Comments on: Video: Think about privatizing MARTA, says Oxendine

By: Vivalkakira

Vivalkakira — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:34:59 +0000

Great tips and reminders as show-goers adjust budgets and schedules in this economically challenged period.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 00:38:54 +0000

Some business model. I stand corrected for Royal Bus Lines. I was not privy to your information and it sounds as if you have a stake in this somewhere reading thru the documents. Although Royal may not pass the poop test it sounds as if Georgia Community does. It also sounds as if somebody at the state dropped the ball. The PSC suspended their operating permit, but allowed them to have a temporary permit for 12 months. However since the PSC didn’t receive the Form K they just assumed they were still insured. It sounds like the folks at the
DMV dropped the ball since they should have suspended and then seized the tags of the vehicles that didn’t have insurance. Insurance companies generally report to the State within 24 hours when somebodys insurance lapses and then it’s up to the DMV to contact the owner and have the sheriff seize the tags. Since most of these buses are indepentially owned it was probably hard to track where they were located. I never meant to imply that these two companies were shining examples, just an example that a private business could handle some of what MARTA does if they reduced service. I don’t believe any one business could replace MARTA. When the transit workers went on strike in NYC, private companies picked up some of the slack. Even if MARTA should solve the issue with the 50/50 split it will only solve the problem for one year, unless the economy recovers and sales tax dollars return to MARTA’s coffers.

By: curt

curt — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:54:55 +0000

Georgia is giving up millions in federal funds by not planning for mass transit, not to mention additional millions we give up so we can be the only state that doesn’t require seatbelts in pickups. Our tax dollars are going someplace else so the good ol boys who who give big “campaign contributions” can keep doing the only thing they know how to do: build and rebuild roads. They don’t care about the future of what once was a model of a prosperous city with a vision of what could be. They’re getting their bucks now even as we cut education funding and throw veterans out of housing due to lack of money. We’re all paying the price while the other cities who we compete with are forging ahead with trolleys and trains.

By: atlpaddy

atlpaddy — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:39:59 +0000

If Oxendine’s gist is to privatize poorly performing organizations, how about we privatize GDOT and the GA General Assembly first? What an ignoramus.

By: GOP-is Lost in space then and now

GOP-is Lost in space then and now — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:43:07 +0000

Georgia does not want Marta or any trains Backward(GOP). And and as for as people saying big business can run better than the Government What about Enron all the bank closing in Georgia Lehman Brothers, Gm , Delta airline . That may the way It use to Big Business is now areal joke.
All the Job losses are in Big and small Business. Big Business has Fail America The Last Five Year. And All you clowns who put there hopes on Business just look at there failure rate they are no better in 2009!

By: retiredds

retiredds — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:14:29 +0000

Oxendine, just another provincial Republican offering a provincial idea in the 21st century.

By: Some Business Model

Some Business Model — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:50:55 +0000

Jerry said: “While it is true [Royal] were suspended for a paperwork error it does not mean that they didn’t have insurance.” According to the PSC and the insurance company, they had not paid their insurance premium and the policy was cancelled for that non-payment. ftp://www.psc.state.ga.us/Dockets/24677/115653.pdf That is not a “paperwork error.”

By: George P. Burdell

George P. Burdell — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 23:14:34 +0000

I hope he didnt pay much for that Mercer education, as it apparently didn’t improve Oxendine’s understanding of basic economics at all.

By: Jerry

Jerry — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 21:39:39 +0000

O. K. here are some comments that will fuel the fire. First I enjoyed the comments from Mr. Randall about the condition of the Hispanic Buses on Buford Highway. If these two businesses do not succeed they go out of business, if MARTA should not succeed it seems we should continue pumping money into it. If MARTA wants access to it’s money next year and to save some money here are some suggestions.

1. Instead of threating to shut down service one day a week, threaten to cut off the free transfers that riders on GRTA, Gwinnett and Cobb County buses get when they get to your (MARTA) stations. You will find that many of these riders are either Federal or State Government employees who receive free or reduced cost bus passes. In fact you can find many of these passes for sale on craigslist. Cut of the free transfers and these guys will raise the roof. GRTA is about to run out of it’s new start money and only siphons funds from MARTA. I say charge .50 cents to transfer. Do a study see how much money you can raise.

2. Eliminate MARTA bus routes that run down the same routes as your rail system. Two prime examples would be Buford Highway and Memorial Drive. You should set up your routes on a spoke and hub system so that your buses feed into the nearest Rail station whenever possible. It’s cheaper to run your buses into the rail station and transfer the customer than to run a bus past bus stops that are empty.

3. Ask the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to change some Para transit rules. Currently Para transit buses must pick up 3/4 miles on either side of a MARTA bus route. However the way they measure the 3/4 miles is based on a land mile. This means that MARTA Mobility vans may have to travel 4 to 5 miles to reach a house since many of our neighborhoods are not connected. Sometimes people at the back of a neighborhood can ride an L-van, but the ones at the front can not.

4. Restrict L-van service to those that live in Fulton and Dekalb County. I know many residents who drive from outlying counties and wait at McDonalds, Publix, etc for a L-van to take them somewhere in Fulton or Dekalb.

5. Position your L-vans in other areas besides downtown Atlanta. it cost money (fuel) to drive from downtown Atlanta to Panola Road or North Fulton or South Fulton County. You could fence in certain locations such as the lot in downtown Stone Mountain or the P n R at windward parkway and position the vans there. Theres this wonderful thing called fleet fueling and they bring the truck to your location and fuel your fleet. Try it you’ll like it. And Yes you can use some of these capitol funds to pay for the fence.

6. Look for other areas of revenue. The Georgia Medicaid contract for Fulton and Dekalb county is worth about $40 million a year. The current contractor burdens your system (regular routes and L-vans) with medicaid clients. They reap huge sums of money (profit) when they only have to buy a $105 MARTA pass and call you when their client needs a ride. You could also sub contract some of this work with private providers who would be happy to work with you to lighten the burden.

7. Fire your lobbyist. If these guys don’t know that the current Governor and a few others pull the purse strings at the capitol, then they need to find a new line of work. In private business we set goals for our employees. Employees don’t meet those goals they get fired.

By: ladyliberty

ladyliberty — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 17:51:33 +0000

MARTA had a decent bus system decades ago. The fixed rail system ruined it as a real commuting alternative. I’ve been stuck on that train going nowhere too many hours to ever rely on it again. Add an unfriendly, unreliable system to racist and inept management — well MARTA is no crown jewel for Atlanta. It’s ripe for “reinvention.”