Atlanta Streetcar Won’t Fulfill Promises It Never Made
Decatur Metro | November 8, 2010So by now, you’ve probably seen the AJC’s Sunday front page story, “Pricey streetcar won’t ease traffic“. Sorry for my slightly delayed reaction to this. I needed to do a few mental calisthenics before tackling this word-count monster.
So, it looks like the title of this article is based on the Atlanta Regional Commission’s ranking of area transportation projects relieving traffic congestion. According to the AJC, the streetcar came in “dead-last” (no editorializing there!) in this category. What ranked higher? Well, much more expensive and pipe-dreamy projects like a #3 billion light-rail line from Kennesaw to Decatur (!) and a Ponce de Leon streetcar, which came in at $133 million.
But before we get into the man/woman-on-the-street banter, which gives real sass to the article (ex. “I think it’ll be great, It’s hard to get people to come back to Auburn.” / “…foolishness…It’s not going to spur development, it’s not going to spur anything,”), I’m still left wondering why we’re suddenly holding the streetcar to promises of immediate traffic congestion relief when I’ve never heard any such argument given.
Where was it ever stated that easing congestion required a one-pronged solution and should be done at any cost?
From what I’ve gathered, the streetcar is about encouraging urban development along the Auburn/Edgewood corridor and giving residents new options for living in our city. It never occurred to me that a 2-mile streetcar line was supposed to be taking on “the region’s No. 1 transportation problem”.
So, is the AJC creating a false dichotomy?
You tell me. Here’s their lead-in…
The city’s application for a federal grant to help pay for the streetcar mentions the word “traffic” three times in 28 pages, and one of those references concerns how to slow traffic along the corridor the streetcar will travel — 2.6 miles, from Centennial Olympic Park to the King Center.
That’s because the streetcar is not intended to address traffic, its proponents say, but to act as a blueprint for a new kind of city. It will attract life and people and investment all along the streetcar line, they say, and could be the beginning of a larger system that would transform Atlanta and how Atlantans move.
No, that’s not just what proponents say, it’s what the dang application says! In fact, one of the other two references to “traffic” essentially states just that.
Placing greater emphasis on nonvehicular modes and pedestrian needs will further encourage walking and cycling, and will prioritize the corridor’s use away from automobile traffic. Such priority will foster traffic calming and promote a more balanced, safer travel environment for all users.
So what’s the problem here? What were all the other options available to us?
The AJC article openly states that the fed’s grant couldn’t have paid a significant portion of ANY of the other 39 projects profiled by ARC, but it cites “opponents” who say the money could have helped plug the MARTA deficit for a year or helped relieve traffic congestion. But those options are even ACTUAL options. The Fed wouldn’t have awarded Atlanta $41 million to plug MARTA’s deficit for a year and there’s still little evidence that wider roads or bigger on-ramps actually reduce traffic congestion, regardless of whether such plans would have a snowball’s chance of getting approved.
Listen I’m all for considering other viable options, but this just seems like an opportunity to plug a new project into a popular conception and watching it fail just for the fun of it.
Transportation money shouldn’t just be about fixing existing traffic problems, but about building alternative and complementary solutions to those problems.
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Thank you thank you thank you. I couldn’t believe the sensational headline on the AJC this weekend! Talk about irresponsible reporting! This is another example of the media (and all the rest of us) trying to fit the world into a neat black/white dichotomy.
I hear the streetcar won’t cure cancer or AIDS.
Why bother?
Ha! We’re so on the same page. My original headline was “Atlanta Streetcar Won’t Relieve Traffic or Solve World Hunger”.
Heh! This reminds me of a “BC” comic strip I saw years ago– went something like this:
BC: Look at this handy-dandy little veggie peeler– it also slices, dices, juliennes!
Curly: Can it stampede a herd of crippled yaks?
BC: Well…no…
Curly: Then what good is it?
Just sayin’. I’m getting pretty fed up with the AJC’s overwrought reporting. Makes them seem as if they’re getting desperate to appear relevant in the face of their flagging readership.
I thought the point was more along the lines of traffic is our #1 transportation problem (which I think it probably is), so why are we dumping $70 million into a project that won’t do anything to relieve traffic congestion? In other words, the point is that the project reflects misplaced priorities, not that it won’t deliver on a stated promise to relieve traffic.
