Fresh Loaf

Literally. The Transit Planning Board — the agency that brought you the regional-transit vision called Concept3 — kindly asks for your help to determine how a more mobile metro Atlanta would look.

Visit this survey the agency created that asks what works and what doesn’t. Did a set of railroad tracks look better with or without a commuter rail station? Should downtown Atlanta be served by a bus or light-rail? Should buses run on I-75 or should commuter rail zip along the shoulder?

The board did a commendable job by actually showing how many of the possible solutions to metro Atlanta’s traffic woes would actually appear. If you’re a fan of what-could-be, it’s worth your time to check it out.

(Screenshot from TPB survey)

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It’s still two weeks away, but now’s a great time to let you know about Citizens for Progressive Transit’s “Toast to Concept3″ at Shout on Dec. 2. Festivities begin at 6:30 p.m.

The local grassroots organization that has done a lot of commendable — and breathtaking — work when it comes to encouraging public transit in metro Atlanta will host light-rail lovers and present speakers who’ll give you an update and summary of Concept3 (warning: PDF), a mobility-boosting vision conceived by the Transit Planning Board and slated for the region.

Anyone and everyone is welcome. And CfPT even provides you with directions on MARTA and a link to its A-TRAIN trip planner. If you guzzle too much, you can just ride the train on home. Genius, people!

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CONNECT THE WORKERS Rev. Timothy McDonald of First Iconium Baptist Church says movement and mobility are a human right and essential to getting people to hospitals, jobs and families.

Two groups hoping to help metro Atlantans move about our world came head to head last night at the Transit Planning Board’s final presentation of Concept3, its regional people-moving vision.

Prior to the plan’s presentation at the Fulton County Library’s downtown branch, several organizations outside rallied to call attention to their own two-year plan which they say places emphasis on riders dependent on public transit to live their daily lives. Concept3, they argued, was “racist” and “white supremacist” in its scope, eschewed the workers who often don’t own cars and don’t travel during peak hours, and served merely as a way to funnel residents of outlying counties into and out of the city — its goal was to relieve congestion rather than connect people. Missing from the equation was a people’s voice on the MARTA executive board, they said. They said the TPB needed to disband and that MARTA be given full authority over public transit in the region.

The ire grew to a boil inside the library’s auditorium when Terence Courtney of Atlanta Jobs With Justice heatedly addressed Cheryl King of the TPB and repeated the groups’ demands. Chief among the concerns he listed was accessibility for the disabled and ensuring that public transit would connect people to areas where they could find sufficient work. King reminded Courtney that the plan is not set in stone and the purpose of the presentation was to gain insight into residents’ needs.

To its credit, the agency — while it may be another bureaucracy in the state’s slow-moving transportation realm — has pushed for transportation solutions for the southern part of the region and city, as well. King is black, as is Clayton County Commissioner Eldrin Bell, chairman of the board. Lest the agency receive new funding or revive its purpose, the TPB is already slated to disband within the next two years. Save for the Peachtree Streetcar, Concept3 does very little to speak about city-specific connections, but one could argue that area is being addressed by Mayor Shirley Franklin’s ConnectAtlantaPlan.

To view the transit riders’ plan, click here. To get more information about Concept3 and the TPB, click here.

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)

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A new study by the Transit Planning Board shows metro Atlanta voters strongly support transit solutions rather than business as usual when it comes to people moving. In a telephone poll of 4,123 registered voters in 11 metro counties, an overwhelming majority of respondents say that while roads must be maintained and improved, regions need to invest in transit expansion and options for pedestrians.

The numbers from the report:

Increased investment in public transportation would strengthen metro Atlanta’s economy, create jobs, reduce traffic congestion, air pollution and fuel consumption (85% agree, 12% disagree).
Metro Atlanta needs to continue funding road construction, but also needs to spend additional money on new public transportation options (80% agree, 17% disagree).
My community needs more sidewalks and bike lanes (77% agree, 21% disagree).
My community needs more transportation options like commuter rail service, light rail, buses and trolleys (74% agree, 23% disagree).

In contrast, less than half of voters agree with the statement: Metro Atlanta can solve its transportation problems by building new and wider roads, without including new public transportation options (40% agree, 56% disagree).

The study also shows that a regional sales tax that offered a glimmer of hope to the metro Atlanta’s crippling congestion woes may have found strong support had it survived. Of those polled, 58 percent say they would have supported a funding strategy similar to the one that has helped cities such as Charlotte build a light-rail project. The study says voters of all demographics appear open to allow MARTA act as the implementer of those funds.

Perhaps most eye-opening is that 90 percent of those polled say they drive to work alone, with many commuting from neighboring counties into Fulton. Worrisome is that significant numbers of voters say they prefer driving to work. Of those asked who work full time, 31 percent say congestion is a “very serious” problem in metro Atlanta.

Public transit earned applause as well — 81 percent of respondents say they were satisfied with experiences on the service during the last year.

To view PDFs of the poll surveys, click here for DeKalb, here for Fulton, here for City of Atlanta, and here for Clayton.

