atlanta traffic Archives

Is Atlanta Ready (or Willing) For Transit?

March 21, 2014 by Thom Abbott

An informative post, but some what of an editorial one as well!

Atlanta is on the rise again! Cranes are coming out of the ground in Midtown and Buckhead as new apartment towers start to take shape. And yes, even the suburbs are on fire again as homes are being built and excess lot inventory is dropping to even critical levels in some areas!

But, is Atlanta Ready (or Willing) to embrace transit as a way to get to and from work? The first portion of an Atlanta Streetcar will open later this year in Downtown, between the Centennial Olympic Park and the Auburn District. Hopefully more to come in the future? Expansion of the MARTA rail line is doubtful due to the cost. So that leave bust transit, probably the most cost effective. So, will Atlanta embrace it…and will we need or use a Downtown Multi-Modal Transit Terminal like this?

Stories about the 119-acre development in the heart of Downtown Atlanta (can you wrap your head around the fact that a major metropolitan area HAS 119 acres in its DOWNTOWN to develop in the first place?) have appeared in both the Atlanta Business Chronicle and Curbed. com. It seems the folks at Curbed.com got access to a video that has since disappeared from any and all of the links referenced in each story. But you can see some more of the plans in the Curbed.com article here.

What do you think? Do you see Atlantan’s headed to Downtown from the burbs on buses?

5 Cities Buy More Than Half of All Electric Vehicles in U.S. | Autopia | Wired.com

March 12, 2014 by Thom Abbott

See on Scoop.it – Midtown Atlanta Conversations and Condos

It’s a stat that should surprise absolutely no one. More than half of all electric vehicles in the U.S. are silently running around five major cities.

Thom Abbott‘s insight:

An exact reason why recent development presented to the Midtown Alliance were told “You need to do more that put in the infrastructure for charging stations…you need to install charging stations.”

See on www.wired.com

Atlanta-Area Residents to Vote on Tax for Transportation

July 17, 2012 by Thom Abbott

See on Scoop.it – Midtown Atlanta Conversations and Condos

ATLANTA — Commuters battling traffic in the Bay Area or New York might protest, but Atlanta-area traffic seems to be uniquely awful.
and headlines.

For more than a decade, Atlanta has been among the fastest-growing regions in the country, but the road and rail system in a state that ranks 49th in per capita transportation spending just could not keep up.

Hourlong commutes are common, and more than 80 percent of commuters drive alone. Only 5 percent make use of the region’s limited train and bus systems, according to research by the Brookings Institution.

This month, Atlanta-area voters are being asked to approve an ambitious fix that would raise $8.5 billion by adding a penny to the sales tax for 10 years.

The proposal, which bundles 157 projects in 10 counties, is part of a July 31 referendum that will allow voters across the state to decide whether they want a new tax for transportation specific to their region. Voters in the Savannah area, for example, will decide on a $1.6 billion regional package of road and transit improvements, of which $229 million would be spent in Savannah.
See on www.nytimes.com

To sprawl or not to sprawl? A Story about the Transportation Tax Vote

May 17, 2012 by Thom Abbott

See on Scoop.it – Other Atlanta News Events

In this article by Thomas Wheatley from Creative Loafing, he brings up some very, very interesting points. This transportation tax will be voted on in July, and when you look at the overall measure and how much money is still being pumped into road construction…..”For five years I’ve been practically begging to pay an extra tax to build sorely needed transit in metro Atlanta. Now that it’s a possibility, I wonder if the measure we’re being asked to consider this summer is really such a good idea.”
See on clatl.com

MARTA Takes Riders For a Ride…Literally!

September 30, 2011 by Thom Abbott

MARTA Fare Increase October 1, 2011 Come Sunday, MARTA (Metro Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) is taking you for more than your normal ride from home to work or perhaps the Atlanta Airport. It’s 25% fare increase to $2.50 ONE WAY goes into effect on Sunday. But get this, monthly pass riders get hit with a whopping 40% increase, going from $68 per month to $95 per month. OUCH! Fares have risen 43 percent and 81 percent since 2009 which is when MARTA had their first fare increase in 8 years.

The fare is now on par with New York and Washington, D.C. But sadly the service is anything like those cities. First off, you can go pretty much anywhere in those cities via transit, and they run 24 hours a day. MARTA does neither of these.

An article that appeared in the AJC says many people will now rethink riding transit and go back to their cars. Keep in mind, parking rates in Atlanta are still very reasonable, compared to cities like NYC and DC. A Georgia State student commented they could be a monthly parking pass for $45. Heck, who wouldn’t drive their own car!

For me personally, I own a home close to the Doraville Transit station. If I choose to ride MARTA to an event downtown, it costs me $15 round trip for 3 of us. I can search and find parking for that amount, the gas cost is minimal, and I’ve got the freedom to get home when I want.

All this also comes at a time when the Metro Atlanta area is getting ready to consider adding a 1% sales tax to fund some $6 Billion in transportation projects over the next 10 years. Voters will vote on the list of projects next summer. The actual list of what will be voted on is to be set later this month by a roundtable of stakeholders from the region. However, the in fighting has already begun. The suburbs don’t want any part of what Intown Atlanta wants or needs, and vice versa.

It will be an interesting winter as this is hashed out via public relations campaigns to convince voters to approve the measure. If it fails…..who knows what commuting in Atlanta will be like 10 years from now.

Atlanta Regional Transportation Project List Selected

August 16, 2011 by Thom Abbott

Light Rail Train I’ve been watching this process with great interest. The Atlanta Regional Transporation Project List appeared on the front page of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The paper featured a week long series about the region and our dire need for a comprehensive transportation plan for the Metro Atlanta area. The city is far behind cities like Denver, Houston and Charlotte and could “choke” on its own growth if solutions are not found for the growing traffic problems we face.

The group consists of five mayors and county commissioners from across the Atlanta region, and agreed to a history making list of $6.14 billion list of of transportation projects. These projects would be paid for by a new 1 percent sales tax which voters will vote on next year.

The Atlanta Regional Transportation List:

Atlanta- Beltline, likely streetcars, consisting of several sections $602 million

Cherokee- Widening GA 140 (Hickory Flat Highway) $190 million
Clayton County- Turning Tara Boulevard into a “super arterial,” $130 million
Cobb County- Atlanta (Midtown) to Cumberland Mall area, possible light rail, $856.5 million
DeKalb County- Clifton Corridor MARTA route to Emory University, $700 million
Douglas County- Widening Lee Road/South Sweetwater Road from I-20 West to U.S. 78, $18.9 million
Fayette County- Widening GA 85 from Bernhard Road to Grady Avenue, $24million
Fulton County- Improvements for the interchange of I-285 at GA 400, $450 million
Gwinnett County- Sugarloaf Parkway Extension from GA 316 to GA 20 (Buford Drive) $296 million
Henry County – Widening North McDonough Road from Bill Gardner Parkway to Racetrack Road, $48 million
Rockdale County- Widening and improvements for Sigman Road from Lester Road to Dogwood Connector, $30 million

The challenge here lies in getting the REGION to understand we need to make improvements, and that this list is trying to “spread the wealth” around so that projects are not focused in any one specific part of the Metro Atlanta area. Most people can read this list and know what project might impact their commute the most, yet other people will have no earthly idea where Sigman Road or Tara Blvd may be.

Now will come the marketing and sales part to get the voters to understand the impact of approving, or more importantly, NOT approving these projects and the sales tax that will fund them.

2012 is going to be a very important year all the way around.

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