Large study on transit use in metro Atlanta

From the AJC:

After a major study, the Atlanta Regional Commission knows a lot more about who takes transit in the area and why. But the numbers, released Thursday, also beg the question: As the Atlanta region prepares for a referendum on funding regional transportation projects, is there really demand for regional mass transit?

While the ARC does not plan for Athens-Clarke or its surrounding counties (MACORTS does all that), its decisions will certainly affect us, especially as they relate to regional rail and other transit options.

I'm with MARTA CEO Beverly Scott on the crux of the issue:

"Part of the problem you’re looking at now is chicken and an egg," she said. With service that is more frequent, faster, more integrated and more convenient, "[transit ridership] numbers absolutely would go up."

In cities that have well-planned networks of user-friendly inter-city rail, intra-city light rail, subways, buses, trolleys, and shuttles, people absolutely use them.

Connect these transit options to walkable, bikeable, and otherwise transit-oriented communities, and you've got yourself a sustainable place worth living in and visiting.

Perdue signs T-=SPLOST bill

Full story

T-SPLOST passes!

After grim 11th hour letdowns last year and the year before, Georgia's legislature finally passed a bill that would allow for a transportation-specific SPLOST (aka T-SPLOST, and not to be confused with our Athens-specific SPLOST):

Taking to the well for the first time this session, Georgia House Speaker David Ralston in a rousing speech led the House to pass HB 277, a bill for transportation funding by a vote of 141-29. The Senate passed it shortly afterward, breaking a logjam that has bottled up the issue for at least three years.

It now goes to the desk of Gov. Sonny Perdue.

The bill would divide the state into 12 regions. A “roundtable” of local elected officials in each region would draw up a list of projects for the region, and could then submit the list to voters for their approval in a referendum, along with a 1 percent sales tax to fund them. No county could opt out of a region’s tax, but a roundtable could decline to hold a referendum in the region.

[If a region opts out,] they will lose out on some new state benefits, including a bit more money for small local road projects. And it wouldn’t be able to try again for a vote for two years.

Well, it took us long enough to get here, and this money, if it's even approved by our region, won't be available for three years.

That said, this legislation is a great step forward.

Between these funds, federal transportation dollars, grants, Safe Routes to School funds, an increased gasoline tax (Georgia's is among the nation's lowest, as is our general funding for transit) and a commitment to better transportation planning overall, we may finally enjoy the kind of multi-modal transportation choices enjoyed by forward-thinking cities around the nation.

T-SPLOST grinds forward

"A bill to allow regions in Georgia to vote for transportation funding has cleared a major roadblock," reports the AJC's "Gold Dome Live" blog.

The bill – still in progress, and still in the conference committee – also may contain moderate incentives for ... mass transit.

It’s still under negotiation, details are changing, and no copy [of the bill] has been circulated publicly yet.

The bill (HB 277, formerly HB 1218) would ...divide the state into 12 predefined regions, allowing each region to submit a referendum to voters for a 1 percent sales tax to fund a list of projects within the region. However, there’s a change allowing more local choice.

In the new version discussed Tuesday, Senate and House negotiators said counties still would not be able to opt out of a region or its tax.

The bill as it stands now would offer a couple of carrots to regions that do vote on a list. First, it would increase the state subsidy they currently get for a category of small paving and local projects. Also, in most of the state, 25 percent of the region’s new tax proceeds would stay in the local governments where the money came from.

Too soon to hope? Help this happen. Given the state's budget woes, especially with transportation projects, your support of T-SPLOST may be our only hope.

In the , um, metaphor, this would be you.

T-SPLOST rumblings in the legislature

UPDATE: "This is the year of reckoning on this issue"

Based on the 11th-hour failure last year, and the year before, I'll take a "We'll see" stance on this, but maybe it will finally happen...

T-SPLOST revival

Plans for a transportation-dedicated SPLOST were championed by David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) today.

