Fresh Loaf

According to MARTA, the passionate young lady who displayed a variety of talents in a video we posted yesterday has a warrant issued for her arrest.

“MARTA police were notified about this video last Friday and launched an immediate and aggressive investigation into the incident. After canvassing the East Lake Station where the suspect reportedly exited the train, we received an anonymous tip that this incident possibly occurred on March 31, 2008 between the hours of 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. The tipster also indicated the suspect has been known to ride Bus Route 22. MARTA police were able to positively identify the individual allegedly involved in this incident and have secured a warrant for her arrest.”

“We want to assure the public that this is an extremely isolated incident and that customer safety and security are our highest priorities,” stated MARTA Chief of Police Wanda Dunham. “We regret that any customer had to endure such harassment while using our system. I also wish the many citizens who witnessed this incident would have contacted the MARTA police so that we could have responded to this situation immediately. We are asking that anyone who witnessed this incident please come forward to provide additional first hand information, which may lead to additional charges against the suspect. If you have any information about this incident, please contact MARTA Police Detectives at (404) 848-4911.”

“MARTA police officers regularly patrol the trains and are available at rail stations to provide assistance. Emergency call buttons are also located in all rail cars, which go directly to the rail operator in case customers need to request immediate assistance. Customers can also reach MARTA Police communications directly by dialing (404) 848-4911 or by pressing #MPD on any AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint/Nextel cellular phone. Blackberry users press #673.”

Radiohead plays Thursday at Lakewood Amphitheater and, being the eco-conscious angst-ridden gents they are, have suggested fans use public transit if possible.

MARTA will be operating a shuttle service between the Lakewood/Fort McPherson station (s4) and the venue tomorrow night. Gates to the venue will open to MARTA customers at 5:30 p.m.The shuttle stops running one hour after the amphitheater closes. Fare’s $1.75 and covers both the shuttle and rail services. Parking at MARTA stations is free as long as you’re not there for more than 24 hours.

So jump on the North-South line and make Thom Yorke smile, maybe even cry. If you’d like to see how you can get from home to the MARTA station without having to drive at all, click here and tell the navigation droids what they want to know.

You might want to wear headphones or at least turn down the volume for this one. (For those afraid to blindly click: Freestyling, senior citizen badgering, wild accusations, MARTA, video.)

UPDATE: Erick over at Peach Pundit, citing a confidential source at one of the 29 La Quinta Hotel locations in the state, says the governor will sign the guns-in-Girl-Scouts-meetings bill, or whatever the Hades those liberals are calling that thing these days.

UPDATE, THE SEQUEL: Youtube’s now got it.

UPDATE, YET AGAIN: MARTA released a statement about the incident, announcing that a warrant has been issued for the female’s arrest.

(Thanks to Brooke Hatfield)

Two nights ago, I spoke with a friend in France who said that while she feels sorry for us Americans and our shock about high gas prices, the collective opinion of Europeans is “welcome to the club.” We’re finally paying the true cost of energy as they always have and — shock! — it’s a lot.

And in metro Atlanta, where decades of inaction on public transit has been almost a badge of honor for shortsighted legislators, people are realizing how woefully underfunded one of the best alternatives is now that they need it the most.

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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)

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)

Lost in the headlines about the DOT romance between former board Chairman Mike Evans and Commissioner Gena Abraham was the news that commuter rail earned a shot in the arm on Monday. The board passed a resolution that directs agency staff to determine how feasible a new funding concept would be to cover much of the costs — including the tricky operating costs — of a commuter rail network in metro Atlanta. Probable first on the list: A line between Atlanta and the awesomely named hamlet of Lovejoy. The project already has nearly $110 million in DOT funding earmarked as well as promised federal funding.

I heard what you said. “Lovejoy? Why not somewhere more populous and exciting, like Marietta? White Water’s fixing to open soon, yo.” My thoughts exactly.

But to create a vibrant rail corridor to Macon, a long-planned vision for the state, Lovejoy would be a good first stop. Also, when the idea was first brought to light years ago, the city to our south is as far as the money would take them. DOT Board member Larry Walker said that the money is there, time had been invested by certain parties, and it was the most feasible.

Walker says the resolution is not just a toothless vote that will add to the pile of such actions passed over the years.

“What’s the difference between this motion and the motions in the past?” said Robert Brown during Monday’s meeting.

