Comments on: MARTA To Decide on Clifton Corridor Today, Station Maps Released

By: At Home in Decatur

At Home in Decatur — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:26:43 +0000

Given the collapse of the housing market in the northern exurbs and general suburban decline in this economy, will things still be biased towards North of the Perimeter in 2022? I’m thinking that given how hot intown life isbecoming, in light of traffic, gas prices, healthy living, schools, maybe political power will have shifted intown as well? After all, even the Governor’s mansion is intown!

By: Bobby

Bobby — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:20:16 +0000

I think InAtl is saying that the regional T-SPLOST may deliver some rail from Lindbergh to Emory/CDC “for DeKalb,” but that by round 2 (in 2022) the clout will have moved even further north and will push for whatever transit capital remains to go to Gwinnett and Cobb or “Milton county” (north Fulton). There are examples to support this notion.

By: Bobby

Bobby — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:12:13 +0000

At 6tph the peak capacity is low considering the density of jobs on Clifton. We know commutes are not spread evenly over 3 hours. In a 20 minute period, this could move roughly 350 people from each end to their jobs. What about lunchtime? What about shift changes at the hospitals?

Whatever your preferred Plan B for transit, the first step will be contacting each of your elected officials and telling them that you voted the TIA tax down because you support transit and oppose increasing capital spending on roads. Ask them to increase funding dedicated to transit. Tell them you support a tax for transit.

If your Plan B needs to include large capital expansion of transit, like additional miles of rail, one option would be a transit SPLOST by county, similar to those for education and those used in other counties to build new roads.

No one has effective easy fixes for our complex problems — maybe I should start saying: “There is no Plan A.” My own hope is for an eventual outcome that is comprehensive and maximizes public benefit.

By: AnotherRick

AnotherRick — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 19:52:03 +0000

Alex: I owned a home 3 blocks from the East Lake MARTA station. This was in the 1970′s prior to MARTA rail. As the station was planned and built, many of my neighbors panicked and sold out and moved to Gwinnett. I thought “great, I will be able to can walk to rapid rail”. I did not sell-out, instead I worked to form a neighborhood organization to rebuild and improve our neighborhood, now called Lenox Place. Now I do not have to own a car, and I fully support transit and in-town living. I am very excited about the TIA and the Belt Line! MARTA has been a great benefit to my neighborhood and Decatur. So hang in there!

By: SmartaMarta

SmartaMarta — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:37:38 +0000

InAtl, you’re right that TIA will probably only pass with support from Dekalb and Fulton, if nothing else, simply because they are the most populated. But doing a vote for increased MARTA funding wouldn’t be good because the argument would be that Dekalb & Fulton have been paying into it for 30 years. Adding more funding on top of that would be an almost impossible sell.

Getting more people onboard is what the TIA looks like it is poised to do. But with the seemingly long process of doing the studies before construction even begins, the feasibility of usage wouldn’t be until the 2020′s it looks like.

By: DawgFan

DawgFan — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:21:53 +0000

True, but the cross-sections on the prior proposals showed dedicated tracks, lanes and overhead power lines for the LRT. There are no illustrations in the adopted proposal (or I haven’t seen any), so I think it is a lot to ask voters to approve a tax based on a concept plan. Some particulars would be helpful in the evaluation process.

By: TeeRuss

TeeRuss — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 18:13:08 +0000

One more thing, Bobby. I think I speak for most people who may not be informed enough or don’t care if the bill is imperfect, who just fear that if this doesn’t pass then there’s really no plan B. That transit funding will be delayed indefinitely.

Sounds like you see a roadmap that begins after rejecting this vote – correct? If so, could you lay that out in more detail?

By: TeeRuss

TeeRuss — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:42:56 +0000

OK, so 2d is that the capacity of the planned Clifton Corridor LRT (or whatever it’s called) will be small or insufficient? Or is it that the ridership demand, as demonstrated by capacity that was anticipated in the plans, is so small as to not be worth the investment?