
I’m not suggesting you are wrong, but perhaps you should check out this:
http://www.cleanaircampaign.org/Your-Workplace/PACE-Awards/2011-PACE-Awards-Government-Champions
“And sadly some managers are stuck in two decades ago and want to see your bright smiling face in the place each day.”
This is true, but this is where top-down directives and adequate training come into play. Also, as I said before, telework is not for everyone. Some jobs are not conducive to it, and some personalities are not.
Take me for example. I have the option of teleworking as much as I would like, though I only do it once a week or so. I like the office interactions, but it is distracting. When I really need to concentrate or get something done, I telework
1811/0311
August 30th, 2011
10:34 am
Jay @ 9:57
“Sorry Scout, Your application for martyrdom is hereby rejected.”
Oh, there are plenty of other places to go but I would miss (some) of you guys.
I'm Rick James Wa-Itch!
August 30th, 2011
10:38 am
Jewcowboy: Yeah, it received little local coverage, but it did make news nationally and internationally, as the rest shook their heads about how backwards we are.
It makes me so angry that the Cobb County DA even deigned to prosecute this woman! What were they thinking? Were they using her as a “practice” case for their young up and coming DA’s to cut their teeth on?
Somewhere out there, stupidity has just taken over the lead and democracy is falling far, far behind.
jewcowboy
August 30th, 2011
10:39 am
“I do not trust GRTA or Marta to build anything truely useful to the Average Georgian”
Funny, 590K people a day ride MARTA. I would say they are the “Average Georgian”, and they find it useful.
jack
August 30th, 2011
10:41 am
why does the call for an added 1c tax exempt fuel and most vehicle purchses but taxes all food purchases ? that seems backwards to me ! the tax should apply to those entites that use the roadway !! should not use a food tax to lay cement or build elevated roadways
MARTA Rida
August 30th, 2011
10:41 am
Does anybody on this page ride MARTA? Everyday I ride the train there is standing room only for most of the ride. I see business people in suits sitting next to laborers, fast-food workers sitting next to students. Everyone is getting along, everyone feels safe, and no one is begging for money. MARTA police are on every train and at most stations. Maybe all you folks talking bad about MARTA need to take a ride on the train during commuting times and see for your self how efficent the system moves people thru the 3 largest business districts in the state! I ride the train 20 miles and I takes me 30 minutes to get from East Atlanta to the Perimeter. If I drove it would take the same amount of time on a good day and twice as long if traffic is bad. Rail Transit is reliable, I always know what time I will be to work and home. I haven’t bought gas in 2 months and will never go back to being a slave to my car!
I'm Rick James Wa-Itch!
August 30th, 2011
10:41 am
Most managers in the South have the “overseer” attitude. They feel if they can’t see you working, then you aren’t working. Period.
jt
August 30th, 2011
10:42 am
Hong Kong’s MRT’s mass transit “CORPORATION mindset” of profit…………………
.
will beat ………..
.
Atlanta’s government’s mass transit “AUTHORITY mindset” of state/politics……………………………
.
Every……………………………………………….day………………………………….forever.
.
As an aside…………….Marta has no authority over me.None of those Transpo dudes do.
Billybob
August 30th, 2011
10:44 am
jay,
Planting seeds this morning ahead of hussein’s re-hashed spending…..uh, i mean ‘investments’ plan for jobs and infrastructure…..let me know when you libs have any ideas that don’t require others to pay for it….too easy
jewcowboy
August 30th, 2011
10:45 am
MARTA Rida,
“Does anybody on this page ride MARTA?”
Yep…everyday for the past 6 years.
Adam
August 30th, 2011
10:45 am
jt: Hong Kong’s MRT’s mass transit “CORPORATION mindset” of profit
MRT is Socialist. The government owns all of it.
Adam
August 30th, 2011
10:47 am
Billybob: let me know when you libs have any ideas that don’t require others to pay for it
Oh, you mean like tax cuts? That requires someone else to pay for it too. Someone other than the public, meaning other countries and banks. But that’s ok, right?
jewcowboy
August 30th, 2011
10:47 am
I’m Rick James Wa-Itch!,
“Most managers in the South have the “overseer” attitude. They feel if they can’t see you working, then you aren’t working.”