He said action on the bill, which would divide the state into 12 transportation regions, is overdue.

The House committee was trying to put finishing touches on the bill as the Legislature wrapped up its 26^th day of the 40-day session. Legislation must pass one chamber of the Legislature before the 30^th day to have a chance to become law this year.

Under the bill, each of the 12 regions would hold a referendum on a list of transportation projects, and a penny sales tax to pay for them. If a region’s voters passed the tax, the money collected in the region would all be spent on projects in that region.

Well, this is mostly what we've been clamoring for for the past three years. My fear is that the bill gets tweaked such that a portion of the funds are dedicated to highway projects and only a small percentage is established for transit, pedestrian, or bicycling infrastructure.

The process should be open so that each region can establish its own transportation priorities. State-wide, it will likely lead to a mottled and dis-jointed approach to transportation planning, but at least we'll have a chance to prepare for a future that will demand less driving, whether we like it or not.

Text of HB 1218 here, if you're feeling masochistic.

Free bus rides for ACC employees?

Perhaps, if a proposal by several commissioners moves ahead.

This idea is definitely leading Athens in the right direction- public transit will increasingly become a feature of America's livable cities. Transit-oriented development is development that accommodates walking, cycling, historic preservation, mixed-use, and all the other features people routinely identify as markers of a higher quality of life.

It might make more sense to offer a deep discount instead of a totally free pass, however. Plenty of other populations have as much of a claim to free bus service as people employed in public service. Why not give free passes to residents of public housing or to people using the bus during high traffic times of day?

The biggest issue facing public transit use in Athens is how to provide a level of service that most people will find equivalent to private automobile use. Most people simply will not ride the bus unless it is as convenient as driving alone. Buses need to run every 20 minutes or so, and they really ought to run in both directions on each route. Night service and full weekend service would be ideal. The problem, of course, is how to pay for this expansion of a needed public service.

For several years, we have advocated for a T-SPLOST, a small sales tax dedicated exclusively to public transportation infrastructure, operations, and maintenance. Gov. Perdue has proposed a version of the T-SPLOST, but it wouldn't be voted on until 2012, meaning no funds would be collected until the following year.
We don't have time for these delays. We're already 30 years behind where we should be with public transportation. Perdue's proposal is certainly better than nothing, but it really needs to be on the 2010 ballot.

Democrats re-introduce T-SPLOST

From the AJC:

Citing a failure of state leadership to raise transportation funding, Georgia Democratic leaders on Thursday announced a proposal to allow regional referendums on a penny sales tax for transportation, and to dedicate part of the current gas tax for any transportation purpose, including operating a mass transit system.

Creating a long-term source of operating funds could clear the way to compete for federal grants to build new local transit projects, transportation officials said.

Almost all of the Georgia gas tax currently goes to transportation, but one cent per dollar goes to the state’s general fund. The part that goes to transportation can only be spent on roads and bridges, not mass transit.

Republican gov candidate snubs T-SPLOST

A Republican candidate for governor, state Sen. Jeff Chapman (R-Brunswick), says he can't "support a new sales tax to partially fund transportation improvements."

"Their needs for transportation in South Georgia are much different," Chapman said. "I don't know that they'd be supportive of a statewide sales tax. The sales tax aspect of it would be a new tax. I can't imagine a worse time to increase people's taxes."

The T-SPLOST plan we'd prefer in Athens-Clarke is a local one. Let every county, or MPO region, decide if it wants a T-SPLOST. If Moultrie doesn't want or need better public transit, that's fine, but at least give us the opportunity to decide for ourselves. Under current state law, we can't even vote on the issue, one way or another.

With even a modest T-SPLOST in place, we'll be able to expand public transit, improve our sidewalks, and make our roads safer for all users.