Personally, I think the projections of urban renewal along the streetcar line are pretty fanciful. How can anyone really make a confident projection of increasing home values in this wretched economy? Maybe people will want to live near a streetcar, I don’t know. But it won’t help them get or repay a mortgage, which is a much bigger problem for home values than transportation.
Let’s pretend that this money could be used anyway we wanted, as long as it was deemed a “transportation project” (Which it can’t. I reference this document to provide evidence of that) If you ran a company that was having efficiency problems in one area, as well as other underfunded viable options to increase productivity, would you direct all money towards “fixing” the issues in the one problem area or would you spread the wealth and hedge your bets a bit? I’d hope the latter.
The streetcar was picked because it met the requirements of the grant. None of the other options the AJC presents in their piece fit those requirements. So pretending that there are other options for this grant money is a slap in the face of Atlanta leaders, who did a great job of securing funding in an area where Georgia has long struggled.
Now if we want to debate the Obama administration’s transportation priorities, that’s another topic. But let’s not confuse the issue.
So pretending that there are other options for this grant money is a slap in the face of Atlanta leaders, who did a great job of securing funding in an area where Georgia has long struggled.
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Except it doesn’t do that. The article even says that the money can’t be used for other purposes. Kasim Reed is quoted in the article saying it’s not as if the money could have gone elsewhwere. Then it says that the money could not have been spent on other projects.
Still, it is not as if getting this money and building this streetcar imposes no burdens on the City. Just making the application and coming up with the plan cost money and used resources that could have been spent on other projects. And the City has committed to partially fund operations for 20 years. I think all of that makes it relevant to ask where this project should rank among various transportation priorities, even at the local level. At the federal level, this smells like more of the same stimulus pork that’s already accomplished nothing other than adding 800 billion to the ever-growing national debt.
“But it won’t help them get or repay a mortgage, which is a much bigger problem for home values than transportation.”
It will for the people who are employed to build, maintain and operate the streetcar.
Thanks for this post! There’s a new, even cluelesser streetcar article where the AJC points out that :
“North of Boulevard toward Inman Park and deeper into Old Fourth Ward, restaurants and new housing are thriving. But south of the street, many revitalization efforts have struggled.”
As pretty much any Atlanta resident can tell you, Boulevard runs North /South, so this makes no sense.
Later, instead of logically talking to a scholar from nearby GSU, the article tracks down the president of Columbus State University for a cautionary insight on how construction of this project might actually HURT businesses in the short term!
http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/could-streetcar-food-trucks-731325.html
Oooh, great new word: “cluelesser” as in “My husband is even more cluelesser than I”.
Amen, DM. Hart continues to call for the region to “get its act together” on transportation so it can secure federal dollars. Now when the City of Atlanta shows a clear vision for how it wants to grow and pursues a competitive federal grant (which placed livability highest on its list of criteria) it lampoons it efforts. Can’t have it both ways, babe.
Haty isn’t the one calling for the region to “get its act together”. It’s Transportation Secretary LaHood (a Republican, BTW).
That’s HART, not whatever I said.
No question there. But at least the City of Atlanta has a vision for the future and is pursuing it. And that vision is not really all that concerned with congestion.
This is a great post. You completely nailed my reaction to reading this AJC piece.
Here’s today’s version of what is becoming my daily online defense of the project:
Downtown Atlanta — historic heart of the city, birth & resting place of Dr. King (one of the most prominent US citizens in history), location of too many significant historical events to list here — has been fragmented over the decades by the asphalt of parking lots and interstates. The neglect of the east side of downtown is criminal given it’s contribution to Black history and civil rights.
$72 million is being spent in an effort to (among other things) reconnect the sections of downtown fragmented by the interstate and to spur development and beautify the streetscape of the area around Dr. King’s birth and resting place. The rich history of the Sweet Auburn area, a history that has been dishonored by neglect for too long, will be honored.
I do so much agree!
Yes, but how does that help me get from Alpharetta to Perimeter Center five minutes faster each morning? Can’t you see I’m late for a meeting?
Awesome.
Bringing up the interstate’s impact on that area is a great point and juxtaposition. Too bad they didn’t write that story.
Well, because that would’ve required them to actually acknowledge that they’re comparing apples to oranges. They ain’t gonna do that!
“The rich history of the Sweet Auburn area, a history that has been dishonored by neglect for too long, will be honored.”