It’s not just the south. As Marie, pointed out, it is decades of training a mindset that needs to be altered. And it is changing. Younger generations are challenging the boundaries of the traditional office.
Jm
August 30th, 2011
10:47 am
Btw. I have no problem with transit at all. IF the cityies will UPZONE all the property within 1.5 miles of the lines to an FAR (floor – area ratio) of 10 or more, mixed use commercial multifamily
Let’s see if the big mouth love to spend your $ politicians will bite off on that and do their fair share of the heavy lifting….
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
10:48 am
“ahead of hussein’s re-hashed spending”
Billybob,
Who is hussein? If you mean the POTUS, do you refer to all the President’s by their middle name? Just curious if it’s just a weird habit, or if it’s a vain attempt to call attention to Obama’s middle name because of some negative qualm you have about him.
Joe Mama
August 30th, 2011
10:48 am
heathen — “I was checking the traffic conditions in NY, Boston, and Chicago, cities that, according to our bloggers here, have wonderful mass transit systems. Looks like traffic sucks at those places, too.”
It’d suck *more* if not for their transit systems.
How many transit systems other than MARTA have you used as anything other than a tourist or visitor?
TiredOfTheLies
August 30th, 2011
10:49 am
My 2 cents… an easy way to better distribute road funds, and encourage alternative transportation:
Allocate gas based taxation on road usage – simple to do – have a computer read license numbers and tabulate based on the municipality where the vehicle is housed at various locations.
That way, the ‘destination’ of vehicles will get a more appropriate share for maintaining its roads. The location where the commuter vehicle is housed will get less – and people will begin to pay for the damage/pollution during their trips. This will encourage better road investments, improve the trips, and maybe (ok – hunting for miracles here) there will be more of a forward looking view at transit.
As it stands – there is incentive to use the roads at a destination ‘for free’, and expand those where people live. This is creating inefficient sprawl, a lack of community, economic disparities, higher levels of imports, greater pollution and truly ugly commercial districts.
OK, I’m dreaming…..
jewcowboy
August 30th, 2011
10:49 am
Adam.
“Oh, you mean like tax cuts?”
Or right-of-way acquisition for widening roads, as well as the construction and maintenance of said roads?
Jm
August 30th, 2011
10:50 am
NO MORE USELESS TRANSIT!
MAKE THE POLITICIANS UPZONE THE PROPERTY IF THEY WANT TO BUILD TRANSIT
Joe Mama
August 30th, 2011
10:50 am
MARTA Rida — “Does anybody on this page ride MARTA?”
It’s not really an option for me, as I have only an 8-mile commute. But I used it all the time when I was in grad school.
Billybob
August 30th, 2011
10:51 am
jefferson,
more gov’t regulations and intrusion and none of your thoughts involve my freedom of choice…….care to elaborate more……
Normal
August 30th, 2011
10:51 am
Jay @ 0928,
I’d like to see that. A toll gate set up at the end of your driveway. Pay for the use of those roads…owned by a private company, of course…with the option to raise rates whenever traffic is bad. Ha!
Joe Mama
August 30th, 2011
10:53 am
Normal — “I’d like to see that. A toll gate set up at the end of your driveway. Pay for the use of those roads…owned by a private company, of course…with the option to raise rates whenever traffic is bad. Ha!”
Exact change only, please.
TiredOfTheLies
August 30th, 2011
10:53 am
Having lived a few years (temporarily) in NJ – commuting to NYC… riding the train was incredible. I did enormous amounts of work, read many books, relaxed and enjoyed the hour long trip. I got home refreshed, and ready to have fun with the kids – not wired to the gills after a nasty commute!
The trip wasn’t cheap, but considering the time saved, was worth every penny.
Some people drove, but came home frazzled, and spent way more per month that I did (and yes, the trains were full!)
Commuting in Atlanta isn’t civilized at all.
Paul
August 30th, 2011
10:54 am
Jay
Seven pages, over three hundred comments and still on topic.
Is this a record?
Adam
August 30th, 2011
10:54 am
Paragraph QOTD: To American exceptionalists freedom means being able to do what you want unencumbered by obligations to your fellow citizens. It is a definition of freedom the rest of the world finds bewildering. Can it be, they ask, that the quintessential expression of American freedom is low or no taxes and the right to carry a loaded gun into a bar? To which a growing number of Americans, if recent elections were any indication, would respond, “You’re damn right it is.”
