text:
- Local every day in
Why do you suppose they don't want anyone talking about it?
- Over the weekend I received an email from an associate showing that the Untie Atlanta facebook pages had removed all of his posts and stopped allowing comments.
- At a meeting on Saturday morning I talked with a Johns Creek City Councilman and was advised that the Johns Creek City Council had refused to schedule any kind of debate, but would welcome an "information" presentation by MAVEN [Metro Atlanta Voter Education Network].
- On Monday I was scheduled to speak against the TSPLOST at the Madison Forum in Cobb County. This was to be a pro/con debate between the TSPLOST MAVEN speaker and myself. Late Monday morning I received an e-mail advising that the MAVEN speaker had withdrawn.
- The Dunwoody Chamber of Commerce had a pro/con forum booked for July 27 and they backed out.
The combination of events might lead one to believe that MAVEN (the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce) wants to shut down opposition voices and rely on its $8 million advertising budget to convince you to vote for the TSPLOST.
I hope you have better sense.
ACC-SEC Booster
1:56 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
It doesn't matter, because they're going to lose big anyways when the fatally-flawed T-SPLOST gets voted down in a landslide.
5:17 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The negative opinions coming from the anti-T-Splost crowd are incorrect. The 1% sales tax will end in 10 years unless voters vote to approve it. If the projected money is collected early, the sales tax is removed.
There is a citizen review board that has the authority to ensure projects are completed on time and within the budget parameters. There was public input during the planning process. It's interesting to me that groups like the Tea Party and the Sierra Club come out in full force at a time like this, but during the time that they could have had substantial input into the process of picking projects, they opted to just say "NO". Now, they're using tired lines of "too much transit" or "not enough transit" and completely missing the big picture.
The only reason I can think of for someone to be opposed to the T-Splost in North Fulton County is if they work from home, shop online and rarely leave their houses. Otherwise, the improvements that will be made to our area, specifically to GA 400 and I-285, will have a significant impact on our ability to navigate the area.
I do not work for the T-Splost campaign nor would I financially benefit if the T-Splost passes...I am just getting frustrated with the gridlock being caused by the far left and far right talking heads and I would lock them out of my Facebook page too and not allow them to attend my meetings. Why would anyone want misinformation being espoused at meetings with their names on them?
6:47 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
@ Daniel. ANY improvements made to and around GA400 should come from the surplus of dollars collected at the GA-400 tolls.
Mike Lowry
9:47 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Daniel, if you really think the tax will end in 10 years, perhaps you can advise where the ongoing operating costs are going to come from. No one has answered that yet.
The "citizen review board" is appointed, not elected, so I have little hope that it will have any real power.
The "public input" that I attended was a classic example of the delphi technique. No real discussion, no interactive questions, all predefined conclusions. The RTR "whittling down" sessions were even worse. This was a bunch of politicians grabbing for the honey pot.
I live in Roswell and work several days a week downtown. I don't take MARTA because it doubles my trip time and makes me walk too far, the same reasons that 95% of Atlantans don't use it. Atlanta doesn't have sufficient density for transit to be a real solution.
The gridlock will only be solved when GDOT is directed to focus on congestion relief, and made to design highway improvements that actually reduce it. Currently they are too busy meeting federal directives and responding to political favor projects.
ACC-SEC Booster
10:39 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
"The gridlock will only be solved when GDOT is directed to focus on congestion relief, and made to design highway improvements that actually reduce it."
...In other words, never.
ACC-SEC Booster
12:36 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
"I live in Roswell and work several days a week downtown. I don't take MARTA because it doubles my trip time and makes me walk too far, the same reasons that 95% of Atlantans don't use it. Atlanta doesn't have sufficient density for transit to be a real solution."
Even though the overwhelming vast majority of Metro Atlantans don't use MARTA and other mass transit systems for the reasons you describe, which is largely due to extreme and inept mismanagement inside the agency and a glaring lack of leadership from both local (City of Atlanta, Fulton County & DeKalb County) and state (the often wildly-inept GDOT and its managing parent, the Georgia General Assembly) levels of government who themselves often struggle with issues of severe incompetence and ethical shortcomings within their own management and leadership, the actual number of Metro Atlantans who use transit is a little farther north of five percent.
ACC-SEC Booster
12:38 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
When the daily ridership numbers for MARTA (470,000 riders/daily), Cobb Community Transit (11,000 riders/daily), Gwinnett County Transit (8,000 riders/daily), GRTA Xpress (9,000 riders/daily), Hall Area Transit (Gainesville-1,100 riders/daily) are added up and calculated together the average daily transit ridership for the entire 28-county Atlanta Region of 5.8 million is approximately 500,000 riders per day, which figures out to about 8.6% of the population of the 28-county Atlanta Region using transit on a daily basis.
When the daily number of transit riders (498,000) is applied from the four transit systems (MARTA, CCT, GCT & GRTA Xpress) that operate in the 10-county ARC (Atlanta Regional Commission) area is applied to the population of the 10-county ARC area (4,142,300 people) daily transit ridership in the 10-county region is just over 12%.
Dean Sheridan
12:55 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Daniel : Really....................... With 53% of the "The Mess The Project List Is" consisting of : A) Non roads & bridges 1.) The Belt Way 2) High Speed rail 3) MARTA maintenance ; Please explain how this will reduce traffic long term in the best interest of ALL the tax payers? At the end of 10 years what type of unfunded mandate have you created by laying down a partial set of unfinished rail tracks?. How are you going to maintain this albatross - Use MARTA and it's 489 million annual short fall as (Atlanta's version to a bridge to no where) ; in this case a Bridge to increased taxes forever to all.. If I lived in Fulton County I would want "others" to pay and bail me out too, otherwise fix MARTA. If I lived in Fulton County the first thing I would do is force MARTA to become at least reasonably self sufficient. Think about it - we're not even asking for them to make a profit! Lastly why does it not include the 75/I575 project? Oh, I guess that's a separate cost we will all have, one no one wants to talk about with this mess. NOT!
ACC-SEC Booster
3:09 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Dean Sheridan
12:55 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
"Lastly why does it not include the 75/I575 project? Oh, I guess that's a separate cost we will all have, one no one wants to talk about with this mess. NOT!"
The TIA/T-SPLOST does not include the I-75/I-575 Northwest Corridor project because that particular project was started over a decade ago, roughly just after the turn-of-the-century before the T-SPLOST was even a gleam in the eyes of the powers-that-be.
The entire Cobb Republican legislative delegation along with Kennesaw Mayor Mark Mathews joined with Cobb County Chairman Tim Lee, who is desperately just barely clinging to his political career at this point after supporting the wildly unpopular Cobb taxpayer-funded Midtown-to-Cumberland light rail line, to publicly lobby to switch the funding from the unpopular light rail line to the I-75/575 HOT Lanes project which had its P3 (Public-Private Partnership) method of funding cancelled by Governor Deal back in December.
ACC-SEC Booster
3:12 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Dean Sheridan
12:55 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
But by the time that the P3 funding for the I-75/I-575 HOT Lanes project was cancelled in December and Cobb Chairman Lee and the Cobb GOP Legislative Delegation lobbied for the T-SPLOST funding to be switched from the increasingly unpopular light rail line to the HOT lanes, it was too late as the T-SPLOST list had already been finalized and the state would not let Cobb officials, who were feeling increasing political heat from their conservative constituents for putting the Cobb-funded Fulton light rail line on the list, or anyone else, switching the funding, at least not publicly, anyway.
ACC-SEC Booster
7:24 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
And when I say that the T-SPLOST is the "Northern Arc part 2", I mean that it is a political disaster in the making.
Dean Sheridan
4:16 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Well, call me the new kid on the block. I call'em as I see'em. That's the problem. "The Disease that lives in DC is everywhere - even in Cherokee County. Never to late for mice & men. This all must come to a STOP NOW. You heard about the "Trolley Car from Hell" in the ATL.? This ARC Mess that "is the project list" makes that look like a Matchbox toy. My understanding is that Cobb rail is in this T-SPLOST mess list now. That being the case; we traded that mess and the heat that went with it (meaning no relief up North with traffic) so we could add even more taxes for problems that real need funding? So in turn ; now to get relief we pay for for it twice in the form of two tax increases? My wife complains about me having one drink and I break out Mason Jar. I've never seen a jar this big. We need to ALL take a step back an re-evaluate both projects before using common sense. Just VOTE NO. Hopefully we can get that done and Toll the North end like their saying; Pay as you go - then kill anything but roads and bridges with ARC. That makes sense to me. Pretty straight forward.
