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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Yep. That’s billion.

According to the first phase of a study conducted by a consulting firm tasked with developing a statewide transportation plan, Georgia needs an extra $100 billion over the next 20 years if we want to move around this congested mess.

The always-excellent Maria Saporta at the Atlanta Business Chronicle reports:

The study explores improving mobility in the Atlanta region through three different ways:

• Demand management: teleworking, compressed workweeks, employee vanpools, congestion pricing, better clear of accidents and converting existing HOV lanes to High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, where people pay a premium to drive in faster-moving lanes.

• Connecting infrastructure: HOT lanes connecting major employment centers, an express bus system, commuter rail to Griffin and additional arterial roads.

• Invest in most congested corridors: replace express buses with light or heavy rail in dense corridors, build high capacity road projects and build commuter rail between Atlanta and Athens.

The “scenario study” defines those high-capacity road projects as a tunnel underneath the Downtown Connector from I-675 to Georgia 400; and another tunnel paralleling the northern arc of I-285.

That thing about commuter rail? Really cool. The thing about the tunnel snaking under the Downtown Connector tunnels? Well, as the also-excellent Joe Winter once wrote in CL — not so cool.

The price tag for the statewide transportation plan over the next 20 years is between $142 billion and $251 billion. About a half of those funds would likely come from existing sources, such as federal highway dollars, the motor fuel tax and the MARTA sales tax.

Which means the rest will have to come from a new source. The next phase of the study will focus on that conundrum.

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MARTA is changing bus and train schedules during Thanksgiving weekend. It’s a lengthy list but worth a read if you rely on the city’s transit agency — or have plans to check out the Atlanta Marathon or Macy’s Christmas Tree Lighting.

The changes are listed after the jump.

(more…)

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Congratulations, fellow citizen! If things go according to plan, come Friday at 10 a.m. you’ll be a co-owner of 66 acres of prime property in Northeast Atlanta.

The Atlanta City Council today approved 9-1 the issuance of $64.5 million of Beltline TAD bonds. Councilmember Felicia Moore was the lone vote against the deal.

Atlanta Beltline Inc. Finance Director Richard Lutch says the project will meet the Oct. 31 deadline set by Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason and settle the $45 million debt Mason is owed for property near Piedmont Park.

Beltline leaders will also use $3.5 million of the bond funds to buy out the remaining stake in the property held by Barry Real Estate and Ben Rainey, its private partners in a joint venture that was created to purchase the land from Mason late last year. Beltline leaders must then must transfer the property to the Atlanta Development Authority. (The land must be owned by a public agency to meet tax-exempt bond regulations.)

After the vote, Tax Allocation District Advisory Committee Chair Eugene Bowens, Sr. said that the citizens’ group — while supportive of the deal — still feels it’s not being involved enough in how funds from the TAD bonds are used. By law, the committee is charged with ensuring those public funds are spent in a “fair and equitable manner.” Numerous times in the past — most notably when Beltline leaders decided to spend a large chunk of funds to pay off the Mason property in affluent Northeast Atlanta — the committee has said they have been kept out of the loop. He said TADAC members were only notified of today’s bond deal at a meeting last night with Beltline leaders.

This development raises many questions, such as what direction the project takes now and where it will focus its energy, how the city plans to act on property that it must rezone if it plans to sell, and how future allocations and deals will be handled. Feel free to chime in below if you have any thoughts.

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Sources tell CL that Atlanta City Councilmembers were given notice that a special-called meeting will be held at City Hall tomorrow at 3 p.m. Details are vague, but the event could mean developments are underway for the 22-mile loop of parks, trails, transit.

Why? Well, as we’ve been reporting, the Oct. 31 deadline for Beltline leaders to settle the debt on property purchased from Gwinnett County developer Wayne Mason is drawing near. The property — a 66-acre parcel of land and transit right-of-way located near Piedmont Park in the project’s northeast quadrant — generated controversy this summer when Beltline leaders decided to allocate nearly half the TAD bond funding to settle the debt. If it’s not repaid, the Mason property could enter foreclosure.