“We want it done,” said Larry Walker, a board member who has been one of the biggest pushers for commuter rail. “We can keep coming back and talking about debt and what’s it going to cost, but we might be here in five years talking about the same thing.”

Walker’s not alone in wanting to see commuter trains run from Atlanta to Lovejoy.

“We’ve been talking about this too long,” said Bill Kuhlke, who became acting chairman after Garland Pinholster resigned from the position. “And frankly we can’t build enough roads to ease that congestion.”

Be on the lookout if you live, work or plan on going anywhere near Midtown.

From the DOT:

LANE CLOSURES ON 14th STREET BETWEEN WILLIAMS AND SPRING STREETS

WHEN: Immediately today, Tuesday April 22
WHERE: Metro Atlanta on 14th Street between Williams and Spring streets.
WHAT: Georgia DOT work crews will close one lane in each direction on 14th Street between Williams and Spring streets for emergency pavement repairs. This work will be conducted during afternoon rush hour and possibly into Wednesday morning rush hour. Significant congestion is expected and motorists are encouraged to avoid the area and use alternate routes.

That’s what Rep. Carl Rogers, R-Gainesville, is saying to the Gainesville Times:

“I was told about some things going on, and I knew they would surface. I just didn’t know when,” Rogers said. “They had been seen together, and I couldn’t give you any particulars.”

Rumormongering! That’s my kind of a guy. Us scribble-happy muckrakers would have more to write about if only all our elected officials were so loose-lipped.

The article also spells out some other names being bandied about for former DOT Board Chairman Mike Evans’ seat. Worth a look. Sen. Chip Pearson, R-Dawsonville, announced he’s seeking a third term, so contrary to previous reports, he’s out of the running. Breathe easy, Jon — for now.

(Photo illustration by Thomas Wheatley)

The Beltline — the 22-mile ring of trees, trails and transit planned to encircle the city — continues to take shape. Last Thursday at the Atlanta Public Schools, project planners and advocates addressed stakeholders and noted that, despite recent pitfalls and obstacles, the public-works effort is coursing ahead.

Atlanta Beltline Inc. CEO Terri Montague delivered a stirring response to a resident’s comments in which he said the project was moving too fast and may not live up to expectations. She said that the problems the Beltline was designed to address were not slowing down and that the immense project would transform the city and offer it solutions. Montague said she understood that the man had probably been given broken promises for the last 30 years, but that the Beltline was different. Her comments were rewarded with applause. (I’m working on getting a video of her statement.)

Rob Brawner of the Beltline Partnership, an outfit dedicated to raising awareness and gathering private-sector participation, said that a chief concern of residents has been ensuring that today’s Atlantans are given the chance to enjoy tomorrow’s Beltline. Numerous groups, startled by price speculators looking to cash in on the project and a housing market rattled by the subprime lending crisis, are skeptical of what the Beltline may do to the affordability of the city’s more impoverished neighborhoods — particularly those in Southwest Atlanta. In response to that, Brawner says, advocates are reaching out to partners to establish a community land trust that will create permanent affordable housing around the Beltline. On May 19-21, the National Community Land Trust Network will host a workshop at Morehouse College to examine the issue.

A second concern — one which is more abstract yet still important — involves public engagement and community input. Kristy Gilman of the Peachtree Hills neighborhood urged Montague and her staff to improve the community participation process and give residents a seat at the negotiating table. Attention to the issue has been building since the Tax Allocation District Advisory Committee, or TADAC, delivered a sharp criticism about the process in a late-February letter to Beltline planners. Residents have stated that while copious amounts of information is provided on Beltline Web sites and distributed through a variety of grassroots efforts, much of their hesitancy about the project hinges on just how much of a say the public has in how the Beltline takes shape, not how it learns about it.

WHERE THE PROJECT STANDS:

Master planning for the southeast subarea encompassing Grant Park is, for the most part, complete. The southwestern subarea, which encompasses much of Southwest Atlanta and neighborhoods hit hard by foreclosures, is slightly behind the rest of the project but continuing apace. Preliminary studies for areas in the northwest will begin soon.

The park planned to run from Ponce de Leon Avenue to Freedom Parkway is a marvel to view. Planned features include a skate park, a stormwater retention pond, and long expanses of green.

