Fresh Loaf

In a packed meeting at its downtown headquarters, the Atlanta Regional Commission threw cash-strapped MARTA a life preserver today, approving a reallocation of $25 million in federal stimulus dollars to help the transit agency avoid drastic service reductions.

Officials stressed the one-time funding shuffle wasn’t a bailout. Under the terms of the agreement, MARTA will shift money from its capital fund to pay for MARTA-related road projects that will benefit the region.

Today’s one-time move by the ARC proved necessary after the Georgia General Assembly failed to pass legislation earlier this year that would allow MARTA more control over its funding. MARTA officials said the transit agency risked cutting a full day of service should new funding not be secured.

The deal wasn’t met with enthusiasm from everyone.

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Note to lawmakers: Perhaps using one of the metro region’s most important assets as a bargaining chip isn’t that great of an idea? Maybe?

From Friday’s Atlanta Business Chronicle:

If Atlanta’s rapid transit system is forced to eliminate a day of service, business leaders say, it will be a severe economic blow to a city already stung by a deepening recession.

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“It would be devastating for the Atlanta economy and therefore the state of Georgia’s economy if MARTA has to restrict services on any day,” said A.J. Robinson, president of Central Atlanta Progress, the alliance of downtown businesses. He called the state’s failure to resolve the problem a “travesty.”

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“If MARTA has to furlough its trains and buses for one day a week, the ripple effect would be tremendous,” Metro Atlanta Chamber President Sam Williams said. “I’ve talked to several big employers who say their businesses would be drastically affected. This would certainly send a message nationwide that Georgia has another problem and can’t solve it.”

The paper also quotes officials from AT&T, UPS and BellSouth — all of whom say MARTA service cuts could impact their workers. There’s also a good list of statistics outlining the role MARTA plays in shuttling residents and visitors around the region.

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And while we’re on the topic of saving MARTA, the transit agency is asking your opinion on potential cuts it might have to make to offset its budget shortfall.

There are a whole host of questions — asking if you’d mind if MARTA sold advertising on Breeze Cards, closed bathrooms, etc. If you’ve got something to tell them, there’s an online way to do it.

Check it out here.

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Transit supporters take note: grassroots coalition Save MARTA is asking you to hop on the bus or train next Friday to raise awareness about the people mover’s woes.

From the event’s Facebook page:

In light of impending MARTA service cuts due to state level legislative action and inaction, Metro Atlantans are coming together to support the transit system by celebrating Ride MARTA Day on Friday, April 17. On Ride MARTA Day, participants will all ride MARTA at least once, per their usual commute or replacing their usual mode of transportation. Participants will ride at the time of their choosing. In other words, all you need to do is ride the bus or train on Friday, April 17.

The purpose of Ride MARTA Day is to bring all concerned Metro Atlantans into a community building activity that will boost ridership, expose new riders to useful routes, express solidarity with MARTA workers and regular commuters, and demonstrate that, as the backbone of our transportation system, MARTA must be fairly funded.

Atlanta City Councilmember Kwanza Hall is scheduled to participate. As of this writing, there are 118 confirmed guests for the event. UPDATE: The event also has an official site. Check it out here.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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After we spoke with lawmakers who attended last Wednesday’s sitdown with Gold Dome Republicans about helping MARTA avoid drastic budget cuts — a meeting during which one lawmaker allegedly said he “[lived] closer to Disney World than any MARTA station” and occasionally rode the metro region’s largest transit agency to “ball games” — we’re now able to report the elected official’s name.

State Rep. Jerry Keen, R-St. Simons. He’s also the House Majority Leader. Lobbyists this session showered him with everything from Cirque du Soleil tickets to a $303.60 dinner. What he really could use next year is an eTicket.

Keen, sadly, did not return our calls. (Keen does not return calls to CL. Ever.) We tried to be “journalists” and get his take on it, but oh well.

(Photo illustration by Brooke Hatfield)

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We all know that Senate Bill 120, the legislation that would’ve allowed MARTA to exercise control over its own finances and possibly prevent the transit agency from making drastic service cuts, failed on the final night of the legislative session. But why?

In a candid email to his constituents, State Rep. Ralph Long, III, D-Atlanta, says Georgia House Republicans used the bill as a “political football” and threatened to punt the measure if the Fulton and DeKalb delegations didn’t vote for a GOP-endorsed piece of legislation involving freezes on property values.

