Fresh Loaf

Note: Paul Snyder of A. Brown-Olmstead Associates contacted me and clarified some details of the Brain Train. Those notes appear below in bold. 

Tad Leithead remembers his days growing up in Greenwich, Conn., a place where his father could leave the house, hop on a train to New York City, and then simply hoof it a couple of blocks to work. Atlanta has the same situation with workers flocking to its city center — except our metropolis doesn’t have a train, he says.

Leithead, the Atlanta Regional Commission’s chairman of the Transportation and Air Quality Committee, sat on a panel last night at the Commerce Club downtown, fielding questions and hobnobbing with local notables on the topic of the Brain Train, a commuter rail line slated to run from Athens to Atlanta — and eventually to Macon — and hoped to ease the trips for many residents who for so long have lived so far out and driven too damn much. The train would run on existing tracks owned by freight company CSX. The line between Atlanta and Macon would run on Norfolk/Southern right-of-way.

Gwinnett-based developer Emory Morsberger — who throughout the evening mingled and buzzed through the crowd of public officials, media, business types and heavy hitters — told Georgia Trend in a March article that he got the idea for a commuter rail line from arriving late to his daughter’s birthday party and listening to gridlock-addled Little League parents. The idea attracted the attention of universities, cities and businesses, and is now being touted as an added boost to already booming areas and a saving grace for the congested Clifton Corridor, home to Emory University, the Centers for Disease Control and other activity centers devoid of significant transportation options except the automobile.

The panel, which included Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, Ed Campbell of SYSTRA Consulting Inc., Carl Rhodenizer of the Georgia Rail Passenger Authority, Michael Robison of the Metro Chamber and former DOT Commissioner Wayne Shackelford, expressed support for the project.

The underlying question in every issue tackling government is money, and panel members were undecided on where exactly they’re going to get the $383 million construction cost for the Athens-to-Atlanta line.

The federal government, according to press materials provided by the Brain Train group, is prepared to kick in 80 percent of the start-up costs. Federal money has not yet been assigned or identified — the 80 percent is a typical amount based on a state 20 percent match. The multimodal passenger terminal downtown — a bus and train hub proposed for downtown’s “gulch” near the CNN Center and Georgia Dome — has current federal and state funding and is estimated to cost $330.8 million overall. The downtown station is expected to be a huge draw for public-private initiatives, and the crowd suggested ideas such as TADs and regional sales taxes to build the project.

So what’s the holdup?
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Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle sure knows how to speak out both sides of his mouth. He’s parroted the state line in local interviews that Atlanta’s rampant growth over the years doesn’t factor into the current water shortage. But when Cagle makes a trip south of Macon, where editorial boards have chastised the metro region’s builder-friendly mind-set, the lieutenant governor sings a different tune.

“If we simply manage to catch more of the water that falls from the sky we’ll manage the growth for years to come.”
— Cagle to the Associated Press on Oct. 16

“I think there is a concerted effort to try to create fear among Georgians by stopping growth with the threat of no longer having the water resources.”
— Cagle in an Oct. 17 Capitol Impact article

“We are not in the permitting process in terms of buildings, and we do not intend to be.”
— Cagle tells the AJC on Oct. 25 that the General Assembly will not consider legislation putting the brakes on growth

“Communities have got to begin developing in that concept [not allowing new growth unless there is an adequate water supply]. You have to have conservation, you have to have a reasonable managed growth plan, you have to manage that resource in a responsible way. Nobody wants unbridled growth …”
— Cagle caters to rural beliefs in a Nov. 6 Moultrie Observer article about the drought

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Who would have thought the loyal opposition would be the Republican Lt. Gov.

— flackattack at Tondee’s Tavern on Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle’s apparent opposition to fellow Republican Speaker Glenn Richardson’s risky tax scheme

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After many rounds of Ubongo, we heard that there was going to be a Chocolate Symposium in the reception suite, so we gathered out things and made haste to the chocolate. As we approached the suite, we could smell the chocolate wafting through the air, inviting us to partake in sinful indulgence. They had set up a chocolate fountain with an array of fruits, cakes, and marshmallows on skewers to dip into the gushing chocolate.

— Toots at GayGamer.net on Gaylaxicon, the gay sci-fi convention downtown last weekend

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6. Never honk at anyone. Ever. Seriously. It’s another offense that can get you shot.

— Limerick Gal offers a list of Atlanta driving rules. It’s not funny on purpose, but it made me laugh because it reminds of the “jokey” FW: e-mails we all used to get back when the Interwebs was getting started.

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A wise Chinese philosopher once said, “Atlanta traffic is like water — give it another route and it finds its own way.” (Don’t bother looking it up; the sage’s name has been lost to the cruel winds of time.)

That means more roads lead to more cars and more cars to more congestion. More roads cost more money, which equates to less funding for transit alternatives. You mean something like this?

But you want the real solution to Atlanta’s wretched traffic situation? It’s not public transit. What say you, House Speaker Glenn Richardson and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle via a released statement?

“There are far too many government agencies debating transportation plans instead of building roads.”

*Cough, cough* … sorry … wow … I just choked on my soul for a second there. Get to it, you loafers! Build those roads!

Richardson and Cagle sure ain’t alone. Jim Wooten at That Other Paper believes the solution to our transportation woes is to dust off the old statue and have him do exactly what the distinguished gentlemen above suggest: Rattle the lackadaisical bicker-bodies trying to figure out what to do about the problem.

What’s that saying about how to get out of a hole, guys? “First you gotta stop digging,” or something like that?

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You gotta have faith.

Parents know what’s best for their kids. Not the bloated bureaucrats. Not the feds. Not the supers. Not the institutionalized automatons.

Friday morning at the Statehouse, Sen. Dan Weber, R-Dunwoody, went to the well to discuss his Charter Systems Act, which would allow local school districts to petition the state Board of Education to become charter school systems. These would be autonomous public schools geared toward producing parent-specified results. Weber’s bill approves up to five charter systems a year, with each system eligible to receive a $125,000 startup grant.

This was legislation with advocates in high places.

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