Billybob
August 30th, 2011
10:54 am
bosch,
it’s his name…ever heard of W…..
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
August 30th, 2011
10:56 am
Well, if these city slickers want trains, let them pay for them. I ain’t going to pay a extra tax just so some weenie can ride a train from his homo high-rise condo to his work and back.
We need more roads. Lots of them. We need extra lanes. For example GA 400 should be ten lanes each way, at least.
To those people that think trains are the future, I say, I’ll give up my pickup truck when you can pry my cold dead fingers off of the steering wheel. Buy your own trains and leave the rest of us alone. We don’t want the thiefs riding a train coming from downtown Atlanta to steal our stuff and then riding a train back.
This has got nothing to do with race. I ain’t a racist. I just don’t like or trust Those People. I got a right to do that.
Have a good Tuesday everybody.
Soothsayer
August 30th, 2011
10:56 am
Hi! I’m Rick Perry and I’m for sale!
Harold Simmons, a Dallas mega-billionaire industrialist who has donated well over a million dollars to Perry’s campaign committees recently. With Perry’s eager assistance—and despite warnings from Texas environmental officials—Simmons has gotten approval to build an enormous radioactive waste dump on top of a crucial underground water supply.
“We first had to change the law to where a private company can own a license, and we did that,” Simmons boasted in 2006, after the Texas Legislature and the governor rubber-stamped initial legislation and approvals for the project. “Then we got another law passed that said (the state) can only issue one license. Of course, we were the only ones that applied.”
Jm
August 30th, 2011
10:57 am
Tired – cars that drive themselves (available in 10 years max and at google now) will negate this advantage that transit currently has
Furthermore, cars will become much more fuel efficient as they become first safer, then lighter
But I’m fine with transit if the pols will also bite the bullet and upzone all the stupid empty land near these future and current rail lines
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
10:57 am
Billybob,
I know that, but do you refer to all the President’s by their middle name?
Adam
August 30th, 2011
10:57 am
Paul: It may be. There were a couple attempts to turn it into ObamaHate. But mostly silence.
Aquagirl
August 30th, 2011
10:58 am
Aquagirl, if someone simply says something that you disagree with do you attack them like this?
No, I “attack” them for being parasites who assume they are entitled to taxpayer money so they can have a nice uncrowded road from their suburban-sprawl home to all destinations of their choice. I then “attack” them for whining about “subsidized-rail boondoggles” and “the MARTA excessive spending” while we build Highways To Nowhere. Roads are not a naturally occurring feature, they are paid for by non-users. And they are extremely inefficient, expensive, and make us dependent on people like Hugo Chávez.
If I come off as attacking you, it’s because you’re willfully ignorant, and you sit around and pass judgement based on your ignorant assumptions. Also, your expectations we should spend billions of dollars so every exurban resident can live in a 3500 square foot house and commute 30 miles each way? Pay for it yourself, dude. Quit thinking other people should foot the bill for this lifestyle. Blat that out and you bet I’ll object.
And no, I don’t care if you think I’m not nice. I’m not nice to aggressive panhandlers either. How about you quit attacking other people’s wallets? Maybe they’ll be nicer to you.
md
August 30th, 2011
10:58 am
“Oh, you mean like tax cuts? That requires someone else to pay for it too. Someone other than the public, meaning other countries and banks. But that’s ok, right?”
Hmmm……..scratching my head on that one……..care to elaborate?
Adam
August 30th, 2011
10:59 am
Jm: cars that drive themselves (available in 10 years max and at google now) will negate this advantage that transit currently has
Yeah but what will they COST?
Billybob
August 30th, 2011
11:00 am
adam,
is money that i have earned mine, or is it the gov’ts money?
USinUK
August 30th, 2011
11:00 am
Bush’s middle name is W???
Adam
August 30th, 2011
11:01 am
md: Tax cuts by themselves don’t also cut spending. Instead, money is borrowed to pay for the difference. And that means whoever we borrow from is paying for it. And with our overall idea that taxes must be cut forever, and we can just borrow instead of trying to pay back our loans, we will continue to borrow to pay for borrowing until eventually we decide we’re just going to default on all our debt, essentially meaning someone else pays for it.
jewcowboy
August 30th, 2011
11:01 am
Howdy Paul!
