Wow, we sure have come along way in two weeks!

Two weeks ago, Georgia’s House transportation chair stated that he had “not been inundated” with calls from voters to get a transportation bill passed.

But then forces were rallied, Facebook pages were created, MARTA vandalized their own buses, and Atlanta business leaders were rounded up and sent to the State Capitol to plead their case.

And last night, after three legislative 40 day “years” of trying, both houses of the Georgia legislature finally passed a bill.  That bill would divide the state into 12 regions, where a “roundtable” of local, elected officials would be tasked with coming up with a list of transportation projects, which would then go before the region’s voters, who would decide whether the proposed list was worth an additional 1-cent sales tax.

Oh, and MARTA would get a three-year reprieve from being forced to use only 50% of its revenue on its operating budget.  No one yet knows what this means for all those bus routes that are currently slated to be cut, but I’m sure MARTA will let us know in due course.

Sonny still has to sign it, but his peeps sound upbeat about it.

A good day for Georgia!  The legislature is letting us do something!  Hooray!