Perdue hopes to delay T-SPLOST

As if we can afford another year of inaction, AJC reports that "Gov. Sonny Perdue just lifted the lid off what will be [the] biggest foray of his administration into the transportation issue. "

Lowlights:

A one-penny sales tax would be pushed to 2012, a presidential election year. The vote would be statewide, but voters would be divided into 12 regions. Regions that approve the vote would get the sales tax revenue generated in that district. Regions that don’t approve it won’t get anything.

– The 2012 vote would be approved this session by the Legislature, by majority vote of both chambers. We’re not exactly sure how this works, and look forward to getting more details.

The timing of the vote is significant. Perdue said that the delay would allow the economy to right itself first. Republican legislative leaders said this week they didn’t think a statewide referendum would pass anywhere in the state.

The irony is that Republican leaders in Georgia may be relying on a 2012 surge of general election voters – drawn by Barack Obama’s re-election bid – to finally put more money into transportation.

The timing may also be intended to defuse transportation as an issue in the 2010 race for governor.

Clearly, Perdue is much more interested in political maneuvering than he is in actually governing the state.

Time for T-SPLOST

Frow our friends at Citizens for Progressive Transit:

The Georgia General Assembly needs to approve a long-term plan to fund transit. For the past two years, the legislature has come excruciatingly close to passing a bill that could let counties join together to form regional transportation funding districts. Once established, those districts could seek voter approval to levy Special Purpose Local Option Sales Taxes ("T-SPLOSTs") for transportation uses including transit. In 2008, the Georgia House passed T-SPLOST legislation, but the Senate balked. In 2009, the Senate passed T-SPLOST legislation, but the House balked. This year, these legislative shell games need to end.

Not only could an Atlanta-area T-SPLOST district provide a broader funding base for MARTA, it could help build the world class transit system the region so desperately needs. Now is the time for transit advocates to get in touch with their legislators. You can find contact information for your state senator and your state representative at www.legis.state.ga.us/legis

New thinking @ Atlanta Regional Commission?

Tad Leithead, the newly elected chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission, looks like an advocate for better public transportation in Georgia:

He is keen to resurrect the North Cobb to Akers Mill to Perimeter light-rail line that would alleviate congestion along interstates 75 and 285. Commuter lines from Atlanta to Macon and Athens rank high too. The so-called Northern Arc, connecting interstates 75 and 85, deserves serious reconsideration, Leithead said.

Marta needs a steadier flow of money to maintain, let alone upgrade, its system. Public-private partnerships could turn HOV lanes into toll lanes.

Leithead said the General Assembly must give the 10-county metro region the financial tools to solve transportation woes. A penny sales tax would raise $7.9 billion, he said, with federal matching dollars adding another $5 billion.

“To be a great metropolitan city, we must have that great transit system,” Leithead said.

I'll amend his comments a bit: to be a functional, responsible, and sustainable society, we must have a reliable, convenient, and valued transit system. Here's hoping Leithead succeeds in his transit goals.
The northern arc...not so much.
You can't build automobile infrastructure and expect people to use transit. Every road widening and new road construction project guarantees the congestion you're trying to eliminate.

Post-mortem

ABH wraps up the sorry tale of this recently adjourned legislative session.

Givin' us the ole one-two

For the second year in a row, T-SPLOST "legislation has failed on the last night of the session."

Meanwhile, a revised version of the GDOT overhaul bill passed and awaits Perdue's signature. The legislation undoubtedly gives the governor's office far more direct control over transportation planning and decision making.

Good ole boys, sprawl, congestion and lower air quality win this round. Georgia's decision makers are utterly committed to keeping the state last in serious-minded solutions to transportation issues, last in overall quality of life, and last in building a near-term future with any chance of survival.

Commuter rail at risk

Thanks to the persistent impasse at the capitol, commuter rail in Georgia may be at serious risk:

As state House and Senate teams slog through negotiations on transportation funding, more pressure is pouring on.

The state has had $87 million in federal funds sitting around to build commuter rail, but not much has happened. Now that money may be in serious jeopardy.