“Is this a record?”
I think it may be.
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
11:01 am
“is money that i have earned mine, or is it the gov’ts money”
Some of both. You have to pay to live here Billybob, as we’ve discussed, roads aren’t free.
Now, how about that other question.
Adam
August 30th, 2011
11:02 am
Billybob: Part f what you earn goes to taxes. It’s the privilege you pay for living in this country. If you don’t like it, you’re free to leave. Good luck finding a country that charges you less to live there.
md
August 30th, 2011
11:02 am
“riding the train was incredible. I did enormous amounts of work, read many books, relaxed and enjoyed the hour long trip. I got home refreshed, and ready to have fun with the kids – not wired to the gills after a nasty commute!”
I used to be one of those “wired to the gills” in the Atl……….then I simply moved. I now arrive home refreshed every day because there is no traffic…………….
Amazing how folks in big cities put up with all the crap when there are alternatives………goes back to choices………to each his own.
Paulo977
August 30th, 2011
11:02 am
Jay
“What is the source of your allegation that the system is dirty and crime-ridden?”
It’s the holy oral tradition of folks who live in a certain area!!!
FrankLeeDarling
August 30th, 2011
11:02 am
I think the problem with the anti transportation crowd is that they spend to much time in their cars listening to talk radio propaganda.
Joe Mama
August 30th, 2011
11:02 am
R. Convert — “This has got nothing to do with race. I ain’t a racist.”
Liar. Ah seen you down there at the last NASCAR thing.
1811/0311
August 30th, 2011
11:03 am
Worth another view ………… LOL !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2KlpT3AIKA&feature=related
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
11:04 am
Scout,
Do you honestly think that most people here actually click on links you provide, oh King of the Drudge Headlines?
Adam
August 30th, 2011
11:05 am
Jay, I can’t help but notice that your question went unanswered, as in every other time it is posed: What is the source of your allegation that the system is dirty and crime-ridden?
Interesting, isn’t it? I seem to remember providing evidence the last time I was asked, and the best I got back was “oh yeah well your evidence means you changed your original statement!”
md
August 30th, 2011
11:05 am
Adam………a bit of a stretch to think we will just up and default……….if we do, it won’t much matter who did and didn’t pay……..so the taxpayers are the ones paying for their own cuts………..
Billybob
August 30th, 2011
11:05 am
it is a privelege for me to pay taxes to live in this country……..spoken like a true democrat……we are learning a little today….
1811/0311
August 30th, 2011
11:05 am
Jay:
“Awaiting moderation”
That’s even beneath you. Freedom of speech ? Only if “you” like it. HA !
1811/0311
August 30th, 2011
11:07 am
Bosch:
Totally your choice but many do because they choose to make a comment, or call me a name and some even choose to debate.
Your choice man. Why did you even reply this time then? Save your keystokes.
jewcowboy
August 30th, 2011
11:07 am
Jm,
“Furthermore, cars will become much more fuel efficient as they become first safer, then lighter”
Neither of those things will address the fundamental lack of capacity. Which is more efficient: 50 people in one vehicle or 50 people in 50 vehicles? Even if autos were zero emissions and drove themselves, there is a finite number of them you can fit into one space.
With right-of-way acquisition costs skyrocketing, road widening project prices are quickly becoming an untenable solution. Plus, community objections are escalating as well. Do you remember what happened to the Buckhead neighborhoods when 400 came through. They are just now healing many divides.
Adam
August 30th, 2011
11:07 am
Billybob: it is a privelege for me to pay taxes to live in this country……..spoken like a true democrat……we are learning a little today….
If only it were true that you were learning something….
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
11:08 am
“it is a privelege for me to pay taxes to live in this country”
It should be. Do you know any other country where you can live where your taxes would be this low?
1811/0311
August 30th, 2011
11:08 am
Adam:
I rode MARTA to the airport three times. In two of those cases, I almost had to make an arrest. One was a pathetic drunk and the second was a guy intending to get something out of a woman’s purse.
