Fresh Loaf

Amount of federal stimulus dollars allocated for Georgia transportation improvements: $1.1 billion

Of that $1.1 billion, amount Georgia will spend on road construction and maintenance: $932 million

Amount of federal stimulus dollars earmarked for MARTA: $63 million

Amount the state of Georgia contributes to the operating costs of MARTA: $0

Number of other states that don’t allocate funding for their major public transit systems: 0

Atlanta’s rank among the country’s most traffic-congested metropolitan areas: 3

Number of cities whose residents spend more time commuting than those in Atlanta: 0

Percent likelihood that an Atlanta driver will express road rage if cut off: 14.4

Rank of Atlanta when it comes to seven cities surveyed for rude drivers: 1

Sources: AJC.com, Atlanta Business Chronicle

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Current amount, in dollars, of President Obama’s stimulus plan aimed to create jobs and spur the economy: 827 billion

Amount, in dollars, Mayor Shirley Franklin recently requested for Atlanta projects: 1.88 billion

Estimated number of city jobs Franklin says the federal stimulus plan could create: 40,000

Number of police officers Franklin wants to add with stimulus money: 200

Dollar value of sewer projects the city wants to build using stimulus funds: 801 million

Amount, in dollars, the city requested to build the International Terminal at Jackson-Hartsfield International Airport: 500 million

Number of federal dollars Franklin says would go to offset the city’s budget deficit: 0

Amount, in dollars, the Georgia Department of Transportation has requested for state projects: 3.4 billion

Estimated number of jobs Georgia could gain because of the stimulus package: 143,000

Sources: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, U.S. Conference of Mayors

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Hey! Not so fast!

And then come back in June! Woo hoo!

Aaron Gould Sheinin of the AJC reports:

The state House just voted unanimously to split the 40-day legislative session into two parts, which lawmakers hope will give them flexibility to deal with whatever economic stimulus package comes from Washington.

The House voted 165-0 to meet three days a week through March 25 and then return in late June. The General Assembly is constitutionally required to meet for no more than 40 days a year, although those 40 days do not have to run consecutively.

House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons) said Senate leaders have also agreed to the change, although that body must approve the adjournment resolution before it takes effect.

This, Keen said, allows the Legislature to be “responsive to things that may or may not come down from Washington.”

Sheinin has more details at the link above.

(Photo by li’l ole me from last session’s Sine Die liveblog)

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Jeez, guys, didn’t you read that he was taking a train to Washington, D.C.?

The Georgia Public Interest Research Group has just released its analysis of the state Department of Transportation’s wishlist for President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed stimulus funds. And the group says the state agency’s list favors asphalt over rails.

The Georgia Department of Transportation’s wish list requests:

• Georgia would spend only 34.3 percent of funds on public transit/intercity rail projects.

• The state DOT has allocated 69 percent of the two billion dollar highway project funds to the maintenance needs of the state’s infrastructure. This is a higher portion than most other states but would still leave many bridges and roads in a state of disrepair while building new highways.

• GDOT also lists three bike/pedestrian projects in Fulton County: West End Rail Multi-use Trail ($2.2 million), Fourteenth Street ($7.6 million), and Downtown Atlanta Pedestrian ($6.7 million).

There are some worrisome aspects to these high-dollar and ambitious wishlists, too.

(more…)

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• More violent crimes in metro Atlanta — this time in Roswell — even after Mayor Franklin announced yesterday that crime is down around these parts.
• Unemployment hits 16-year high. More than 11 million Americans are now unemployed.
• Hamas and Israel say no to the U.N. demand for a ceasefire.
• Sarah Palin wants Katie Couric to know that Couric “is not the center of everybody’s universe,” further proving how behind on media information Palin is. Literate people have known that for awhile.
• With no writers’ strike to worry about this year, the Golden Globes award ceremony is back on. Now the stars will have to party hard enough for two year’s worth.
• Obama’s planned stimulus package was met with derision from both parties. Not surprising since Democrats are frequently against tax cuts and Republicans are frequently against financial assistance.
• Russia and Ukraine manage to get along. Maybe they should clue other fighting nations into the finer points of nonviolent negotiation.

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