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...

Transit trouble in Clayton Co

Our neighbors in Clayton County are about to experience some very hard times with their public transportation system. Their story uncovers a much larger debate about what we do with our pooled resources and how we can build communities that are equitable and sustainable for the long run.

Clayton County pulled the plug on its bus system in spite of the fact that local transit has traditionally been led by local government. In Georgia, 127 counties and towns run some form of transit, from big-city trains down to small-town on-call shuttles, according to the state Department of Transportation. Special transit for the handicapped and medical visits might survive, but come Thursday Clayton will be the only one of metropolitan Atlanta's five core counties without any regular local transit.
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The state is reluctant to supplement local budgets for operating transit, unlike most of its peer states with major systems like MARTA. Some neighbors with smaller systems fund operations. The Charlotte Area Transit System receives state funds for operations, budgeted at $13 million next year, and a local sales tax dedicated to mass transit, according to Charlotte's system.
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Yet there is an exception to the state's hard-line philosophy on operating transit: Georgia taxpayers, including C-Tran passengers, are helping fund a state-run Xpress bus service for suburbanites' long-haul commutes.

When gasoline prices spike, people will turn to public transit again. Where will people turn when there aren't any buses?

Caught in the middle are the passengers, 65 percent of whom say they have no access to a car. Interviews with bus passengers this month showed a section of the metro population that faces life-changing consequences from loss of transportation. They called it "a tragedy. They called it "crazy." Some were spending big sums to break leases and move near MARTA. Some expected to lose their jobs. Others conceded that they simply were at a loss as to what to do.

Transit-oriented communities are cleaner, more pleasant places to live, and effective public transit provides access to essential services and employment for broad segments of the community.

[William] Millar, the American Transit Association president, said that every dollar invested in public transit generates about four dollars in the economy.

Funding public transit allows people who can't drive, including the elderly and those too poor to own car, to participate in society, he added.

"It’s really a basic question of values," he said.

New mayoral candidate supports transportation choices

"Nonprofit homebuilder Spencer Frye is running for mayor of Athens-Clarke County," reports the Banner-Herald.

Frye's platform also includes many of the progressive positions held by the current mayor and commissioners. He said he supports strict environmental laws, adding Athens Transit routes, building sidewalks and bicycle lanes, [and] protecting neighborhoods from development.

NB: Due to our nonprofit status, we cannot endorse or campaign against any candidate for elected office, but we're happy to see the issues being addressed!

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.

Rails-with-trails

Flagpole's Athens Rising column explores informal uses of urban space and how "the way people use the city doesn’t necessarily correspond with the planning and design intentions of the government."

When families and otherwise “adult” people join the exploring kids as benign trespassers, this may be a symptom of some larger issue in the built environment. Rather than working to eliminate these symptoms, we ought to understand their underlying causes. The guerrilla SPOA (Skate Park of Athens) illustrated a need, which ultimately resulted in a sanctioned skate park being built at the Southeast Clarke Park. The High Line, in New York, is another example of informal park uses taking on a formal status.
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The spaces that people choose to occupy with these informal uses are ones that have been disregarded or left undefined in some way.
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Consider the folks who walk along the railroad tracks. The rail right-of-way provides a useable route between destinations. People who walk along the tracks are interested in the route, and not the rails themselves. Building a formal walking path with a fence between it and the tracks gives people a safer alternative than walking on the rails in the same way that a sidewalk along a road is safer than people walking on the shoulder. This logic has been implemented in many communities around the country, leading to the creation of “rails-with-trails” (the logical outgrowth of the rails-to-trails movement).

That sort of logic should be applied to address the alternative ways people use the city in every case. People do things for reasons, and by understanding the causes of actions, we can build a city which is more interesting and more equitably accessible.

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.

GA loses out on even more transit funding

As if the loss of high speed rail funding wasn't painful enough, AJC comes in with this late hit.

The Federal Transit Administration on Tuesday published a list of 27 transit projects recommended for $1.8 billion in federal funding. Georgia wasn’t on it.

It couldn’t be. Georgia had no proposals up for consideration, FTA spokesman Paul Griffo said.

In contrast to the high-speed rail grants last week, these recommendations would fund development of local transit projects such as new bus and streetcar lines.
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Rail advocates last week blamed Georgia’s loss of high-speed rail money on the state’s past indifference to rail transit.

"If you don’t have operating money, nobody’s going to give you the money you need to build lines," said Lee Biola, president of Citizens for Progressive Transit. "Other states are investing in other ways of traveling [than by car] and they are becoming competitors when it comes to luring businesses and high-tech workers to their states."

If it wasn't clear before, it's clear now: Georgia's old boy network of back-slapping car dealers, sprawl builders, and road pavers will keep us mired in gridlocked traffic, smog, and ugly landscapes until we demand something better.

Bus ad revenue lower than expected

Banner-Herald reports:

Athens-Clarke County is cutting short its contract with a local firm that sells advertising on Athens Transit buses because the program is making less money than officials expected.
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The Athens-Clarke Commission is likely to vote tonight to opt out of a two-year contract with The Summit Agency on June 30, after just one year.