Mike Lowry
4:27 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Regarding your prior post on ridership, generally, a person boards once TO and again FROM their destination- so you have to divide the number of boardings by 2 to find out how many people you're carrying.
Of course, some people board a bus to the train station and board the train to get to work; then reverse the process to return: 1 person, four boardings. MARTA's 2011 CAFR, p.71, shows 139 million boardings. Divide by a little over two to get people, then divide by days to get the number of people MARTA's taking off the road daily- about 200k.
W/O MARTA, not all of those people would drive their own car- some would car/van pool, telecommute etc.
ACC-SEC Booster
5:16 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Mike Lowry
4:27 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Even I though I agree with you that a mismanaged transit agency like MARTA is far from being a cure-all magic bullet for the transportation mess that we are in, I would still be hesitant to totally discount or discredit the beneficial effect that MARTA has on rush hour traffic, especially the MARTA North-South and Northeast-South heavy rail lines, which seem to act as a reliever for the GA 400/I-85/I-75 Downtown Connector alignment which is often severely-congested, if not outright gridlocked, and stressed almost with traffic to the point of being impassable at times during morning and evening rush hours and special events (like Braves home games that occur at the end of evening rush hours).
The I-75/I-85 Downtown Connector often struggles mightily to just handle the estimated 300,000 vehicles that it already carries.
If MARTA were to suddenly cease to operate and the Downtown Connector were flooded with lets say 100,000 or more vehicles, there is absolutely no doubt that road, in which this town and region have become entirely too dependent upon, and the sections of GA 400 below the Buckhead exit and I-85 between the Brookwood Interchange and GA 400, would become totally impassable and turn into a complete parking lot during rush hours and peak periods.
ACC-SEC Booster
5:24 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
MARTA may be extremely inept and entirely mismanaged, but as bad as the traffic is now on GA 400 south of Buckhead, on I-85 between 400 & Brookwood and on the Downtown Connector, traffic would be much, much, MUCH worse Inside the Perimeter if MARTA were to suddenly cease to function as there is absolutely no physical space remaining along the right-of-way to widen the road and there is absolutely no political will to expand that particular gridlocked freeway, or seemingly any other severely-gridlocked Atlanta freeway, the only place that most right-of-way challenged Atlanta-area freeways could ever be expanded, which is vertically.
ACC-SEC Booster
7:50 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
6:47 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Forget the current GA 400 tolls and forget the political disaster-in-the-making that is currently known as T-SPLOST.
Georgia 400, as well as most all of Metro Atlanta's freeways', main problems are that it does not have enough capacity to handle the traffic that it currently handles.
To abate this, I say completely abolish the gas tax for all Georgians and charge mileage-based user fees on each major road.
This would help to improve Georgia 400 North Corridor in the best way by financing the reconstruction of the Georgia 400/I-285 Top End Interchange.
The change to a more effective form of financing with mileage-based user fees would also enable the reconstruction of I-285 & GA 400 to handle twice the current capacity by expanding the roadway with the construction of an elevated upper deck located directly above the existing roadbeds on both expressways.
Because if the roads cannot be expanded out because of the almost total lack of right-of-way to widen them outward, the only place to expand the roads is upwards by double-decking the freeways.
Double-decking I-285 around the entire length of the Perimeter and double-decking Georgia 400 from I-85 up to the Forsyth County line will help traffic flow tremendously.
Mike Lowry
9:24 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
Mileage-based taxation is coming. Oregon, minnesota and Florida all have serious programs underway to evaluate and implement technologies to support it. Georgia should move in this direction as well.
One of the great by-products will be the acquisition of real origin-destination demand statistics that can be used to guide transportation planning.
Elevated lanes and high-capacity entrances and exits will also do much to provide real congestion relief. The GPPF study pointed clearly to the need for additional E-W arteries. Designing them as continuous-flow, either with elevated lanes, roundabouts or cross-unders would be a great start on real congestion relief. We can't afford any of this, however, if we dump more $billions into useless transit projects.
10:11 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
Mike, have you even looked at the T-SPLOST project list? The overwhelming majority of projects are road projects, not transit!
10:25 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
For the record, I don't disagree that we need more E-W arteries, or other high speed corridors. I suspect that the cost for these would be far, far higher than the current T-SPLOST. 7 billion would hardly cover the costs for these (not the mention where's the funding for maintaining these new arteries over the years?) So while I don't object, if we can't pass a $7B list of projects, how will we pay for these arteries? I can see tolls or mileage based fees covering O&M of these new roads, but no contractor would be able to finance the construction of such a huge project by themselves, without bonds or some other public investment. Maybe I'm wrong, but if so I would love to know where this has been done, on this scale.
Mike Lowry
11:21 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
For Ramblin Wreck Dave,
Yes, I have analyzed the project list closely. If you do the same (you can download an excel spreadsheet at www.traffictruth.net) you will discover that:
(1) Transit projects consume 52% of the funds,
(2) MARTA maintenance projects consume hundreds of millions of dollars,
(3) The beltway and trolley are funded, which do nothing for congestion.
The project list is filled with projects to help keep mayors and commissioners happy, and very little of it is directed to congestion relief.
7:54 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
All I know is that Clarke Howard is for the TSplost. I dont really trust anyone else's comments on the subject.
ACC-SEC Booster
12:43 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Clark Howard is for the fatally-flawed T-SPLOST out of sheer desperation and utter fear that our idiotic and moronic state legislators will fail to ever again address our rapidly deteriorating transportation mobility situation, which is not exactly a ringing endorsement.
Dean Sheridan
4:26 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
I think most of us liked the Legislation and maybe that's where he was coming from. It does have merit. It's the Project list that's being exposed as a failure and it's out of control. The "Marque" rail system in the Country is Seattle. Ridership is about what it is here. They're lay-dent in debt now. Like Chicago, their forced to have a separate tax like FICA come out of their checks as resolve. Sure it looks nice and fun for some and used by few - but really folks.
Mike Lowry
9:26 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
Clark is uncharacteristically uninformed on this issue. The radio session he participated in was simply a regurgitation of the Chamber of Commerce spin on the topic. He has also been uncharacteristically unwilling to participate in open discussion on the topic. I suspect some serious advertising dollars are involved.
11:00 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
I have been on the Facebook fan page and the moderators from Untie Atlanta are more than willing to answer any questions regarding the Regional Transportation Referendum. As a matter of fact it will make good sense to answer questions from the opposition to dispel any concerns or misunderstandings that people may have about the referendum. However, when people decide to continuously post false information on the page and constantly go back to spark controversy then it becomes an issue.
The maintenance of projects funded from the Regional Transportation Referendum will come from users of such projects such as the light rail systems being thought up. If transit options are made more readily available and gives you access to more places then of course more people will ride it. Also, Atlanta is a constantly growing city. With the influx of residents that will come they will be able to contribute to revenue for transit as well.
The back and forth for a Plan B has to stop. If we want a progressive change to come we must pass the Regional Transportation Referendum on July 31st.
Mike Lowry
11:13 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
I know Bob Ross personally. He is scrupulously accurate in his posts, and sources all of his facts, unlike Untie Atlanta. I can say with confidence he has not posted any false information. I would challenge you to point to anything specific that you think is false.
Conversely, your comment above that "If transit options are made more readily available and gives you access to more places then of course more people will ride it." doesn't square with the reality that Atlanta's density will prevent transit from ever being an effective transportation solution. Even the ARC's growth projections show that most of Atlanta's growth will be in areas where transit isn't considered. Transit will never generate enough revenue to pay for itself, and will require taxpayer subsidy forever.
There will be a Plan B that makes sense, and we must vote down the tax to get to it.