USinUK
August 30th, 2011
11:08 am
Bosch – “Do you honestly think that most people here actually click on links you provide”
yes.
this has been another edition of simple answers to simple questions
Jm
August 30th, 2011
11:08 am
Adam 10:59 not a whole lot more. Computers are cheap
It’s a product liability problem holding things up, nothing more
Billybob
August 30th, 2011
11:09 am
must go and create more tax money for the lib elitists to spend b/c they ‘care’…..good times
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
11:10 am
Oh no, Scout has done been victimized again by the evil blog monitor. Yeah, like that only happens to poor Scout.
Granny Godzilla
August 30th, 2011
11:10 am
billy bob
you don’t think being able to live in America is a privelege?
or do you think it is as only long as you don’t have to pay?
sounds like the new definition of a welfare king to me.
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
11:10 am
USinUK,
Ok, my bad.
Adam
August 30th, 2011
11:11 am
5.8231511254019292604501607717042: I know someone who bought a computer that had a problem, and brought it to the Geek Squad, and they charged her and it was broke again the next day. She brought it back and they charged her for a different problem! The nerve! From these two experiences I take the view that all Geek Squads are bad.
Billybob
August 30th, 2011
11:11 am
adam,
i have a phd in ‘lib’, but thanks though…..
TiredOfTheLies
August 30th, 2011
11:11 am
As many traffic engineers will say – widening roads doesn’t solve the congestion problem. The wide roads just get clogged too.
For those that think that they can further widen the roads in town – dream on. The residents (those of us that really don’t have to deal with traffic on a daily basis since we’re already ‘there’) won’t have it.
Look at what happened to the Stone Mountain Freeway….
Jm
August 30th, 2011
11:11 am
Jewxowboy 11:07 I agree
That’s why I think we need both (or an all if the above answer)
More transit, more (toll) roads
Adam
August 30th, 2011
11:12 am
Billybob: must go and create more tax money for the lib elitists to spend b/c they ‘care’…..good times
You should try not being employed and living on welfare. I hear it’s a cushy lifestyle, the new rich. Why, the government even buys a flat screen for you and lets you buy drugs with the MASSIVE amount of money you get while you’re on welfare!
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
11:12 am
“widening roads doesn’t solve the congestion problem. The wide roads just get clogged too”
I think we should work to make driving as inconvenient as possible.
Aquagirl
August 30th, 2011
11:12 am
Jay, my cousin’s girlfriend’s favorite barista served a double non-fat latte last month to a guy whose second ex-wife was eviscerated, drawn and quartered on MARTA. There’s your evidence!
kayaker 71
August 30th, 2011
11:13 am
Rasmussen today….. 21% strongly approve of Bozo….. 44% do not. This is exactly the opposite of what it was in Jan of 2009. 29% feel that Bozo is handling the economy correctly…… 71% do not. Still, 14% feel that the country is headed in the right direction….. the rest do not. Unemployment still at 9.2%….. and Rick Perry is stupid?
Billybob
August 30th, 2011
11:13 am
granny,
3 statements……..
3 false premises………
you are a funny and competely transparent lib……dare i say ‘textbook’….
jewcowboy
August 30th, 2011
11:13 am
“I rode MARTA to the airport three times.”
I find it amusing. I ride MARTA almost everyday…for many years. I rarely see anything like what all these non-riders always describe. Now, I’m not calling them liars, but they do seem to have very active imaginations.
http://youtu.be/VvfXvW2wsuQ
Adam
August 30th, 2011
11:14 am
Aquagirl: Your rebuttal to 5.8231511254019292604501607717042 (also known as Scout) was way better than mine.
1811/0311
August 30th, 2011
11:15 am
Bosch:
You’re wasting keystrokes again.
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
11:15 am
“and Rick Perry is stupid?”
Yes. Yet ANOTHER episode to simple answer to simple questions.
Kamchak
August 30th, 2011
11:15 am
I think the problem with the anti transportation crowd is that they spend to much time in their cars listening to talk radio propaganda.
Yep.
Jm
August 30th, 2011
11:15 am
Tired 11:11 double decking 285 and portions of 75 and 85 would do a lot
1811/0311
August 30th, 2011
11:16 am
Adam:
I love it when you guys keep talking about me. Makes me feel wanted.
