For example if we are willing to add a 1% tax why not increase the MARTA tax? Heck raising a MARTA tax from 1% to 1.5% will be less in taxes and result in greater transit funding.

I question if just getting 50% of the projects on the list for transit worth it – the additional 50% of projects for roads would seem to erase the benefits from a little new transit. Bottom line until the region gets serious about better land planning and land use practices throwing money at transportation could just make things worse. We have several underutilized MARTA station areas where substantial development could go.

Its congestion that’s been getting people to realize the value of the MARTA system and to encourage better land development practices.

Also, HB87 leaves silent what happens if a project doesn’t get built. Since the transit projects are farthest away from being shovel ready the road projects will largely go first. The hurdles facing the transit projects will likely mean some never get built. There is no restriction preventing them from shifting funding from a scrapped transit project that was put on the list to a road project that is on the list. Alternatively the HB87 states that the funds get distributed back to the various counties based on the LARP funding formula.

And before anyone discounts the above scenario, take a look at the history of Regional Transportation Plans, they have historically been somewhat balanced on paper, problem is the transit projects never got built so when actually implemented it turned out to be very road oriented. For example Commuter Rail has been in the Regional Plans for well over 10 years, maybe 20 years, but this substantial funding all ended up getting shifted to cost over runs to roads or sent back

Regarding “Decatur is a good example,” what’s the transit ridership? What about car ownership?

Regarding “car oriented transit stations in suburban areas … support transit oriented development at the walkable stations,” if there’s a retail business owner in Decatur that supports an additional 1% sales tax in hopes of attracting customers from Cobb county that arrive at their store after driving to transit in Cobb, transferring at Arts Center Station, and transferring through Five Points Station to arrive at Decatur Station by rail, I’d be interested to have them make that case.

Regarding “you can always convert a car-oriented station to a development-oriented station later,” practice, not theory, indicates substantial challenges to such a conversion.

We need good transportation projects on the final project list, and we need to support the transportation sales tax if it does contain such projects! Thus, everyone needs to get to work and tell their electeds to put transit, sidewalks, and other mobility-enhancing projects on the final list!!!
Complaining about DeKalb and Fulton not getting a fair shake isn’t gonna cut it, either, since we in these counties are always the first to say when we vote on other SPLOST’s here, “….you know, half of the tax is going to be paid for by out-of town-folks, so let’s support the tax.”

Truly, we can’t have it both ways. Either they do or they don’t pay the tax when they live outside Fulton and DeKalb, and I would maintain that they DO, since a number of studies have shown this to be the case.

So let’s work to getting good stuff on the project list, and stop squawking about al the so-called “inequities” of getting ripped off by those ‘evil suburbanites’ — the very ones we always maintain will be paying half of it when other, non-transportation purpose, SPLOSTs are put on the ballot! Thank you.

However, it does not have to be this way.

Decatur is a good example. It’s downtown station is designed to be walked to. While station construction disrupted many businesses in the 1970s, the station has since been a driver of compact, walkable development. Because some employees and visitors access downtown by rail, less land has to be set aside for parking. Much of the land that would have become parking lots can instead be businesses or residential buildings. Businesses and residential buildings generate far more tax revenue than parking lots and this improves Decatur’s overall economic health.

Compared to most suburban malls, the businesses surrounding Decatur MARTA station have done a remarkable job of weathering the recession.

Walkable or semi-walkable MARTA stations are also having a positive effect in Midtown, Downtown, Lindbergh, Chamblee, East Point, and College Park.

Eastlake and Avondale MARTA stations are a different story. They generate some walkable development. But because parking lots surround the stations, the stations generate much less walkable development than they could.

But car oriented transit stations in suburban areas do have some positive effects. First, they support transit oriented development at the walkable stations. If a car oriented light rail station gets built in Cobb County, it increases the number of Cobb Countians traveling to Downtown Decatur via rail rather than car. That means fewer parking lots and more pedestrian oriented businesses in downtown Decatur and more tax revenue for the city.

Second, you can always convert a car-oriented station to a development-oriented station later. Parking lots can be sold to developers to generate walkable development.

Regarding Citizens for Progressive Transit, you should note that the organization has made no endorsement of the TSPLOST referendum. While it supports the Fair Share Campaign, CfPT has adopted additional criteria for grading the final project list: http://www.mothersandothersforcleanair.org/documents/CFPT_HB277Position.pdf