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.

Athens' air quality will not meet EPA standards

Due to increasing levels of smog and air pollution, "Clarke County does not meet new, tougher federal air quality standards," reports the ABH.

Ozone, or smog, is created when pollution from car exhaust, fossil fuel-burning power plants and industries mix with sunlight during hot summer months. It can cause respiratory and heart disease.

When the EPA finalizes the nonattainment list next year, state and local officials will have three years to come up with a plan to bring the 27 counties into compliance.

Athens drivers may have to take their cars to mechanics for emissions testing, Field said. The county also could lose federal funding for widening roads, but gain funding for sidewalks, bicycle lanes, mass transit and other forms of transportation that pollute less than cars, he said.