So there was an election this week in which an estimated 24 percent of registered voters participated. Pretty depressing.
But there was also a ton of transit and transportation news we couldn’t get around to covering. So we present it here. Catch up time!
1. Mayor’s rebuttal of Atlanta crime rankings misleading and incomplete (How’s that for a thorough headline! No wonder this post was so popular.)
2. Suspected Holocaust museum shooter identified as Holocaust denier James Von Brunn (Octogenarian authored idiotic prose, including the book, Kill The Best Gentiles!)
3. Ga. drought ‘is over,’ water restrictions eased (Environmentalists hope residents will continue conserving water. Unfortunately, Georgians have very short memories.)
4. Atlanta schools, ADA strike deal over TAD funds (Atlanta Development Authority will return $18 million to the cash-strapped school system.)
5. Buckhead coalition pushing for end to Ga. 400 toll (Two-decade-old promise vowed to shut down the cash-cow toll booth in 2011.)
Gary Reese, one of the pixel-stained wretches at InsiderAdvantage, pulls back the curtain on a piece he’s researching about the state Department of Transportation’s vote to kill a Ga. 400 project. He says it’s a “blockbuster” and one to watch.
Reese offers a lengthy 1,551-word teaser. Essentially: There’s a bigger story behind the DOT board’s decision late last year to kill a deal proposed for the “Hospitality Highway.”
He says there are a bunch of e-mails and potentially ghostwritten press releases, too. CL readers might recall a story I wrote last year about Gov. Sonny Perdue’s trip to Spain, and rumors that the jaunt would include a sit-down with executives from Cintra, everyone’s favorite private toll road company. (Perdue did indeed sit down with the firm.) Reese says Cintra — along with some other big names in finance and transportation — will play a role in his story, as well.
Sorry, Andisheh. A $110-million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation will be used for high-occupancy toll lanes along a section of I-85 primarily in Gwinnett County.
I pass the mic to Ariel of the AJC:
The 14-mile project, from the Perimeter in DeKalb County to Old Peachtree Road in Gwinnett, is seen as a seed that would spread to all 44 miles of Atlanta’s HOV lanes.
The tolls will be electronic, with sensors pinging a transponder in each car on the toll lane, and no stopping for toll booths. The toll price would rise and fall with congestion on the main highway: a higher price when traffic congestion is high, lower when traffic is light. Officials said questions like how much the toll price would be required more study. A similar project in California costs drivers about $1 a mile at the most congested time of the week.
And as usual, the comments are the best part.
The AJC says the state is about to receive up to $110 million from the feds to install tolls on HOV lanes.
The main idea is to push enough people off the HOV lane to guarantee at least one lane on the highway where traffic can flow freely.
WTFHOV?
If the state is actually trying to reduce congestion in carpool lanes, how about changing the lanes from HOV-2 to HOV-3 during rush hour?
Much of the time, HOV-2 isn’t really carpooling. It’s “I have my kid in the car,” or “I’m driving my spouse to the airport. I’m a fan of both, but neither is really carpooling.
Going HOV-3, or even HOV-4 during rush hour would create an express lane for commuters who make an effort to find co-workers and neighbors for ride-sharing.
HOV-3 or HOV-4 rewards the best carpoolers by offering them a faster commute.
HOV-2 lanes merely creates a separate lane for people with extra cash.
Making rush hour carpool lanes HOV-3 would be cheaper, too. Decals are cheaper than toll booths.
In this week’s paper, CL takes a look at privatized roads, an increasingly popular practice in which a for-profit company takes control of or builds a new road, raises tolls, and usually makes a jaw-dropping windfall from the agreement. States love ‘em because they get a big bag o’ cash upfront that they can in turn invest in other projects. Sounds attractive but they’re rife with risk.
We received word from a trusted tipster that Perdue would meet with executives from Cintra, a Spanish company considered a global leader in privatized roads, during an upcoming jaunt to Europe sponsored by the state’s Department of Economic Development. At press time, department officials weren’t able to confirm if that was the case.
Now they can. From the governor’s office:
The Madrid portion of the trip includes a number of transportation-related meetings, including a visit with executives from Cintra, a Spanish company that is a world leader in developing transportation infrastructure. The delegation will also tour two Spanish public/private road projects and meet with SEOPAN, the Spanish Transportation Association. Governor Perdue will also call on a number of Spanish companies in the region.
Full release follows after the jump.
What current Georgia governor is leavin’ on a jet plane at the end of the month for the sandy beaches of Spain? Sources say the state’s jovial chief executive is being joined by Dick Anderson, the executive director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. We’re sure it’ll be a nice couple days of handshakes and back slaps, maybe a bullfight or two.
But the interesting item apparently on their agenda? A sit-down with executives from Cintra, a Spanish company that’s considered the tops when it comes to privatized roads. (That’s when a company gives a big bag o’ cash to the state and either takes over operations of a well-traveled road or builds a new one, sets tolls, and reaps the revenue.)
Maybe the firm would just handle the HOV-to-HOT lane conversion of which the AJC’s Ariel Hart broke the news today. Regardless, it wouldn’t be a new topic for this current state governor. Sources say this particular resident of West Paces Ferry braved the wild winds during Hurricane Ike to visit Dallas, Texas, a city that recently dipped its toes in the “privatized road” morass. Word is that this outgoing bigwig from the executive branch is eager to end his two terms with a bang — and toss a life preserver to the state that’s nearly $1.6 billion in the hole.
But at what cost, Gov. Punny Serdoo?