ACC-SEC Booster
3:35 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Mike Lowry
11:13 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
"Transit will never generate enough revenue to pay for itself"
...It will if virtually all new road construction continues to choked dead by the shockingly effective anti-road lobby that strangely seems to dominate Georgia politics.
New road construction is nowhere near as difficult to accomplish in other Sunbelt states with relatively recent strong economic growth like Texas, Florida and North Carolina as it is in Georgia.
ACC-SEC Booster
4:56 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
11:00 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
"The maintenance of projects funded from the Regional Transportation Referendum will come from users of such projects such as the light rail systems being thought up."
No, it won't, because there is nothing in the law that says that funding for continuing maintenance (and operation) costs will come from user fees on light rail projects that are not even setup to pay even part of their own costs under this tax, much less the maintenance and operation costs of other projects.
In fact, if continuing operations and maintenance costs was in fact borne by users in the form of tolls and fares, there would be no reason to even hold a referendum and have to (unsuccessfully) attempt to convince taxpayers to vote for a half-hearted, ill-conceived, badly-intended and fatally-flawed T-SPLOST just to fund partial initial construction of these projects.
ACC-SEC Booster
1:08 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Mike Lowry
9:47 pm on Wednesday, June 13, 2012
"Atlanta doesn't have sufficient density for transit to be a real solution."
I very much agree with you, sir on that statement.
The only problem is that unlike a Houston, Dallas, Phoenix, Miami, or even a Chicago or Toronto, the Metro Atlanta region is made up of a disjointed and discombobulated network of narrow and winding surface roads lined with heavy residential development that is simply wretched for heavy rush hour traffic to have to navigate.
Even the transit-heavy and road-limited Washington D.C. region, save for the geographical barrier that is the Potomac River, has an overall much better and more continuous surface road network, than the automobile-dominated, yet road infrastructure-challenged, Atlanta Region.
It is because of the substantially geographically, physically and politically-challenged road network in the Atlanta Region that transit remains on the table as an option, no matter how improbable or seemingly unrealistic of a transportation solution it may actually be.
ACC-SEC Booster
1:24 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
In addition to the obvious geographical, topographical and physical challenges and impediments, I say that the road network in the Atlanta Region is politically-challenged because, even though Metro Atlanta is obviously, first and foremost, an automobile-dominated town, there is no political will to make the critically-needed improvements and upgrades to the road network (both surface roads and expressways) needed to help automobile traffic move and flow much more effectively.
In fact, not only is there often no political will to build new roads and upgrade and widen existing roads, but there often seems to be much fierce resistance to and severe political backlash against making the type of road improvements that would often be made without a second thought in other cities (like widening busy surface roads, expanding and widening gridlocked freeways and building outer bypasses like the abandoned and cancelled Outer Perimeter/Northern Arc), both automobile-dominated (Dallas, Orlando, HOUSTON) and transit-heavy (even Chicago, DC and Toronto builds new roads) alike.
Mike Lowry
9:32 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
When I lobbied members of the General Assembly last December to avoid what would obviously be a bad result - regardless of which way the vote went - I was told that "the legislature doesn't have the appetite to take on the speaker and the governor this session". Doug Stoner repeated that phrase last week at the panel discussion at Ga Tech. Obviously, we need to help the legislature develop some new dining habits :-).
The political will to fix this will be generated if we can vote it down, then demand the legislature move to "Plan B" (much more on this later). Political will is a function of voter demands. If we can sustain our current level of anger past the July 31 vote, the legislature will move to adopt a new plan.
9:57 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
You've had months to prepare a "Plan B"...where is it? I don't buy the argument that "T-SPLOST is bad, but don't worry we have a great Plan B...just shoot T-SPLOST down first and then we'll show you." That tells me you have no Plan B, otherwise you would share it now. Is this Plan B from people who are experts in traffic studies and congestion?
ACC-SEC Booster
1:46 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Houston just recently engaged in a massive expansion of their freeway system by converting selected busy surface streets into multilane super-arterials with untolled at-grade local lanes and tolled separated-grade express lanes, building new toll roads, adding toll lanes and massive widenings of many existing freeways with some roads, like the I-10 Katy Freeway on the Westside of Houston being widened to as many as 26 lanes in many places, with space on the pavement for up to 30 lanes, if needed.
Now, can you imagine the public outcry and political backlash in Atlanta if a politician or bureaucrat or anyone else in an "influential" position even dared to utter the mere suggestion of widening a severely-congested and gridlocked road in Metro Atlanta to as many as 26-30 lanes wide?
Well, you don't really have to imagine the outcry as GDOT had to back down from a proposal to widen parts of I-75 Northwest to as many as 25 lanes in width in some places through Cobb County as part of a plan to add four tolled carpool lanes and four truck lanes to that often tortured roadway when the media and anti-road environmental groups got wind of it.
Mike Lowry
9:35 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
Part of our problem as a state is that our current DOT is not charged with reducing congestion, but rather is focused on implementing Washington directives and delivering on political favors. It should be completely restructured.
The GPPF study clearly identified the need for a grid of arterials as part of a better solution for Atlanta.
ACC-SEC Booster
3:19 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
The politically-forced shrinkage of the I-75 Northwest Corridor project from eight new tolled carpool and truck lanes down to only two new reversible tolled carpool lanes is only one example of a string of fierce political backlashes to needed road upgrade projects that includes the abandonment and cancellation of the Outer Perimeter/Northern Arc in 2002-03, the abandonment of a second farther out Outer Perimeter/Northern Arc proposal in 2007 and the recent backtracking from a proposed regionwide network of HOT lanes after the severely-bungled and poorly thought-out conversion of the existing HOV-2 lanes to HOT/HOV-3 lanes on I-85 through DeKalb and Gwinnett counties in late 2011.
It is because of the strange and puzzling fiercely anti-road political environment that first gained steam during the Intown Freeway Revolts of the 1960's and 70's that Atlanta may be forced to eventually adopt a transit-heavy approach with each individual transit line funded largely with user fees in the form of fares high enough to actually pay for the construction and continued operations, maintenance and security of upgraded and expanded transit lines since critically-needed road expansions seem to be unnecessarily politically-difficult to come by.
Jake Lilley
9:17 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Gov. Deal's support for T-SPLOST veers from tax pledge
According to PolitiFact, "The T-SPLOST is an increase in the sales tax. There are no cuts to make it revenue-neutral. [Governor] Deal gets a Full Flop."
4:42 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
"I live in Roswell and work several days a week downtown. I don't take MARTA because it doubles my trip time and makes me walk too far, the same reasons that 95% of Atlantans don't use it. Atlanta doesn't have sufficient density for transit to be a real solution.
The gridlock will only be solved when GDOT is directed to focus on congestion relief, and made to design highway improvements that actually reduce it. Currently they are too busy meeting federal directives and responding to political favor projects."
I wonder if Mr. Lowry has ever tried actually using MARTA. I have a similar commute, from Sandy Springs to downtown, and drive to the N. Springs station to catch a train downtown, where it's a short walk to my office. I am so sick of people complaining about MARTA and it's managment without ever having bothered trying MARTA out. I wouldn't use MARTA if it doubled my commute, but the fact is in the worst case my commute is the same, but usually I save at least 30 minutes. Not to mention it's consistent, reliable, and I save gas money/wear and tear on my car. And no road rage!
Mike Lowry
9:40 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
The operative words in your comment are "Sandy Springs" and "short walk". You are among the 5% that can use it.
I have tried MARTA. Unless you live very close, and work close to a station, it's not a solution. Also, I doubt you would use MARTA if you had to pay the full cost of your convenient ride. The rest of us are subsidizing your convenience and savings.
9:52 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
You said you commute from Roswell, which means if you're driving down 400 you are passing right by the N springs station. So no excuse there. And since you said you travel downtown, everything is a short walk downtown. Atlanta does not have a huge downtown. Now I realize that not everyone works downtown, but my point is that in your case you would almost certainly save time on MARTA unless you're commuting outside of rush hour.