You can debate the success or failure of an electric trolley to encourage development, solve traffic problems or be an economic stimulus but you can’t claim that Auburn Ave. has been dishonored by neglect. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on sidewalk improvements, pavers in the street, public art, a national park (MLK, Jr.) a new Ebenezer Baptist Church, a natatorium, restoration of blocks of houses as part of the national park including the King birthplace, a new Atlanta Life Insurance headquarters, 160 new condos and retail at Renaissance Walk at Sweet Auburn, a restored historic fire station, and a new SCLC National Headquarters building to name a few. There is probably not an area in Atlanta that has received more public/private dollars than Auburn Ave.
Maybe the neglect you refer to is the realization that Sweet Auburn has changed, for many reasons, as have most neighborhoods in Atlanta. It was a real place in the past, not a central planned tourist destination that it has evolved into. Someday it may develop into the a thriving neighborhood again but it won’t be the same as it was. Maybe all that money spent there has had something to do with the change. It hasn’t been neglected or dishonored.
I still think the whole thing is just a bad idea.
People aren’t looking at the project from the perspective of a tourist. And that’s why most people don’t “get it.” The streetcar is not for the residents, but to help make Atlanta even more attractive and efficient for tourists to get around and see the attractions.
Tourism is one of Atlanta’s largest economic drivers and IMO, it’s a great project because you make it easy for tourists to spend money at all your venues. Right now, it’s not easy to get around w/o taking cabs or splitting up your visits unnecessarily because or difficulty getting around.
I will be on that streetcar frequently, and I am not just a visitor. It will take me into an area I have neglected, but I am interested in delving into the new developments along the way, trying out the restaurants and shops, and finally visiting the King Memorial. The last time I was there was associated with a marching event, and it was too crowded to enter. With a streetcar to take me straight through the district and to the Memorial, I will be able to go with ease any day the Memorial is open. How many people on this blog have already visited the King Memorial?
I have but it was around 17 or 18 years ago.
Same as Karass.
The AJC seems to be doing its level best to agrivate people living itp, which is probably the only place where circulation is somewhat stable.
I stopped reading the AJC about 15 years ago. Metro news is available elsewhere, and life is aggravating enough without seeking it out every morning. Plus, I can’t help comparing it to the Atlanta Constitution of the 1960s, and that’s just too sad to think about.
It still seems silly to me with all the money spent on Atlantic Station and surrounding neighborhoods, the sheer volume of people they were encouraging to come in, no thought was given (other than cars) of the most efficient way to get people there. Have fun getting all dressed up to go to dinner and a movie on the bus!
I question the location for the streetcar. I get what they’re trying to do, but… I guess we’ll see
The AJC is a totally lame excuse for a paper. But be sure to check in with them if you need a minute by minute recap on the “real housewives” Puke
I think it was fully thought through, Rebecca. Part of the reason the dimensions on 17th Street are so oversized is that they allow for a future light rail retrofit. There was just no money/will to make it happen on the front end.
Thought probably wasn’t the word I should have used. Maybe investment was more along the lines of what I was thinking. Didn’t know that about 17th. The future will be a great place. Let’s hurry up and get there!
Would High Speed Rail Money Rejected By Red States Spend Green In Georgia?
http://www.peachpundit.com/2010/11/09/would-high-speed-rail-money-rejected-by-red-states-spend-green-in-georgia/#more-27452
Nice link. Thanks Davo!
You know, there are an awful lot of people who would say that transit access is our #1 transportation problem.
I’m not in love with the streetcar project, and it doesn’t eliminate the need for more, better funded regional transit. But I think it has a good chance of accomplishing the actual goals of the project (rather than the goals of a corporate newspaper that is moving to the perimeter). That is, it probably will induce developers to put up higher-density mixed-use developments in Sweet Auburn which will create jobs, allow more people to live intown near transit (instead of moving to the suburbs and driving everywhere), and boost tourism revenue. Don’t be so short-sighted AJC!
Edgewood Avenue is already showing signs of revitalization. A number of very good restaurants have opened. Restaurants have been one of the best predictors of good real estate investment. Building a trolley a block away will help Edgewood, too. I can easily see this street becoming the next East Atlanta.
[...] finds merit in the project. And while yes, the streetcar won’t reduce congestion, that’s not what it was designed to do. Sometimes transit projects aren’t about congestion mitigation, sometimes it’s just [...]