Adam
August 30th, 2011
11:16 am
kayaker: Rasmussen today….. 21% will vote for Obama….. 44% will not. This is exactly the opposite of what it was in Jan of 2009. 29% think Obama will help recover the economy…… 71% think the Republican candidate (whoever that is) will. Still, 14% feel that the country has the right president….. the rest do not.
Fixed your typo to make it more accurate to what you were trying to say. You’re welcome.
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
11:16 am
“was way better than mine”
But was also really scary. I’d hate to be on Aquagirl’s wrong side.
jewcowboy
August 30th, 2011
11:17 am
Jm,
“More transit, more (toll) roads”
Toll booths…on the edges of Dekalb and Fulton. Plus a 50% surcharge on all MARTA fares for all non-Fulton, Dekalb and CoA citizens.
Disgusted
August 30th, 2011
11:18 am
The nerve! From these two experiences I take the view that all Geek Squads are bad.
I made the mistake of calling the Geek Squad when my PC was acting up. He was here 20 minutes, deleted a virus, slipped my calculator into his pocket when I wasn’t looking, and charged me $195.
Goodbye, Geek Squad. I hope somebody else is willing to pay for those Volkswagen bugs, for I certainly won’t again.
Uncle Jed
August 30th, 2011
11:19 am
Uncle Jed: You get Con points for creatively twisting an article about Mass Transit in Atlanta to something anti-Obama
++++++++++++++++++++++
Continuing to stay on topic…how many points will I need to redeem for a Marta token?
Out for a few hours, not that I’ll be missed
Bosch
August 30th, 2011
11:19 am
“double decking 285 and portions of 75 and 85 would do a lot”
And gee, how much will that cost? Or is it just free cause the wingnuts want it?
carlosgvv
August 30th, 2011
11:19 am
There is one aspect of riding MARTA that no one talks much about here. I, a white man, rode MARTA buses and trains for three years. I was never threatened or injured. However, every single day, I had to endure the cold, hard hate-filled stares of a great many “African-Americans”. All these people knew about me was that I was white. I did not stare at them, usually passing the time reading or looking out the windows. A number of these people were regulars, like me, and they never ceased, even once, giving me those hateful stares. I can certainly understand how some people choose not to ride MARTA because of this kind of mindless behavior.
Brosephus
August 30th, 2011
11:20 am
kayaker
Got any Rasmussen on metro commuter opinions, or are you just trying to bogart the thread?
1811/0311
August 30th, 2011
11:20 am
carlosgvv :
Maybe you weren’t in the back of the section ?
mm
August 30th, 2011
11:20 am
No, we need more cars on the road so more gas will be used so that the oil companies will make more money so that the republicans can get more political donations.
Granny Godzilla
August 30th, 2011
11:21 am
billybob
you can dare to say texbook sure, but it would have been better to have read said textbook.
sorry, dude but you have aspirations towards being a republican welfare king…
and it’s funny as hell
stands for decibels
August 30th, 2011
11:21 am
Still no takers for Jay’s challenge, I see.
For the off topic spammer:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecutory_delusions
Aquagirl
August 30th, 2011
11:21 am
Aquagirl: Your rebuttal to 5.8231511254019292604501607717042 (also known as Scout) was way better than mine.
Oh, I had one that was even more brilliant and witty, but of course Jay would hang it up in moderation because he suppresses anything that makes him look bad. (Those who don’t understand sarcasm, insert your own eyeroll emoticon.)
Jm
August 30th, 2011
11:21 am
Jewxowboy 11:17 fine by me
Had the aame thoughts for a while now
Normal
August 30th, 2011
11:22 am
Off topic a wee bit, but I bet MARTA is used.
This is for you folks out there that don’t believe in Medicade. How about helping these folks out with a good donation. I did. After all, since you don’t want government to help the lower class, it’s your Christian duty to pitch in, right?
http://www.gfcn.org/
Adam
August 30th, 2011
11:22 am
Disgusted: Goodbye, Geek Squad. I hope somebody else is willing to pay for those Volkswagen bugs, for I certainly won’t again.
Yes, your bad experience means Geek Squad never helps anyone, steals calculators, and always does a half ass job. Your ONE bad experience means that.
Personal experience trumps reality. Every time.