4:49 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
I won't pretend that MARTA could realistically work for everyone; but frankly the roads don't work for everyone either. I refuse to sit in traffic for 2 hours a day, and this factored into my decision on where to live and work. A commuter rail system could work here, it's the right model for a spread out area. I lived in the DC area, and it's just as spread out as Atlanta outside of the beltway. The METRO rail system there does have stations out in the burbs, centered around the major economic areas of activity. In Atlanta, there are several stations which service the Perimeter area, and I believe having MARTA there and the option it provides to quickly get downtown or to the airport is a huge economic boon to the area. If MARTA were to extend to Windward parkway I think you would have a similar economic boost for that area, and reduction in traffic on 400. Many companies would be glad to shuttle their employees to a nearby station and reduce dependence on large parking lots, increase their employees productive time in the office, and have some "green" quals they could advertise.
Unless you want to declare eminent domain and tear down neighborhoods to make new local highways, or expand local roads into mini-highways, I don't know how many realistic road options are out there. Clearly roads can't be ignored, but neither should mass transit.
ACC-SEC Booster
6:24 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
You make some very good points about mass transit. But the fact remains that, at this particular time and despite Atlanta's world renowned and infamous reputation for traffic congestion, the idea of expanding MARTA outside of I-285 or implementing commuter rail just is not all that politically viable or socially-appealing outside of Fulton and DeKalb.
Most Metro Atlantans remain extremely adverse and even somewhat hostile to the concept of transit expansion, especially rail transit, which many suburbanites and exurbanites view as being wasteful and ineffective at lessening traffic congestion and especially MARTA, which as an agency has been mismanaged to the point of being widely perceived by the public as being severely incompetent.
Ironically, many Metro Atlantans also remain extremely adverse to the concept of substantial road expansion as well, which puts this region in a real bind transportation-wise if there is no political will or political want to upgrade either the regions clearly inadequate network of roads and/or transit.
ACC-SEC Booster
6:32 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
"A commuter rail system could work here, it's the right model for a spread out area. I lived in the DC area, and it's just as spread out as Atlanta outside of the beltway."
Do you mean a commuter rail system like this?
GDOT (the Georgia Department of Transportation) has had plans on the books for a commuter rail network for at least much of the last two decades, it's just that the plans are completely unfunded and the concept of rail transit isn't exactly a political winner in most of this region outside of I-285, in fact, rail transit is an extreme political LIABILITY throughout most of Metro Atlanta, save for Fulton and DeKalb counties.
But on the other hand, substantial road expansion isn't all that much of an appealing item, either, politically in this automobile-dominated town, so go figure.
6:40 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
I guess I just don't get it; it would seem the overwhelming majority of people here have a reduced quality of life due to traffic, yet no one wants to pay for a solution (and guess what, a solution will not magically appear without $). Whether it's through taxes, tolls, "fees", whatever you want to call it, it will need to be paid for. Until the day when we can all somehow work from home and contribute to the local and national GDP, we will be commuting and making traffic worse here.
Not to be cliche, but be the change you imagine. If everyone stood up for what they personally felt was right rather than succumbing to a mass "feeling" that MARTA is inept, rail is bad, roads are bad,and nothing will ever change, then it becomes self-fulfilling prophecy.
MARTA may have inept management as so many say; if so, it hasn't personally affected my commute on MARTA, so I don't see what this has to do with being against expanding mass transit. I do however see inept management from road construction contractors and GDOT when seemingly simple road projects go way over on time and budget....and this does negatively affect my commute when construction or lane closures drag on.
6:45 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Interesting find, ACC-SEC booster. Although with these T-SPLOSTs being regional, and this map covering nearly half the state, I wonder if this plan is too big to be covered by a T-SPLOST. If it were to be split among the regions, let the regions vote. If voters outside of Fulton/Dekalb don't want rail (say to Bremen), than so be it. This map does seem a bit pie-in-the sky. I don't really consider Macon or Bremen part of the metro Atlanta area...I'm sure some people do commute from there to here, but not enough to support a rail line.
Whatever the reasons were for Cobb and Gwinnett to not adopt MARTA back in the day, times have changed.
Mike Lowry
9:43 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
Transit is a viable solution if, and only if, it can generate enough business to pay for itself. Even the vaunted DC system requires large taxpayer subsidy in order to provide convenience and economic transportation to a small percentage of people.
Conversely, there are many options for roadway improvement if we can redirect GDOT to use them. GDOT is currently preoccupied with Washington directives and with granting political favors.
10:05 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
"Transit is a viable solution if, and only if, it can generate enough business to pay for itself."
I am not aware of any transit system that is entirely self sustaining. Nor am I aware of any roads that are, so you have to apply your logic evenly across all forms of transit to be fair. You feel that you're subsidizing MARTA for a small group of people, a service that you will never use; likewise I feel that I'm subsidizing road construction for those who choose to live in the exurbs, roads which I will never use. This is a basic tenet of society, if every individual only cared about themselves we would not have shared interstates, police service, water, or any other public service.
janet h russell
5:48 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Mr. Lowry, I am sorry you might have to walk to far to get to your job downtown a few times a week. Imagine, the people who don't have the option of a car to take them to work. In fact, imagine if you lived in Stone Mountain and got a job in Roswell - say at the Home Depot on Crossville. Travel time is 3 hrs and a walk of 5 miles from the bus stop. But if the person wants the job badly enough, they do it. Marta gets no revenue from the state in which it resides. It is the ONLY mass transit system in the US in a major metropolitan area to receive ZERO funding. But the state legislature controls how the revenue they do generate is spent.
I am for the T splost and I tell everyone to vote YES. One day when you aren't able to drive for what ever reason, you are going to be so contented in your assisted living center waiting for someone to take you anywhere instead of remaining independent.
ACC-SEC Booster
6:48 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
janet h russell
5:48 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
"But the state legislature controls how the revenue they do generate is spent."
The state legislature controls how MARTA spends it money by making the agency put aside 50% of the sales tax revenue that it collects from Fulton and DeKalb counties aside for capital expenditures because, if left to its own devices, MARTA wouldn't have anything set aside for capital expenditure as the money that MARTA currently has to set aside for capital expenditures still isn't anywhere near enough to cover those costs.
The thing is that the 50% requirement only applies to the revenue from the 1% sales tax that MARTA collects from Fulton and DeKalb counties.
If MARTA really felt as if it needed more money for operations and maintenance, it could easily raise it fares to bring in more revenues that would not be subject to the 50-50 restrictions from the state, which MARTA has refused to do except when they were faced with the prospect of severe cuts to service.
The 50-50 restrictions on the sales tax revenues that MARTA takes is not the problem and has never been the problem as the argument that MARTA gets no revenue from the state is a red herring to distract from the fact that MARTA just simply does not and never has collected enough revenues from the farebox. MARTA could have rectified this situation long ago by implementing a distance-based fare collection system, but always has and continues to refuse to do so.
7:02 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Another argument I never understood. If MARTA is to receive no public funding, then why should it be controlled by the state legislature (which has a reputation too, of not caring much about Metro Atlanta's needs)? If MARTA is always told to be run like a business, then why not let it make the decisions it is best qualified to make (rather than a bunch of politicians with their own agendas)? If MARTA is managed as poorly as everyone says, they will fall flat on their face and can be reconfigured once and for all. But no business could thrive, or survive if they are not allowed to make their own decisions as they see fit, and try to grow or at least be stable.
I wonder how successful any of these other metro area transit systems would be if they were hobbled by the ridiculous restrictions the state placed on them? Not really fair to blame MARTA when it's controlled more than any other system
Dean Sheridan
7:35 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Janet : maybe you need to move Roswell then. Heck, for that kind of money Id rather have the State pay you something every year to avoid this bridge to our wallets and maintenance forever. I guess you like the 489 million in red ink with MARTA, so you figure we double down? Show us that MARTA can at least loose 25 million a year - without making a profit - if you can do that I'm sure we can pass a rail project. Until then, support fixing the traffic problem with a solutions that actually work. The tab, Oh , depending on how you cut it up comes to 4,505,000,000.0 over 10 years (without maintenance) If you use combined ridership that hits a "peak" of 8% (at about 5% now) of the 9.5 million population( excessively large sample) , we would be paying about how much per each regular Ryder to build the thing? How much of that 8% will come off the roads? So - what traffic are we reducing? I'm all ears, I'm one of those, you know - from Missouri
Mike Lowry
9:47 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
Why would someone continue to live in Stone Mountain and work in Roswell? Roswell has a variety of housing, even for low-income residents. There are also a variety of transportation options for those unable to drive, but they need to be reasonable.