Long writes in the email:

I will always stay true to my commitment to keep my constituents educated about the pressing issues concerning us today.

On Wednesday, April 1st, two days before the end of the General Assembly’s 2009 session, the Fulton and DeKalb County delegations called a special meeting for the sole purpose of discussing MARTA. At that meeting, the Republican leadership approached the two counties with what they said was a deal. According to the Republican leader, they needed 20 votes to pass S.R. 1, an unpopular bill related to property valuation freezes.

We were told that we must support S.R. 1 in order to give the Republicans the votes they needed. In return, the MARTA bill would pass. If S.R 1 did not pass, we were told that the MARTA bill would die in committee and not be brought up for consideration before the end of sine die. The Republican leader said that he lives closer to Disney World than any MARTA train station, and that he only occasionally rides MARTA to ball games.

Emphasis ours, of course. Another Democrat lawmaker who was involved with the discussion referenced above corroborated the contents of the email to CL. He also named who allegedly made the “Disney World” remark, although we’re going to contact him first to give him a chance to respond.

The rest of the email, including comments from our conversation with Long, is after the jump.

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Gov. Sonny Perdue said earlier today he’d like to avoid a special legislative session to reconsider a bill that would give cash-strapped MARTA more control over its main source of revenue.

Well, State Rep. Rashad Taylor, D-Atlanta, has offered the governor another option. The freshman lawmaker today wrote Perdue urging him to issue an executive order to help MARTA. (Click here to view the letter.)

“Because of the House’s failure to pass SB 120, Metro Atlantans are now looking to you for leadership on this issue,” Taylor wrote. “If the law will allow, I urge you to issue an Executive Order suspending the capital reserve restrictions that currently tie MARTA’s hands. If you are unable to do this by Executive Order, I ask that you call a special session of the Legislature so that we can pass legislation that will give MARTA access to its capital reserves… We must do better for the capital city and for the citizens who rely on public transit to work for Georgia’s present and future.”

Taylor, who serves on the House MARTA Oversight Committee, will join other lawmakers tomorrow for a press conference about the issue at 2 p.m at downtown’s Five Points MARTA station.

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Governor Perdue takes questions from reporters after speaking on the floor of the House Friday night.

From the AJC’s Gold Dome Live:

Gov. Sonny Perdue told reporters that his staff met with MARTA officials Tuesday morning in hopes of coming up with a solution to the transit system’s funding problems.

However, it doesn’t sound like he will go along with MARTA’s call for a special session to pass legislation to help the system.

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The governor mentioned several times that MARTA made no effort to get him involved in passing legislation that would have freed up funding for the system. The bill failed.

“It’s always unfortunate when people who depend on MARTA have their service cut, and I hope they (MARTA) can find a way …. to make it through the end of the year,” the governor said.

In the meantime, Citizens for Progressive Transit, a local grassroots group, is asking its members and other mobility-minded residents to contact Perdue’s office.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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The MARTA board today called for Gov. Sonny Perdue to order state lawmakers back to the Gold Dome to consider legislation that might save the transit agency from implementing drastic service cuts.

MARTA General Manager Bev Scott says unless the General Assembly approves legislation that would ease restrictions on how MARTA spends a one-cent sales tax levied in Atlanta, Fulton County and DeKalb County — its main source of funding — the transit agency faces “Draconian budget cuts” and “Armaggedon.”

Possibly included in those cuts: No service on Fridays. Ariel Hart of the AJC reports decisions would probably be made in June and begin in September.

“Without access to this funding, we will essentially sever a critical economic engine in our state and no doubt send our economy into an even greater hole,” Scott said in a press release. “MARTA is simply requesting access to funding that already exists within our capital budget in order to maintain a reasonable level of service that will get us through the economic tsunami we have all had to deal with.”

State lawmakers bungled a chance to resolve the issue during the legislative session, which ended Friday.

Dave Williams of the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports:

Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said MARTA’s call for a special session is “premature” because the governor hasn’t seen details of the agency’s financial plight. While MARTA officials put that information together for lawmakers to consider as the bill went through the General Assembly, Brantley said, the governor didn’t receive a similar pitch.

“They didn’t come up and ask for help on the bill to begin with,” he said.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

MARTA’s full press release, which includes talk of fare and parking-rate increases, is posted after the jump.
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