What Will Georgia Do With Transit Money?
February 17, 2009 | 10:21 amAs the Federal stimulus package passed both houses of Congress last week, transit junkies seemed a little bipolar as they both whimpered and cheered.
They whimpered because mass transit funding ended up receiving only 1/3 of its original appropriation ($8.4 billion from $24 billion). But then they waved those wet hankies high when they realized that in the final moments of wheeling and dealing, high-speed rail’s money quadrupled to $8 billion.
What will be done with the high-speed rail cash is still definitely yet-to-be-determined. All that we really know is that $8 billion doesn’t get you far when building new track for 100+ mph trains (the recently voter approved L.A. to SF high-speed route will cost upwards of $40 billion). However, retrofitting existing freight tracks between Charlotte and Macon (with a stop in ATL) seems to be substantially cheaper – only $2.5 billion! And seriously, what’s a couple billion between friends?
But what I’m curious about this morning is what will our favorite Georgia politicians do with the $168 million in mass transit grants it will receive from the Fed? The city of Atlanta has asked for $121 million to build two street car lines and $18 million for light rail along the Beltline Trail, while Athens, Macon and Hinesburg all want a smaller piece so they can pimp their bus services.
How will this money be distributed? Let’s ask the GDOT!
Oh wait…didn’t I read something recently about Sonny & friends looking to take authority away from our lovably dysfunctional GDOT? I wonder if that has anything to do the more than $1 billion the state will soon receive in infrastructure money. Maybe if we can distract the rest of the state with visions of gold-plated bridges, Atlanta can claim most of that delicious transit money!
That is unless some smaller, and less annoyingly liberal town or city asks for it. Then suddenly its all “Light-Rail Comes to LaGrange!”
But what I’m curious about this morning is what will our favorite Georgia politicians do with the $168 million in mass transit grants it will receive from the Fed? The city of Atlanta has asked for $121 million to build two street car lines and $18 million for light rail along the Beltline Trail, while Athens, Macon and Hinesburg all want a smaller piece so they can pimp their bus services.
Well, don’t forget MARTA is $60 million in the hole. I would think before any new projects, this would need to be covered first, unfortunately.
Maybe they’ll just let it rot along with the federal dollars that’ve been earmarked for the Lovejoy commuter rail.
Thanks Decaturguy, you’re obviously correct…forgot to include a little blurb on MARTA. Though I wasn’t sure whether these mass transit grants could be used to cover expenses.
Maybe Lain, maybe. It doesn’t seem like anyone has a clear idea about whether this new state transportation entity would be any better than the old GDOT. While many would usually see something like this as a power grab by the governor, in this case the GDOT is such a joke, people are willing to give anything a chance.
The grants are most likely for capital projects, not for operating expenses.
Ya’ll are probably right, but I’d expect to see some money shifted around (maybe legislators would be more willing to allow MARTA to use more of its sales tax revenue to cover operating expenses) now that they’re getting this cash from the Feds.