Thursday, April 9, 2009
News Transit: Other cities build while Atlanta rots
Posted by Andisheh Nouraee on Thu, Apr 9, 2009 at 2:37 PM
The following recent headlines were selected by me to make you angry.
Denver Post: Pace to pick up on West light-rail line
ProgressiveRailroading.com: WMATA outlines plans for $202 million in stimulus funds
San Francisco Business Times: California bullet train gets $29M loan
Daily Journal of Commerce: MAX light rail boosted by bond sale
Arizona Republic: New light-rail plans call for more track and expansion into Mesa
Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio passenger rail chugs ahead
Even during the nation's current economic disaster, other metro areas are growing and improving their mass transit networks.
Meanwhile Atlanta's economy is held hostage by the city-hatin', parochial idiots who run the state government.
Comments (8)
Showing 1-8 of 8
a few years ago i attended a public transportation forum. DOT, Marta, Georgia Tech, "The Beltline Guy" were all in attendance. the DOT gets up and says, "we are all drove here, that's just a fact. we are drivers." i'm thinking, "yes, we are all drivers, we don't have a choice. we are drivers because you suck at your job". then he says something like "we have four million people now; no one could have foreseen that..." yeah, if you lived in a cave, or somehow otherwise managed to avoid a newspaper or newscast for 25 years (or however long metro atlanta has had the fastest growing counties in the country). if we want to live in a world class city I am afraid we have one option...move.
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Rather than get angry, I've decided to view this as a hopeful sign. So many other positive examples of transit could be inspiring for Atlantans. Surely, some of this has to finally seep through to our government? Also, your link to the MAX article actually goes to the California Bullet train story. I think this is the URL you intended: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&ct2=us%2F0_0_s_0_0_t&usg=AFQjCNFTCzzLbD5t9Noqj5WTHpCZKDleVg&sig2=KCvwofKgL_GNb7sqWUx2BA&cid=1328749691&ei=CkfeSenIFJDfmQe33qI8&rt=SEARCH&vm=STANDARD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.djcoregon.com%2FarticleDetail.htm%2F2009%2F04%2F07%2FMAX-light-rail-boosted-by-bond-sale-TriMet-is-planning-to-open-PortlandMilwaukie-transportation-rout
Brent -- thanks for catching my bad link. I guess I'm just so blinded by rage that I couldn't even copy-and-paste correctly.
Oops, that should be: http://www.djcoregon.com/articleDetail.htm/2009/04/07/MAX-light-rail-boosted-by-bond-sale-TriMet-is-planning-to-open-PortlandMilwaukie-transportation-rout
There are other things Atlanta should claim as positive starting points-- namely, that MARTA rail is nearly 40 miles of exclusive track (meaning it doesn't have to stop for street traffic), can carry a lot more riders than it currently does, and serves all three of the city's major employment centers as well as the airport. What other US city can claim to offer a 20-minute trip from downtown to airport security check for under $2? No one is building rail systems like MARTA from scratch these days-- we have looked to less expensive technologies that don't quite fit the same profile. Light rail (what's being built in Denver, Portland and Phoenix) is good for serving neighborhoods but is usually sharing streets with car traffic and therefore slower. It also uses smaller trains and can't carry as many people at a time. Commuter/passenger rail (the Cincinnati link above) is fast and covers greater distances, but doesn't stop as often and doesn't usually have service throughout the day. MARTA is in a good position to evolve into an excellent system-- it can and add higher-capacity service that still fits within neighborhoods (through streetcars or light rail, as Beltline transit is envisioned to be) and can use expanded bus service to connect rail stations to neighborhoods not immediately served by them. But to do this it just needs better flexibility in setting its budget, something that the Legislature seems determined not to give it.
You might add Savannah, GA to that list. They just began streetcar service a few months ago on River Street.
JFM- I'm not sure if you include in your list of three (I suspect you meant Downtown, Midtown and Buckhead), but don't forget Perimeter. Though it's outside Atlanta's city limits, it's actually Metro ATL's biggest office submarket. It, too, is served by MARTA rail.
Just look on the bright side of things. The republicans' inaction has unwittingly laid the ground work for denying their party the two highest constitutional jobs in the state next election. Every Georgia voter gets a crack at picking these jobs. Surely there are enough enlightened metro Atlanta voters who ride MARTA who could make a difference if they make up their minds to finally vote in their best interests.
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