In a free country, we choose where to live and where to work. The public has no obligation to subsidize our choices.
ACC-SEC Booster
7:14 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
6:45 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
"Whatever the reasons were for Cobb and Gwinnett to not adopt MARTA back in the day, times have changed."
Cobb and Gwinnett (and Clayton) did not adopt MARTA back in the past because both counties were semi-rural to completely rural relatively affluent lily-white suburbs and exurbs that were deathly afraid of transit, especially MARTA trains, bringing crime and other inner city ailments to what were then high-income enclaves that were far removed, both physically and psychologically, from the problems of the urban core, which, early on, only included the City of Atlanta and Central Fulton County.
At the time that the votes for MARTA were first take back in the late 1960's, Cobb and Clayton and even DeKalb were pretty upscale suburbs while Gwinnett was a sparcely-populated rural area that was considered a distant exurb at best.
(Cobb back in the late 60's-early 70's was suburban-to-exurban like Cherokee County is today, Clayton was suburban like Henry County is today and DeKalb was the super-suburb that Gwinnett is today)
ACC-SEC Booster
7:34 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
7:02 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
"Another argument I never understood. If MARTA is to receive no public funding, then why should it be controlled by the state legislature (which has a reputation too, of not caring much about Metro Atlanta's needs)?"
MARTA does receive public funding in the form of revenues from a 1% sales tax that is levied in Fulton and DeKalb counties, MARTA just does not receive any revenues from any taxes that are levied by the state.
The 50-50 restrictions on MARTA's sales tax revenue was put in place by the state legislature because it was the state legislature that had to put together the legislation to clear the way for the MARTA referendum to be voted on by Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Cobb and Gwinnett taxpayers back in the late 1960's as MARTA was originally planned to be a five-county transit agency with rail lines extending into all five of the aforementioned counties were voters in all five counties to approve the 1% tax-funded plan, which they did not in Clayton, Cobb and Gwinnett counties.
It is because the original plan for MARTA bus and rail crossed county lines from the City of Atlanta and Fulton into four neighboring counties that each would need to pay a 1% sales tax into the system and because MARTA buses use state-maintained routes and MARTA rail lines utilize state-owned railroad right-of-way that MARTA's finances are controlled by the state legislature, despite no state funding.
ACC-SEC Booster
7:54 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
6:40 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
"I guess I just don't get it; it would seem the overwhelming majority of people here have a reduced quality of life due to traffic, yet no one wants to pay for a solution (and guess what, a solution will not magically appear without $). Whether it's through taxes, tolls, "fees", whatever you want to call it, it will need to be paid for."
Tolls are a really big political loser around these parts, too, as it is the state's broken promise nearly 25 years ago to discontinue the tolls on Georgia 400 once the bonds to construct the road were paid off in 2011, along with a continuing backlash against the I-85 HOT lanes, a tax-revolt in Cobb and Cherokee counties, rampant corruption down at the State Capitol, rampant corruption and shady land deal-scandals in Gwinnett County (the state's second-largest and arguably most politically-powerful county) and a pervasive feeling of alienation by South Metro voters that the list is only for the Northside, that is just one many major reasons that has the proposed T-SPLOST in trouble with voters.
9:03 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Well, I get that tolls are unpopular, as are taxes, "fees", etc. My point is that people have become spoiled, expecting their problems to be solved but refusing to make any sacrifices or additional effort to make it happen. Believe me, I am not a fan of government, especially in GA where I believe corruption is rampant thanks to the good ol boy network (IMO it's an embarrassment that the people here would elect a congressman who resigned rather than face ethics charges).
But, I don't know that there's an alternative. As I mentioned in another post, these things are inherently govt functions as they benefit society but could never be turned into a profitable business (not if you wanted to keep it affordable for many members of society). Unless you have a non-profit like Habitat for Humanity building roads and transit with an army of skilled volunteers (not realistic), then what other option is there?
Dean Sheridan
7:55 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
ACC-SEC Booster
("Fulton, DeKalb, Clayton, Cobb and Gwinnett taxpayers back in the late 1960's as MARTA was originally planned to be a five-county transit agency with rail lines extending into all five of the aforementioned counties were voters in all five counties to approve the 1% tax-funded plan, which they did not in Clayton, Cobb and Gwinnett counties.)
So is is their solution to the NO vote? Why don't they take their own problems on first? Or is it "the mess that MARTA is so........
How could they be so greedy with the project list? Is there no end?
Like I said the disease - t's everywhere.
ACC-SEC Booster
8:13 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
@ RamblinWreckDave
The Atlanta Region has an increasingly severe water supply problem as well that is worsened due to a glaring lack of adequate water infrastructure in the form of man-made lakes and reservoirs for water supply and flood control.
But the concept of building more reservoirs for water is one that also meets much fierce political resistance in these parts, like building and expanding transportation infrastructure to handle more people and traffic as there is a very-strong small-government libertarian streak, in which most Georgians are understandably very suspicious of and resistant to local, regional, state and federal levels of government, that makes government-coordinated initiatives like reservoir construction, regional transportation planning, road construction and, ESPECIALLY, rail transit construction all but impossible to execute.
People in these parts trust government even less than people in other parts of the nation distrust the government and, unfortunately, for good reason.
8:31 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
@ACC-SEC booster
You're 100% right...and this is a sad thing. There are certain services for society that are inherently government functions. There is no business case for an affordable and efficient mass transit system (if there were, market forces would already be running a private sector MARTA). Of even more importance for basic human survival, there is no business case for affordable, safe and sanitary water (if there were, company x would be running its own sewer, reservoir, and water delivery system). Safe, accessible water and efficient transportation are important elements for a metro area, and society to function and thrive, yet people here seem to be willing to let this decay and crumble all because "government is evil". Fine. Let things stagnate and crumble. You think the local economy is bad now? No one will want to start or maintain a business here if water rates skyrocket because we have to look elsewhere for water, due to lack of investment now.
ACC-SEC Booster
9:36 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
8:31 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
"You think the local economy is bad now? No one will want to start or maintain a business here if water rates skyrocket because we have to look elsewhere for water, due to lack of investment now."
The problem is not just lack of investment in water (and transportation) infrastructure right now, the problem is a lack of investment in water (and transportation) infrastructure over the 50 years or so due to the largely unintentional lack of planning and the lack of expectation of Atlanta being a large city in the past.
You take a competing city like Dallas, Texas. Because of an oil and natural gas boom, Dallas foresaw and expected to be a big city in the future and therefore starting planning like it would someday grow to be a very large major-league city immediately at the end of World War II building out a network of over a dozen major locally-owned and controlled man-made lakes and reservoirs for water supply and flood-control, a robust transportation network that includes a brand new international airport (with the largest in land area in the Americas as DFW Airport is move than four times as large as Hartsfield land-wise), six toll roads, several tolled carpool lanes, a light rail system, a couple of commuter rail lines, with more roads and rail transit lines in active development.
ACC-SEC Booster
9:49 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
While Dallas always expected and even knew that it would someday become a very large major-league city and committed the planning and executed the planning for doing so, Atlanta hoped to become a big city, but never necessarily really truly expected to become a big city as infrastructure experts warned area political leaders in a report over 40 years ago in the late 1960's that Atlanta would face increasingly severe water supply problems if the North Georgia population ever grew to between 3-5 million residents if no new reservoirs were never built to supplement and compliment federally-controlled Lakes Allatoona and Lanier.
Fast forward roughly 40 years to present-day Atlanta and that report that was issued by those infrastructure experts was found collecting dust on a shelf in the middle of the most severe drought that the area had ever experienced while Metro Atlanta faced the very real possibly of running out of water while federally-controlled Lakes Allatoona and, especially, Lanier, on whom both Atlanta and much of North Georgia, whose population had grown to over six million residents, remained severely-overdependent upon.