Because of the virtually shutdown bond market, those TAD bonds have been delayed until the project’s financial wizards could secure the best possible deal. Beltline leaders would most likely have to brief City Council on their progress.

Regardless, we’ll be there and update once we hear word.

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An Atlanta-based transit group has posted results of a survey in which legislative candidates were asked whether they support funding for a bunch of different transit stuff.

Most of the candidates gave the same answer to most of the questions. Some of them offered insightful explanations of their answers, including: “We MUST have this rail system in place SOON.” Of course, considering that the group behind the survey is called Citizens for Progressive Transit, the candidates might have been more liberal with their use of ALL CAPS. The more enthusiasm for progressive transit, the better.

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According to the American Public Transportation Association, Atlanta boasted the second highest ridership increase in the nation on its heavy-rail system during the second quarter of 2008. (But we’re first when it comes to singlehood, y’all!) Nationwide, the number of trips on heavy rail increased 4.3 percent. Light-rail saw the biggest increase of all transportation modes in the second quarter of this year, with 12.3 percent more trips than average.

For the full rundown of stats and cities, click here.

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It takes an energy crunch for Congress to start using their heads. Jim Galloway, the nicest nattering nabob of negativism over at That Other Paper, reports U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., wants to give rail a chance.

Undeterred, Isakson is about to reach across the aisle again, this time to John Kerry, the Democrat from Boston. The purpose: A revival of this country’s rail system, which — with luck — could give birth to a high-speed passenger train that would careen from Birmingham, through Atlanta, to Washington.

The senators are writing a bill that could be introduced sometime this month, Galloway says. A draft is supposedly being e-mailed back and forth between Atlanta business bigwigs. (Note to bigwigs: Please send it my way as well. I promise I won’t release it on here. Hehehe.)

Isakson said the bill would fundamentally alter our method of capitalizing rail transportation, putting it on a footing similar to the way we fund airports, freeways and seaports. Governments, a combination of state and federal, would acquire the right-of-way and build tracks. User fees would pay for upkeep, levied by private rail corporations that would live or die on their own performance.

By some accounts, the Kerry legislation also permits the raising of $200 billion via bonds to finance a limited number of high-speed rail lines across the country.

(Hat tip to Icarus at Peach Pundit)

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The Masters of Pavement will be resurfacing southbound lanes of I-75/85 this weekend — one of the busiest holiday weekends of the year — and we’re doing our part to tell you to stay the hell away from the asphalt prison during the project. Don’t go near it. If you’re in Marietta and need to get down to Clayton County for some reason, take I-285.

Why? At 9 p.m. on Friday, the DOT will close all but two lanes on I-85 southbound near its merge with I-75. At that same merge, I-75 will be reduced to one lane. Few lanes for a lot of people. The road work will continue until Tuesday morning.

Avoid, avoid, avoid. Take public transit to the many planned festivities this weekend or I-285 if you do have to get behind the wheel.

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MARTA and Atlanta Beltline Inc., the nonprofit agency planning the 22-mile of parks, trails and transit, will hold public workshops to discuss the massive project’s possible environmental effects on Tuesday and Thursday. The four meetings are scheduled both in the afternoon and the evening and mark the beginning of a two-year study.

After the jump, a pretty graph from the folks at MARTA listing the details for each meeting.

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Decades of myopia and road-building fever are catching up with metro Atlanta. We’re not alone in that mess, but we seem to be one of the few metro regions not doing anything about it.

Neil Peirce of the Washington Post writes that in light of gridlock and arm-and-a-leg gas prices, metro areas as far west as Seattle and as near as Charlotte are finding innovative ways to alleviate their transportation problems.

Georgia, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, is still scratching lotto tickets and wishing for cash rather than getting creative.