The board, a coalition of the Georgia Department of Transportation, Atlanta Regional Commission, Georgia Regional Transit Authority, MARTA and other agencies, commissioned the study, which was funded by several community improvement districts throughout the region. To view the board’s vision of a more mobile metro region, click here.

(Photo by Jim Stawniak)

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At a symposium organized by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce several months ago, the president of Charlotte, N.C.’s chamber said that his city, which is one-sixth the size of metro Atlanta but still a fierce competitor in attracting businesses and residents, enjoyed a distinct advantage over Georgia: Charlotte is more nimble, he said, and learns from the metro region’s mistakes.

Our more-nimble competitor last week showcased one of the perks such an advantage allows and hosted members of the Transit Planning Board, a multi-agency effort that includes some of the bigger noodles in Georgia’s transportation-planning alphabet soup — MARTA, GRTA, ARC and DOT. The centerpiece of the visit was LYNX, Charlotte’s upstart light-rail line. The project began service earlier this year, has seen ridership numbers exceed initial estimates, and was brought to life partly by a funding strategy that allowed a region to levy a local option sales tax on itself. Transit advocates in metro Atlanta hope a similar version currently navigating its way through the General Assembly will jumpstart the region’s lackluster and antiquated transportation situation. The resolution passed the House last week and now awaits tinkering in a conference committee.

The TPB recently unveiled Concept 3, its own multi-year vision for metro Atlanta’s transportation future which also includes light-rail. To view the agency’s plan, click here. Below are upcoming public meetings about the plan:

• April 1, 2008 — Cobb Central Library 266 Roswell Street, Marietta, GA from 3:30 PM - 7:30 PM

• April 17, 2008 — Education Room, Southern Regional Hospital, 11 Upper Riverdale, Road SW, Riverdale, GA from 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM

• April 19, 2008 — Atlanta Planning Advisory Board, Atlanta City Hall, 55 Trinity Avenue, Atlanta, GA starting at 10:00 AM

• April 29, 2008 — Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, 235 Andrew Young International Boulevard, Atlanta, GA from 3:30 PM - 7:00 PM

TPB Chairman Eldrin Bell and MARTA General Manager Bev Scott, who both attended the Charlotte visit, found out about the House’s vote on Friday via BlackBerry. After the jump, view how they reacted to the news.

(more…)

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Gena Abraham, commissioner of the state Department of Transportation, and Carol Couch, director of the state Environmental Protection Division, spoke today at the South Metro Outlook conference held at the Georgia International Convention Center in College Park. Lots of interesting tidbits, but to aid you, dear reader, I’ve bulleted the eyebrow-raisers of the morning.

• “We have to look at alternate modes of transportation,” Abraham said. “We can not build enough roads and bridges to build ourselves out of this transportation problem.”

Increasing property and construction costs have presented a challenge to the cash-strapped and mismanaged state agency that for years has been known as “the Department of Roads and Bridges,” she said. (Abraham took the reins in December 2007.) While Abraham did not want to jump too far ahead and outline what she thought the metro region needed in terms of transportation fixes, she did say that she would support the findings of the Transit Planning Board. That board is a coalition of MARTA, the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and the DOT. View its plans for metro Atlanta here.

• Abraham said that MARTA should be the backbone for the transit system in the state. (I think she meant “city” here. She was speaking about how the transportation dilemma is a statewide problem, affecting Georgia’s ports as well as metro Atlanta congestion. Continued inaction would lead to economic impacts, she said. For example, freight traffic coming from the state’s ports into the metro region would be affected.)

• “Now, about public-private initiatives,” Abraham said. “They are not the panacea. They only cover a portion of these projects. We have to look at alternate modes of transportation in addition to PPIs.” Multiple sources of funding exist, she said, and should be explored and considered. (more…)
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There’s a lot of good going down in regards to transit ideas for Atlanta — let’s just hope the city can find the money to make the best ones a reality. Case in point: the just-released glimpse of what the Transit Planning Board, or TPB, has in store for Atlanta.

It wants mass transit, lots of it — light rail, commuter rail for longer trips, bus rapid transit, the works. MARTA would be extended farther along its routes. Light-rail transit is proposed for a variety of areas, such as the top end of I-285, the well-traveled corridor on I-75 North to Town Center, and from Lindbergh through Emory to Decatur. Click here to view a map of the plan.

TPB planners estimate the project’s $28 billion cost will raise total transit operations in the region to $54 billion through 2030. What’s that come down to per person? Per the agency’s press release:

Assuming a population of 6 million people living in the Atlanta region in 2030, funding transit will cost each metro resident about $1.00 a day, or less than a cup of coffee in most places.

The TPB, a collaborative effort between MARTA, the Atlanta Regional Commission and Georgia Regional Transit Authority, is a relative newcomer to the chunky stew that is transit planning in the region. Mayor Shirley Franklin recently threw her name into the transportation game with the Connect Atlanta Plan, a public-driven effort that’s being touted as the city proper’s first-ever endeavor.

Click here to read the TPB’s release detailing the changes and expansions it’s considering.

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