ACC-SEC Booster
10:07 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Many of those same infrastructure experts also warned political leaders around the same time in the mid-late 1960's that Metro Atlanta would experience increasingly severe traffic congestion and gridlock problems if the population of North Georgia grew to between 3-5 million residents, if investing in a robust multimodal transportation network did not become a force of habit.
Well, except for a very few brief and very limited exceptions, neither investing in a robust multimodal transportation network or an adequate water infrastructure became a force of habit in the next four-plus decades after those very-prescient warnings about transportation and water were issued and here we are, over 40 years later, often stuck in ridiculously-long traffic jams and running out-of-water and still investing to anywhere near-adequately invest in our increasingly undersized, overused, overstressed and outdated transportation and water infrastructure.
ACC-SEC Booster
10:18 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
For those who say that voting for the T-SPLOST is a way to recify the glaring lack of investment in our transportation infrastructure over the last 4-5 decades of explosive growth, it's not.
The T-SPLOST is nothing more than a lazy political bone in the form of giveaways of public money to well-connected roadbuilders, land spectulators, real estate developers and ridiculously high-priced consultants, hastily thrown to increasingly anxious voters to get them to shut up and quit pestering state leaders to do something to help get rid of the endless traffic jams that greedly self-centered state politicians could really care less about as long as they keep getting their high-priced lobbyist-funded money and gifts.
The T-SPLOST is one lazy and tasteless bone that the state can have back as it is and should be considered nothing short of a total insult to the Georgians who have to contend with driving on the lousy and gridlocked roads everyday that our political leaders have long-neglected and even, at times, undermined with their repeatedly self-serving actions.
On July 31st vote yes to T-SPLOST and vote YES to even more DECEPTION, WASTE, FRAUD, CORRUPTION, ABUSE and INCOMPETENCE.
ACC-SEC Booster
8:43 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
"I wonder how successful any of these other metro area transit systems would be if they were hobbled by the ridiculous restrictions the state placed on them? Not really fair to blame MARTA when it's controlled more than any other system."
Well, in response to that question, there are only really four, well, now three, other transit systems in Metro Atlanta.
The other four transit agencies in Metro Atlanta are GRTA Xpress, GCT (Gwinnett County Transit), CCT (Cobb Community Transit) and C-Tran (Clayton County Transit).
GRTA Xpress provides commuter bus service between Downtown Atlanta and the suburbs and exurbs by way of the busy spoke roads and freeways during morning and evening rush hours. GRTA Xpress has been steadily growing in popularity and gaining riders since the service started in 2004, which ridership quickly approaching 10,000 passenger trips each workday and the number of routes growing from two in '04 to nearly 40 today, but GRTA is also quickly running out of funding and will be dependent upon the increasingly unpopular proposed T-SPLOST being approved by voters for the service to keep operating.
9:15 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Well really I meant comparing MARTA to other large metro area mass transit systems, like NYC transit, or DC Metro. The other regional services you mentioned are just bus services really. Actually, I don't get how they're much different than a vanpool service, unless they're cheaper to serve all classes of our society. But that's kind of my point....in order to remain economically accessible, these services need to be affordable which means they would never make it as a business.
ACC-SEC Booster
8:57 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
GCT (Gwinnett County Transit) provides local bus service in Gwinnett County and provides express commuter bus service between Gwinnett County and Downtown Atlanta that is heavily-subsidized with property tax revenues as fares cover very little of the cost of operations and maintenance.
GCT has been experiencing a steady increase in ridership on its increasingly popular express routes, but has been cutting service on its local routes which just never seemed to catch on with riders in automobile-dominated Gwinnett.
CCT (Cobb Community Transit) has experiences heavy ridership on its express routes as a way for commuters to escape having to personally navigate severe rush hour congestion on I-75 North outside of I-285 and has relatively-heavy ridership on a couple of its local routes, but outside of the lower-income riders who depend on the local routes and rush hour commuters who frequent the express routes, the service is not necessarily all that popular with more established voters and taxpayers in a county where small government-minded ultraconservative politics have traditionally dominated as the buses are seen by many higher-income residents as being a conduit for lower-income people to move into the county from Fulton County and the Westside of Atlanta.
9:09 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
@ Dean Sheridan (and all these tea partiers, aka Mike Lowry)
If your problem with T-SPLOST is that the increased operations and maintenance (O&M) funding wasnt identified for the mass transit projects, what about the O&M funding for the road projects you seem to think are the most important? Are you implying that overpasses, bridges, and roads require no maintenance?
Of course they do!
Dean Sheridan
11:31 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
@RamblinWreckDave (and all the bed wetting Liberals like you)
If you really think spending spending 4.5 BILLION; removing about 1% of the traffic is value for the Tax Payer - that speaks volumes about your math skills and ideology. I am stating that fact. Auto O&M although costly is superior to a historically mismanaged MARTA (see the Project manager firings going back 30 years that has showed improvement over the last four years to be fair) and the 489 million dollar current short fall is no way a model a new project. We can and must do better, Are you implying that the numbers I site are wrong. Like I said - I'm from Missouri.
11:57 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
@Dean Sheridan
"Show us that MARTA can at least loose 25 million a year - without making a profit - if you can do that I'm sure we can pass a rail project. Until then, support fixing the traffic problem with a solutions that actually work. The tab, Oh , depending on how you cut it up comes to 4,505,000,000.0 over 10 years (without maintenance) If you use combined ridership that hits a "peak" of 8% (at about 5% now) of the 9.5 million population( excessively large sample) , we would be paying about how much per each regular Ryder to build the thing?"
Wow...I don't even know where to start. They must not teach math, English, or reasoning in Missouri or the homeschooling you received (and yes, I get your show-me reference, very clever). I can't understand anything in your post. You want some one to show you how MARTA can lose money without making a profit (isn't that the definition of not making a profit?) Your estimates that Atlanta's population will nearly double in 10 years comes from where? What do you think will happen to the congestion on our roads if in fact the metro population does double? Are you offering any ideas for your "solutions that actually work"?
You want to see numbers, look here:
Most of the T-SPLOST funds are road projects; about $1.4B is MARTA related, not $4.5B as you state
ACC-SEC Booster
9:15 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
C-Tran in Clayton County discontinued operations in early 2010 after the Clayton County government refused to further fund or operate their local bus service and insisted that the state takeover funding and operating the buses did not want to be responsible for.
Funding a bus service in C-Tran that mostly served low-income bus riders was not the biggest priority with higher-income middle-class taxpayers who view the growing number of poorer low-income residents as the bane of increasingly predominantly-black Clayton County's numerous ills.
9:19 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Good point....but I wonder if traffic has subsequently gotten worse in Clayton county, or if unemployment has rose for those lower income folks who now have no way to get to work, possibly leading to quality of life issues such as increased loitering, or worse, crime. These are issues which would affect people of all economic backgrounds.
BTW, I am guessing you are anti-TSPLOST (and I am for it). But thanks for keeping the discussion factual, civil, logical, and not sensational :)
ACC-SEC Booster
11:04 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
You are correct as am not anti-TSPLOST as much as I am voting against the T-SPLOST because of some disturbing things that I am aware of regarding the allocation of the revenues that will result from the tax, knowing the tendecies of some of the people that are behind the bill, the utter laziness of the legislation (here we are in Metro Atlanta with what is probably close to $60 billion in long-neglected total multimodal transportation needs and the state legislature hastily slaps together a poorly thought-out list of and process of $6-8 billion in political giveaways in a lazy and half-hearted attempt to get people to shut-up and leave them alone so that they so go back to being uninterrupted while chasing lobbyist-funded giveaways in the form of money, food, liquor, women and other ridiculously high-priced gifts).
I am also well-aware and pragmatic enough to know that there is no way that we'll ever be able to increase taxes (sales taxes, gas taxes, property taxes, etc) high enough to pay for all of our numerous infrastructure needs, especially in a fervently anti-tax and anti-government climate.
The only way that we will likely be able to ever fund all of our road and transit needs is to get away from using taxes, which is an increasingly-limited revenue to attempt to depend on to fund transportation needs and instead turn to distance-based user fees so that roads and transit lines can have their self-funding and self-financing revenue streams.