In Southwest Atlanta, a planned park will unite DL Stanton and Four Corners Parks. New amenities, such as a community center with a green roof, are planned for both. Beltline advocates hope that the new land-use concept will help the beleaguered section of the city and are envisioning local-serving retail that will help keep dollars in the community. Employment centers are planned in several points in subarea 2 that would offer diverse job opportunities for current and future residents. Southwest Atlantans are stressing that there needs to be heavy emphasis on the former.

In the northwest area of the Beltline, which today is largely an industrial and track-heavy corner of the city, planners have envisioned mixed-use, medium- to high-density developments surrounding the proposed West Side Reservoir Park. (That’s a working title for the park that is poised to surpass Piedmont Park in size.) This quadrant is one which could very well see the biggest transformation from the public-works project.

Beltline advocates and Barry Realty are evaluating the financing arrangement they have in place for a 60-acre chunk of the project’s northeast section they purchased from Wayne Mason in late 2007. In the coming months, the partnership will advertise the Beltline on billboard donated by the Lamar Outdoor Advertising company. Look for Beltline merchandise as well, Brawner said. Of the partnership’s $60 million annual fundraising goal, $28.9 million has been raised.

(Photo Courtesy of the Beltline Partnership)

Cupid fires his bow and in the process shakes up the state’s most powerful agency.

In a whirlwind series of events more akin to a Lifetime television movie, DOT Board Chairman Mike Evans resigned on Thursday two weeks after disclosing that he and DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham had begun a relationship that was deeper than just traffic plans and public-private initiatives — a no-no according to the agency’s rules.

On Monday the board scolded Abraham with a written reprimand but decided to keep her at the helm — a move that surely pleased such voices of support as Gov. Sonny Perdue, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and many associations who have eyed Abraham as the breath of fresh air DOT needs. All while this was happening, WSBTV reported board member Garland Pinholster, who resigned his position as acting chairman today, is the subject of a sexual harrassment investigation.

Evans was the deciding vote in a contentious political battle to appoint Abraham as commissioner. Many applauded the budding couple’s disclosure as a by-the-book step in the right direction, although that’s likely to be change if it’s revealed their relationship began earlier than the couple has described.

Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson must now announce a special election to fill Evans’ seat for the North Georgia district which he served.

Let’s begin with a beautiful quote:

“There’s no light switch in the relationship that comes on one day. It’s not like that. We establish relationships — when you work with somebody you develop a mutual respect, it becomes an admiration, and then it develops into deeper feelings than that.”

That was Gov. Sonny Perdue waxing poetic about the magic of amor in a press conference at the Capitol. Standing alongside Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, the governor voiced his support for DOT Commissioner Gena Abraham and said that while surprised by the revelation that she and now-former DOT Board Chairman Mike Evans had begun a relationship, he still thinks she is the right person to reform the state agency.

“I still have absolute confidence in Gena’s ability,” Perdue said when asked by a reporter if he would ask Abraham to resign. “For the last five months she’s been dealing with tremendous change in the DOT. The fact is change is tough and needs to take place. The change she’s talking about is good for the state, good for the public, good for Georgia’s infrastructure, and transportation, and I’m convinced she’s resolved to see that change through.”

Cagle agreed with the governor, saying that he thinks Abraham still has “the fight in her” to lead the dysfunctional agency.

Perdue said that Abraham told him about the relationship on Wednesday while he was in Texas at an energy summit — which was actually a Republican Governors Association conference, but whatever.

“It was a much more distraught Gena Abraham than I’ve seen before,” he said of their conversation. “She’s usually always much more in command of her thoughts and is very disciplined in her approach to solutions. And [their conversation] was very uncharacteristic of that.”

He said that he’s spoken with members of the DOT board and expressed his confidence in the commissioner. Abraham did not offer him her resignation, he said.

When asked if he would still support Abraham if evidence reveals their relationship started earlier than one month ago — the time Evans and Abraham have said they started developing feelings for one another — Perdue effectively dodged the question and said he trusts what he’s been told.

There may be more fallout from Evans’ and Abraham’s relationship. Earlier in the press conference the AJC’s Ariel Hart asked the governor if rumors that a private investigator’s discovery had triggered Evans’ announcement. Perdue laughed and said he hadn’t heard about such a thing. Before Cagle left the briefing, she asked him if he had convinced Evans to resign. He chuckled and made a swift exit. Whatever the case, on Monday we find out whether Abraham stays or goes.

(Photo by Thomas Wheatley)