What really struck my eye in Peirce’s column was this gem:

The good news: only few other regions — metro Detroit, for example — are as stalemated as Atlanta. Indeed, just check what’s happening elsewhere:

He then goes on to list a bunch of other regions across the country and their projects. It’s a sobering read with some great quotes from Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. The business group has been the leading voice in calling for the General Assembly to take some kind of action to address the sorely needed transportation solutions in the state.

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After years of bloodletting and ALL-OUT WAR, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and MARTA are laying down their weapons and working together for a brighter transit future.

Starting Aug. 5, GRTA’s Xpress coach buses will accept MARTA Regional Breeze Cards. (The agency says that if you want the free transfer from the city’s bus or rail system to the GRTA coaches, you’ll need to have that card or the paper Breeze ticket.)

For the full lowdown, click here to read GRTA’s announcement and the answers to a bunch of frequently asked questions.

(Thanks for the link goes to the fine folks at Citizens for Progressive Transit’s message board.)

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Gov. Sonny Perdue recently reversed his long-standing opposition to state-funded commuter rail in Georgia.

“I am fully prepared to support GDOT’s efforts on commuter rail and making the pilot a reality. After looking at the operational costs that I’ve seen it makes sense to go all the way to Griffin using this pilot program.”

— Perdue, in a June 12 press release.

“We have added 15 new GRTA Express bus routes and plan to have 37 such routes in operation by 2010. We are moving forward with the Bus Rapid Transit project on the I-75 corridor, at a cost of over $1.8 billion.”

— Perdue, responding to a question about passenger rail in Georgia, during a 2006 AJC candidates’ forum.

“[The Atlanta-Lovejoy line] had also endured a decade of hurdles, including Perdue’s 2003 gutting of a state bond package (passed under Roy Barnes’ administration) that included money to fund commuter rail…”

— Georgia Trend, March 2007.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Polish your Glocks, licensed firearm carriers. On July 1, your lifelong dream to legally carry a pistol on the city’s public-transit system will be realized. In uneasy anticipation of the event, MARTA’s trying to get the word out.

So sayeth the people-moving machine:

Georgia law prohibits the carrying of a pistol, revolver or other firearm on public transit unless a person has a valid firearms license to carry a gun. This license must be carried at any time that an individual is carrying a firearm on MARTA. MARTA police will strictly enforce all provisions of this law. Any individual found to be carrying a firearm without a permit will have it confiscated and will be issued a citation pursuant to Georgia law.

Ya hear that? You gotta have a license.

MARTA’s work rules strictly prohibit all employees, whether licensed or not, from the possession of any type of firearm while on MARTA property. This prohibition applies to employees’ vehicles while vehicles are parked on any Authority property designated as a secured employee parking area.

If you work for MARTA, no dice.

When taking MARTA to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, customers need to be aware that firearms laws governing the Airport are different from those governing MARTA. Please see the Airport’s website to review their firearms regulations.

If you see something creepy, MARTA advises you to discreetly contact a staff member, press the emergency call button, or dial (404) 848-4911 or by pressing #MPD on any AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint/Nextel cellular phone. Blackberry users can press #673.

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This could prove interesting.

A little bird flew upon thine window and tipped me about a piece of property near Atlantic Station owned by the State Road and Tollway Authority. The nearly 6-acre parcel of land sits across the street from the IKEA store and is sure to make developers drool.

It’s also been eyed as a key stop along the planned commuter-rail network that would spider from downtown Atlanta. (This particular route juts toward Athens.) Before Gov. Sonny Perdue’s time, AIG Real Estate sold the land to then Gov. Roy Barnes’ administration for below market value.

Earlier this month, SRTA designated the land as “surplus” property and the State Properties Commission listed the parcel on its website. It will begin accepting bids July 10. A commission spokesperson says the agency is not obligated to accept any of the offers. So maybe they’re just sticking their toe in the water.

If you’re a forward-thinking developer who understands that people want to live and work close to transit options, this photo to the right is probably just as appealing as water to a parched man in the desert. It’s near the Beltline, you’ve got a Publix a couple of block