The deal guarantees the county at least $75,000 per year in revenue, with the county and the agency splitting anything over that amount. After seven months, the agency has sold only $33,000 worth of ads, Athens Transit Director Butch McDuffie said.

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The economy and a restrictive policy on what types of ads Athens Transit will accept are responsible for the poor sales, McDuffie said.

The county does not accept alcohol-related, sexual, political or religious advertising.

Commissioners adopted the policy on Athens-Clarke Attorney Bill Berryman's recommendation to head off potential lawsuits if they turned down a controversial ad to avoid the appearance that the government is endorsing a religious or political message.

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When the county's contract with The Summit Agency ends June 30, the commission could opt to stop selling ads, hire another agency to sell them or sell them in-house. [Commissioner Kelly] Girtz said he favors continuing to sell ads.

Is the county policy too cautious? Isn't some money better than none? This is the first time this strategy has been attempted with Athens Transit, so it's to be expected that there might be some hurdles, especially in the current economic conditions.

Plenty of transit systems successfully utilize bus ads to supplement their operating budgets. We hope the commission and Athens Transit can address the challenges and continue exploring this needed funding opportunity.

Let the Commission know your thoughts on the matter.

Bad news/Good news

The bad news:
Our great state's short-sighted, issue-neglecting leaders have squandered the chance for millions in high speed rail money.

Georgia appears to have won as little as $750,000 from the $8 billion pool of high-speed rail grants.
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Last fall, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told a number of states, including Georgia and Florida, that they had better get their act together on rail transit or risk losing out on the high-speed rail grants.

In a special session weeks later, Florida voted additional annual funding for one transit rail line and expedited buying track for another.

What did Georgia's legislators do? Not a thing. And what are they doing now? Talking about more tax cuts for big business (and campaign contributors) and ethics re-form.

All of which nets us, the traffic and air pollution-beleaguered residents of the state, with .0094% of the federal funding available for high speed inter-city rail.

The good news?

Maybe folks will finally get fired up about the ridiculous priorities of our state government and demand some actual governance, the kind that faces reality and seeks informed solutions to our common problems.

Gov. Perdue sure likes talking the talk. Will we ever see any action? That's largely up to us. We'll have to drag our highway-loving legislature kicking and screaming, but we can make it happen.

Let your legislator know how disappointed you are!

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

No more sidewalk riding

The ACC commission voted unanimously Tuesday to ban people over the age of 12 from riding bicycles on sidewalks, bringing Athens-Clarke County into compliance with state law.

I applaud this vote. While it may seem safer to ride on the sidewalk, it's more dangerous than riding on the street. For adults, street cycling is a better idea for a number of reasons:

1) Drivers are not expecting bicycles on the sidewalk when they enter and leave driveways. Every curb cut, side street, and entry/exit drive is an opportunity for a quick-moving cyclist to be cut off or hit by an unwary motorist. Biking on the street ensures that cars see you and know what to expect from you, provided you wear visible clothing and ride safely & predictably!

2) Sidewalks are for pedestrians. Sharing sidewalk space is fine on a wide paved surface like the Greenway, but, on typical sidewalks, sharing the space with pedestrians increases the likelihood of a collision.

3) Bicycles are vehicles. Under state law and common sense, bicycles are vehicles. Cyclists have the same rights and responsibilites as motorists and should take full advantage of public infrastructure.

Stay warm & ride safely!

Georgia's Statewide Strategic Transportation Plan

See a copy of the plan (including a readable executive summary) at:
http://www.it3.ga.gov/Pages/default.aspx

Downtown parking deck

Parking costs downtown may increase dramatically due to the proposed parking deck & mixed use development near the Georgia Theatre.

Bus plans & greenway meetings

ABH Sunday reading:

A plan exists for improving transit, but will there be money to implement it?

Also, "the Athens-Clarke Leisure Services Department will hold two public meetings this week about its plans to build a greenway along the Middle Oconee River."

U.S. Trans Sec rightfully disses GA

Via Blake Aued's blog:

For decades, Athens residents have despaired of ever seeing a much-needed and much-discussed commuter train to Atlanta move forward while our leaders pay lip service to the concept.

Georgia is the largest state in the nation that does not fund mass transit. Do not expect any help from the Obama Administration – which has set aside billions for light rail – until state officials make a commitment.

“The Northeast (high-speed rail) corridor has its act together,” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood told AJC columnist Jay Bookman. “The Midwest corridor has its act together. The governors there have set aside their own egos and their own ambitions” to work together on bringing high-speed rail to those regions.

“If the people of Atlanta think it’s OK to sit in traffic for an hour and a half on the way to a doctor’s appointment, so be it,” LaHood said (hat tip to JMac).

Come to think of it, just about every politician I’ve ever interviewed, from governor on down to county commissioner, has been in favor of the Brain Train. Yet it never gets done. Funny how that works.

Indeed. Haha.