11:20 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Again some excellent points. But what's the alternative? Do you really have any faith that our elected state officials will become competent and honest? Do you really have any faith that any politician would propose privatizing all roads and incorporating distance based fees? Or that MARTA might incorporate a distance based fare structure? I don't have any faith in these things happening. Special interests, lobbyists, corruption in GA, and polarized and easily manipulated voters here will prevent these things from happening I'm afraid.
The neglect of the past is a bad thing, and we would be foolish to forget the history here...but I also think we have to look forward. If T-SPLOST fails, will a better alternative be presented, or will the politicians simply give up? This is the key question IMO. No bill will be perfect...but if it's a step in the right direction, perhaps it's better than taking no action at all (which my understanding is that if it fails, it will be at least 2 more years before another one can be voted on). Is the fallout of another 2 years of waiting going to be worth what potentially may be a little improved bill 2 yrs from now?
Dean Sheridan
11:54 pm on Thursday, June 14, 2012
Another thing as I read the current dialogue with all these valid concerns. Here's another. Why is Fulton & Dekalb even pushing this on others? Seems to me Atlanta has a water & sewer problem that Mayor after Mayor Ignores. The infrastructure is so bad, you can't even flush the toilets half the time & water mains break at a high rate everywhere. Maybe you could T-SPLOST there, instead; when this albatross gets shot down. I guess everyone has decided that reducing traffic by 1% and providing a ride for the needy are more important than water & sewer. Ever consider free enterprise with a little public assistance for the needed traffic routs and needy? No we couldn't do that; it would put Government run money pits out of business. Now that's the ticket. Atlanta's bridge - to the TSPLOST deficit and unfunded mandates.
Mike Lowry
9:51 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
"Why is Fulton & Dekalb even pushing this on others?"
The simple answer is to buy votes with our dollars.
Dean Sheridan
11:06 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
@Mike Lowry
Well that's just Ducky.
In a meeting this morning it was mentioned that the original MARTA bill and subsequent "Original deal" way back when was to be for six years only (6) and had something to do with fifteen cents (.15) of every dollar or something like that.
Mike, can you validate this or clear this up?
Dean Sheridan
11:20 am on Friday, June 15, 2012
"Your estimates that Atlanta's population will nearly double in 10 years comes from where?"
I am illustrating how ridiculous the numbers are if one where to use the entire Metro and surrounding Counties including them as possible riders. If you use the Fulton & DeKalb numbers you can more than tipple the price per user. Since my math skill set is so bad - lets use yours.
9:18 am on Sunday, June 17, 2012
Has anyone considered a road proposal based on the car of the future? In 10 years our car ride will be autonomous and hopefully accident and traffic congestion free when we reduce the human factor. We need to save/spend money to prepare for meeting the needs of new technology, not more of what we see is clearly not working.
janet h russell
11:34 am on Sunday, June 17, 2012
Mr. Lowry,
In response to your question "why would anyone live in Stone Mountain and work in Roswell?" makes me ask the same question of you. Why would anyone live in Roswell and work downtown (even if only a few days a week)? Ever heard of a temp job? That is how some people are working these days. They can't just pick up and move near the job and perhaps away from family and friends. No , they endure the commute, so they can work. You remember that old "self reliance" commandment , dont you? And Iheard you make a brief statement on NPR this morning . You are a busy man. How do you find the time to drive to all of thes anti T splost meetings? And who is paying you to do it?
Just wondering?
Bryan Farley
2:17 pm on Thursday, June 21, 2012
The bottom line is we need to vote for this. We can't do nothing and there is not "Plan B." Transit is not fully paid for and neither are roads; end of that argument. MARTA doesn't need to raise fares so high where people don't want to ride but getting rid of the gas tax and charging to ride on major roads; sounds like TOLL ROADS and more HOT lanes that aren't working either.
Lets also get rid of this mis-managed talk. Dr. Beverly Scott has done an amazing job with limited resourses to make MARTA one of the top run transit agencies in the nation. I would like for you to go home and have $1000 in bills and you have $1000 cash but some other person tells you that you can only spend $500. You can keep the other $500 but can't spend it on bills. MARTA deal with that everyday.
Finally, it's time for the other big three to get over the whole "MARTA brings crime" because there is plenty of crime without MARTA. Get over the not being dense issue because the people are there. Does Gwinnet or Cobb or Clayton need 100 bus routes and 38 stations... no! Do these areas need 5-7 commuter style stations with 10 to 15 local routes and maybe bus rapid transit on other major corridors to bring people to the rail stations... yes! You mean to tell me that in a county with 800,000 people there wouldn't be 60 to 80,000 riding trains and buses coming into the city or locally? People easily can drive to stations just like the do now! Look at Doraville's station lot for example.
Mike Lowry
4:33 pm on Thursday, June 21, 2012
You must be kidding! Beverly Scott couldn't last 3 months in a real business. MARTA is one of the worst governmental organizations in the US, and has been for the entire 30 years of its existence.
We are not "doing nothing" now, and won't be in the future, whether the TSPLOST is voted down or not. The "no Plan B" is the silliest statement ever made about a tax increase.
5:25 pm on Thursday, June 21, 2012
Where is this glorious "Plan B" that you and your tea party buddies keep talking about? You've seen the project list in this T-SPLOST, where is your similarly detailed alternate? I suspect the answer is you don't have one, because all you've said on these blogs is that "it's coming". That's not a good enough answer; the transportation in this region has been underplanned and underinvested in for years. While not perfect, T-SPLOST has many good elements which will benefit us AS A REGION. Too often people are narrow minded and only thinking about their specific situation, not thinking that everything is interconnected, and congestion in 1 area can lead to congestion throughout the area.
As for your constant criticism of MARTA, and now personal criticism of Dr. Scott, what specifically are you talking about? Back your statements up with some numbers, otherwise this is just hateful rhetoric. Here's a statistic for you; MARTA is has an over 91% on-schedule record. Doesnt sound too shabby for me, especially considering MARTA is the only major transit system in the country that receives zero state funding for operations, yet is told how much of their revenues they can put towards operations. For that to be the case and still maintain reliable, 91% on time service seems like pretty good mgt to me.


text:
craftycanuck wrote:.....I had never used a chart before so that was a bit of a challenge. I have had to frog out quite a few squares because I didn't keep close enough count. But I am learning
Congratulations on learning to read the chart!
Moderator: Kaleigh
craftycanuck wrote:.....I had never used a chart before so that was a bit of a challenge. I have had to frog out quite a few squares because I didn't keep close enough count. But I am learning
tjwjlove wrote::knit: I used the clues from the CAL 2012. I used clue #1 and clue #3 using Bernat Baby Soft Yarns. With the 6 different clues it gives us lots of options.
04-27-12_074 by tjnllike, on Flickr
karenarp wrote:I made a few baby blankets along the way. I find them a good size for practising a new stitch. Like the basket stitch I recently discovered in crochet! OMG is that ever easy to work! I used to think it was a tough stitch, all those back and front posts, but thanks to the CAL I now fear new stitches a bit less!
I don't have a photo of that one but I do have these other one I just whipped together one week. I really wanted to do a ripple design but couldn't find what I was looking for, so I made this up. Not original at all mind you but it allowed me to get over my ripple phase for a bit - now I am onto a wave stage! My daughter took this blanket to give to a co-worker who was having a baby.
I did make this after my basket weave one, so it is all done in front loops - I was on a kick!
craftycanuck wrote:I finished my blanket. Here is a picture. I am pleased with the finally project. Now I have to wait patiently for my friend's son to be born. Whatever shall I do?!? Oh that is right, I have started work on another blanket for a baby girl due in Sept but might be overly eager to come
craftycanuck wrote:Thanks!
Here is my current project. It is working up nicely
I think the name of the colour I am using is Punch Fun.
