Parallel universes

AJC journalist Jay Bookman deconstructs Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine's plans to solve metro Atlanta traffic problems by building more multi-lane, interstate-style highways:

The highway "would run about two miles east of the existing [I-285] connector. It would start at the intersection of Ga. 400 and I-85 and travel south to connect with I-20 and then I-285, a 15-mile route."

But,

Even the chairman of the state Transportation Board, Bill Kuhlke, has acknowledged that the era of major road-building is over in the metro area.

“Transit is going to be the biggest part of the answer for this particular region, “ Kuhlke said earlier this year.
Unfortunately, that realization is not widely held among the state’s elected political leadership.

Far more common is Oxendine’s claim that “we got to build a lot of roads around metro Atlanta,” a mind-set that blinds people to other possibilities.

For example, the so-called “Brain Train” — a proposed commuter rail line linking Athens, Gwinnett County and a downtown Atlanta multimodal station — would provide a more efficient and less destructive means of moving passengers from the northeast suburbs to the airport than the parallel connector, and at a fraction of the cost. But that kind of solution just can’t get a serious hearing from the state’s current leadership.

Given that reality, one of three things has to happen to address metro Atlanta’s transportation crisis:
We have to change the mind-set of state leaders; failing that, we have to change state leadership, period; and failing that, the region has to demand the authority to plan and finance its own transportation solution.

In other words, instead of a parallel connector, we need a parallel universe.

Perdue & Co. look to shake up state transportation planning

The AJC opens the blinds a bit to expose behind-the-scenes maneuvering that would overhaul the hierarchy of oversight on transportation spending in the state.

Excerpts:

The state’s top leaders are quietly planning big changes to the way Georgia spends transportation money.

Gov. Sonny Perdue, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Speaker of the House Glenn Richardson have kept their talks under wraps. But a draft organizational chart obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggests the plan could gut the responsibilities of the state Transportation Board, which currently approves project lists and sets policy for the state’s $2 billion annual transportation budget.

The state Transportation Board is elected by the Legislature now, but the process spreads out the power among individual legislators. Each of the 13 board members, who currently approve the state’s project lists, serves a congressional district and is elected by all of the state legislators who represent a part of his or her district.

According to the draft plan, the state would combine the current State Road and Tollway Authority and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority into a new entity with members appointed by the governor, the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House. The authority would create long- and short-range statewide transportation plans. It would also write “distribution criteria” for money. The governor would then recommend the road budget and the General Assembly would approve it.

It’s too early to say what the plan could mean for Georgia commuters, travelers and haulers.

Some transportation-policy experts say it might make road project choices even more political. Others say that it could get politics out of the way of the engineers and road crews, and get projects to ribbon-cutting faster.

One legislator predicted the overhaul of the state’s transportation governance could kill proposals for new transportation funding, leaving officials in the new transportation organization with little or nothing to spend.

Systemic shake-ups afoot. What this means for bike/ped/transit funding remains to be seen, but my gut feeling is tense skepticism. Stay tuned...

Deep decline in driving

I'm a sucker for alliteration.

AJC relays:

It may not feel like it, but the American road is a lot more open these days.

In a year of historic changes in how we live, the federal government today is expected to announce yet another blockbuster. From November 2007 to October 2008, the U.S. saw the biggest sustained decline in miles driven in recorded history, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

Never before have Americans put the brakes on automotive travel in such a decisive way. Month after month, for an entire year, drivers put fewer miles on the road than they had the year before. It was an unprecedented stretch of highway-driving decline, according to FHWA spokesman Doug Hecox. The agency has been keeping records since 1942.

Vehicles on U.S. roads clocked 100.6 billion fewer miles in the year ending in October than they had traveled the year before, according to a monthly federal report expected today.

Georgians were among those helping drive the trend. Every month, they drove less than they did in that month the previous year. In August —- traditionally a big month for vacations —- Georgians chose to stay off the road by the biggest margin of the year.

In contrast, buses, trains and HOV registries are packed.

State Department of Transportation Commissioner Gena Evans is one of those people who cut down on driving.

After she and her new husband, former state Transportation Board Chairman Mike Evans, saw the rising cost to fill up his Hummer, she started riding mass transit to work in downtown Atlanta much of the time.

Gas prices encouraged the GDOT Commissioner to switch from a Hummer to public transit. No baby steps for Gena Evans!
Let's see if she takes her personal realization and packs that "ready to go" list of state transportation projects with desperately needed mass transit infrastructure (bike paths and sidewalks would be nice stocking stuffers as well).

Stimulus bill details slowly emerge

The AJC reports on announcements made by Gov. Perdue:

Gov. Sonny Perdue told state lawmakers Tuesday that he will propose an “aggressive” package of borrowing to build schools, libraries, roads and other facilities to help stimulate Georgia’s struggling economy.

President-elect Barack Obama has already said he wants Congress to pass a stimulus package to help pay for infrastructure improvements across the country.

Perdue said he’s not preparing his budget plan —- which will be released in mid-January —- with the idea of getting extra federal funding. However, if the federal government sends stimulus money, Perdue said, the state will have projects ready to go.

The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials reported in October that 3,100 projects totalling more than $18 billion could begin within 90 days with federal funding, and listed Georgia as having $397 million of those projects. Georgia Transportation Commissioner Gena Evans said that the state could have $1 billion worth of projects ready to go in 180 days, as long as the federal government could waive some regulatory requirements and spare the state from coming up with matching funds.

Perdue will make his proposal to lawmakers when they convene for the 2009 session Jan. 12. The House and Senate will then likely add projects to the package.

Before January 12th, tell your state reps & senators to fund more than highway expansion and interstate construction!

No economic downturn for bicycle manufacturers

Today's AJC (print edition) has an opinion piece on the resilience of bicycle manufacturers in the face of widespread recession.
Excerpts:

Interestingly, one of the world industries seemingly not suffering in the current worldwide recession... is the bicycling business.

Top bicycle and bicycle parts makers in Taiwan and Japan are reporting steadily increasing revenues, despite the falling popularity around the world of the bicycle’s four-wheeled cousin.

And while I’m not quite sure that the data support any rush to judgment that commuters are peddling to work in greater numbers, we can at least feel confident that consumer spending on this basic commodity is steady.
...
Bicycles, then, seem to share an exalted status, along with certain foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals and precious few others, as recession-proof commodities that investors can count as farsighted (read lucky) picks.

State considering transit funding options

AJC reports:

Study: How state can invest in transit

Georgia’s shortfall in transportation financing could be solved with a combination of funding, from a new odometer tax to redirecting car registration and parking fees that currently go to general government coffers, a consulting company said Wednesday.

The state Transportation Board heard the findings in a presentation but didn’t formally endorse them. Board members —- and a stream of recent studies —- say the state and Atlanta area are in critical need of new transportation funding. But some members were wary about seeming to endorse any particular tax.

“I don’t want it said of us that we’re advocating, for example, an ad valorem tax,” said board Vice Chairman Larry Walker. “I think a firestorm would go across the state.”

Gov. Sonny Perdue charged the consultant, McKinsey & Co., with making a business case for transportation investment. McKinsey released figures showing Georgia invested less per capita in transportation than all states but Tennessee. He said keeping on that road could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs and $500 billion-plus in economic benefits.