Gov. Sonny Perdue said last year that he would support building the line through Lovejoy as a pilot project. But when the economy crashed and he submitted his budget, the matching state funds for commuter rail weren’t in it.
...
The letter made waves in the office of Congressman David Scott. “This has been threatened before but this is real now,” said Scott’s chief of staff, Michael Andel.

UPDATE: A potential compromise has the Senate's regional plan in ascendance, but it might allow for 5% of taxes collected to head to the state.

Is this thing on?

No progress on TSPLOST. Drama continues:

Sen. Jeff Mullis, (R-Chickamauga) the lead negotiator, offered to use a penny from the four-cent gas tax to fund statewide road projects to the tune of $165 million annually. That was a concession to the House, which wants a statewide penny sales tax for transportation funding. The Senate prefers a regional approach.

But House negotiators, led by Rep. Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) balked, arguing that money already had been promised for mass transit.

Mullis started speaking, calmly, at 3:38 p.m. By 3:50 p.m., an agitated Mullis was poking papers on the table and insisting the House was not hearing him. He leaned into his microphone and said sarcastically, “Is my mic on?”

More headache-inducing updates from the capitol

UPDATE: the schoolyard stare-down continues...


The House & Senate are playing chicken with T-SPLOST.

Oh, and this very important piece of legislation is under consideration as well.

"Fool's bill" passes by 1 vote

SB 200, the bill to dramatically overhaul Georgia's transportation oversight, passed thanks to House Speaker Glenn Richardson's last-minute vote.

From the AJC's Gold Dome Live political blog:

A bill that gives lawmakers direct control over how billions in tax dollars are spent on state transportation cleared the House today by the barest of margins after House leaders twisted arms to gain five key votes.

Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) cast the deciding vote to give House approval to S.B. 200 after holding the vote open while his lieutenants persuaded skeptics to switch their vote.
...
When the vote on the transportation governance bill finally came, it appeared to be on its way to defeat, judging by the live vote recorded on the electronic boards in the House. Even Transportation Committee Chairman Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) voted against it.
...

The bill is a key component in Gov. Sonny Perdue’s legislative agenda for the year. In fact, Perdue has demanded the state’s transportation governance be overhauled before he would consider a new method for paying for transportation projects.

Perdue’s original proposal was to abolish the Department of Transportation — and its board — and replace it with a new agency controlled by the governor, speaker of the House, the lieutenant governor and a newly created secretary of transportation.

That’s largely the plan the Senate has adopted. But the House version that squeaked out today dumps most of that plan, leaves in place the DOT and its board and creates a new position there of director of planning who would oversee much of the actual work of building roads and bridges.
...
Richardson was the last to speak and regaled the House with the woeful tale of his failed 17-year effort to get a road in his home of Paulding County widened.

Boo. Hoo.

More context on all this here.

Since the passage of this bill was a condition for Perdue & Co. to support the T-SPLOST initiative, we'll see what happens with that legislation tomorrow & Friday.

Please contact your elected officials and demand that they support the regional TSPLOST plan.

Frenzied negotiations at the capitol building

"Georgia's Republican leaders are giving a final push to support plans to overhaul Georgia's transportation setup and transform the way key taxes are collected as they rush toward another hectic end of the legislative session."

House lawmakers are readying for a vote over a massive makeover of Georgia's transportation bureaucracy that would hand the governor and state legislators vast new powers over how infrastructure money is spent.

Georgia's Republican leaders have staked enormous political capital on the proposals, which represent a wholesale shift in long-standing state policy. But an array of opponents has lined up against each, setting the stage for a frenzied final push before the session's end Friday.

Trying to find my happy place

Good thing this was published at the same time as this and this. By the power of Greyskull. Or, as granny n'em used to say, "I ain't seen nuthin' like this in all my born days."

For your enjoyment: a graphic representation of the legislature's approach to solving transportation issues.