Mayoral candidates talk transit, bicycles and walkability

Better transit in Atlanta? Hell yes! More bike lanes? You bet! Safe sidewalks and shorter city blocks that would encourage people to walk instead of drive? Man, that sounds fantastic.

But how are we gonna pay for it?

That was the conundrum Tuesday night at a mayoral candidate forum hosted by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, Citizens for Progressive Transit and PEDS at the Atlanta Regional Commission.

Seated before a packed and transit-savvy audience, mayoral candidates Lisa Borders, Mary Norwood, Kasim Reed and Jesse Spikes outlined their positions on how people could move around Atlanta without having to use their cars — and what they would do, if elected, to make it happen.

First, the question we’re sure a lot of people are probably asking: How do the candidates feel about Georgia gubernatorial candidate John Oxendine’s idea of “talking” about a possible asphalt artery that would cut through East Atlanta?