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On WWW since Sept, 1994
I've had to temporarily give up answering science questions. Too many at once, I'm backed up by weeks! (I read it all immediately, just cannot answer.) Try Science Questions instead. Or see some of my Answers - Bill Beaty |
bill beatty amascicom wwwamascicom "Free website" services: Free websites APTO Freewebs Homestead Yola Tripod (50 meg, cgi) Do you lack WWW access? Try web-to-email gateways! some info is at: http://www.bellanet.org/email.html http://www.noodlebug.demon.co.uk/nuggets/inetmail.htmOLD LINKS GONE BAD? Try http://archive.org, "The Wayback Machine" It offers billions of old websites and even some of the graphics. But it's not searchable. You have to know the URL of the old site. Hint: add the following to the front of any URL you want to find...
http://amasci.com in Seattle, Washington, USA Created and maintained by Bill Beaty. . Best if viewed with ANY Browser. |


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Our African American collection features jigsaw puzzles from well-know artists Annie Lee and Keith Mallett as well Tinga Tinga art from Africa and art inspired by the black community. Enjoy browsing this great selection.
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Wooliz 1.0
Wooliz 1.0 Full Download Summary
File size: 1.00 MB
Platform: Win2000, Win7 x32, Win98, WinVista, WinXP
License: Freeware
Price: FREE
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Released: 2011-12-29
Publisher: ePlaybus.com
Publisher URL: http://www.eplaybus.com
Wooliz 1.0 Full Description
Wooliz is an interesting puzzle game for free. Save the little Wooliz by matching 3 of the same colour! Unlock crazy bonuses and play for a high score! Aim and shoot your cannon with the mouse. Hit them in such a way that three of them with the same color will touch each other. Hope you have fun!
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Bird Cage Wall Sticker
We continually seek new products that are superior, thoughtful in design, modern, urban and sophisticated. Aesthetic traditions of Danish design. Choose from our many WallSticker designs to make your own interior fashion statement. All smooth and even surfaces are suitable for WallStickers. Choose your favorite design and make it stick. Material: Vinyl. Size: 50cm x 73cm (Large).


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Is custom font solutions advisable to use ?
If i use sIFR , FLIR or same type of solutions on my sites for a main content text for all pages which comes in a <p> text here </P>. is it advisable to use those custom fonts solutions for a whole site's paragraph. actually i want to use a font that not comes in default Windows , MAC installation.I wouldn't do it. I definitely wouldn't recommend it with the image-replacement techniques like flir or cufon because you lose the ability to select and interact with that text - and then I wouldn't do it with sifr because it would REALLY slow things down.
Also, if you really think about it - there's not a great reason to use crazy fonts in the body text - If you're using something really stylistic, you're going to reduce legibility - and if you just want to use univers as opposed to helvetica, it's more trouble than it's worth to be absolutely sure that your font will render on all platforms - you and your designer friends are the only ones who will notice.
A good solution is just to take your time and create a great stack - there's no reason to not use Univers, or Hoefler text, or whatever font on the web - just as long as you understand that it will not be available to many users - so you make a good stack that covers everybody.
Take a look at this article on sitepoint: http://www.sitepoint.com/article/eight- ... nt-stacks/
I really like using variations of their helvetica/arial stack.


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so i know this question has been asked but i dident like most of the answers so i want to ask again : whats a good moveset for a walrein ?
so im not sure if its going to be a special tank but probeblly will since it has high HP and special attack so here is what i thought :
name : sub-zero (walrein)
nature: calm (+special defence, -attack)
abilety: not sure i need recommendes
ice beam- STAB powerfull and accurate
surf-STAB powerfull and accurate
signal beam-extra coverge and verity
hail/toxic/aqua ring-all are fitting to the target of the tank im just not sure what to pick
If you want a good staller Go with this set
Walrein @ Leftlovers
EVS : Def / Sp Def
The plan is simple, stall your foe to death with this, i recommend that you do this : Hail - Protect - Aqua Ring - Protect - Toxic - Protect and then whatever you want, if you can succesfulyl do this, you can get 3 recoveries (Ice body, leftlovers and aqua ring) and your foe will take the damage from toxic and hail, well i hope i helped :b
Mines Is A Boss Tank It OHKO Best Plan Ever
Ability: Ice Body
EV: Sassy 252 SpDef, 252 Def, 4 Hp
Moves: -Rest -Sleep Talk -Fissure(Egg Move) -Sheer Cold(Learned Level 65 Walrein)
Okay The Plan Is If You Have A Abomasnow It Will Have The Ability Snow Warning So Always Use Abomasnow First. Then If It Dies Switch Out To Walrein And Use Rest. Because Of It Speed Walrein Will Get Hurt And Rest At Same Time. Then You Use Sleep Talk And It Will %100 Be On Fissure, Sheer Cold And Or Rest. But Sheer Cold And Fissure Would Never Miss. And Ice Body Heals It From The Hail And LeftOvers Also So Walrein Is A Good Tanker. And OHKO
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Mark Podolski: Is Dan Gilbert ready to swallow his pride?
Depending on who you talk to, the momentum is building, to which I find fascinating.
That momentum is Cavaliers fans welcoming the idea of LeBron James one day possibly returning to the team. It's a pipe dream for sure, but anything is possible.
Time does heal most wounds, and it appears "The Decision" by James, when he announced on ESPN he was signing with the Heat as a free agent, apparently doesn't hurt as much as it once did.
There's no other explanation as to why many among a rabid fanbase just a few years ago despised James, and now would welcome him back.
There's no doubt Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is following this situation closely. Without the fans behind a James' return, it's a no-go, but there's more to this than meets the eye.
No matter how loud the cry is from the fans for James' return, it's all on Gilbert, and there's no hiding his comments after "The Decision."
A reminder of what Gilbert wrote:
n "The Decision" was "narcissistic" and a "cowardly betrayal."
n James showed a "shameful display of selfishness" and a "shocking act of disloyalty."
n And finally, Gilbert summed up James' decision as a "heartless and callous action." Continued...
Gilbert's letter will always follow him as Cavaliers owner. If he does welcome James back one day, he'll have to swallow his pride big time, and, in process, lose some respect from many in these parts, including this corner.
A few other things that have caught my attention lately:
n The News-Herald sports department wants your favorite Indians memory for an upcoming Indians special section. Whether it's your favorite player, team or moment, we want to hear from you and why. Email your favorites to email@example.com or mail to The N-H sports department to 7085 Mentor Ave., Willoughby OH 44094.
n Mark April 3 on your calendar for the first News-Herald Captains Chat at Classic Park from 6 to 8 p.m. The Q&A event, emceed by Captains play-by-play announcer Craig Dees, is free to the public. It will feature team officials, plus Manager Scott Tucker and select players, and The News-Herald's David S. Glasier and Jim Ingraham. There will be give-aways during the event and discounted ballpark food. Weather permitting, the Captains will have their final workout on the field during the event. Lake County's season opener is the following day on April 4. Look for an official announcement and more details later in the week.
n The best high school sporting event in Ohio is the state wrestling tournament at Ohio State's Value City Arena. The action is non-stop, the wrestling is elite and it's the best bang for your buck. If you can only make one day of the three-day event, it should be Saturday for the finals. You won't be disappointed.
n Staff writer Cory Schuett has a state tournament feature this week on a trio of area wrestlers — Perry's Billy Miller, Riverside's Evan Rosborough and Lake Catholic's Anthony Tutolo — who hare eyeing possible state title this weeks.
n There's plenty of intrigue as the boys basketball postseason begins this week. Can Mentor turn it around after two late-season losses? Is VASJ the team to beat in the state in Division IV? Can Richmond Heights, a team not many are talking about now, take out the Vikings in an expected D-IV district final at Garfield Heights? Who's this season's Lake Catholic, a team that rises up without much fanfare and makes it to Columbus? Can't wait to watch it unfold.
n Almost finished with Indians manager Terry Francona's book about his time managing the Red Sox. It's a must-read.
n Congrats to the Fairport boys bowling team on qualifying for the state tournament this week in Columbus. Check Tuesday's editions for Staff Writer John Kampf's story on Coach Jerry Rich and his team.
n Podcast fans should give a listen to ESPN's Bill Simmons' BS Report episode from last week with ex-Cavaliers coach Bill Fitch, who's about to turn 81. Fitch also coached the Celtics in the 80s, but part of the conversation is about when Fitch coached the "Miracle of Richfield" Cavaliers team in 1976. Continued...
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