Over on his new site, Green Building Chronicle, Ken Edelstein reports that only 24 members of the general public attended a GDOT meeting earlier this week considering route options of a potential high-speed train from Hartsfield-Jackson Airport to Chattanooga, TN.

Ken theorizes on why turn out was so low in Atlanta – general cynicism of transportation projects, no AJC coverage, a focus on other rail projects around Atlanta – but really I think it comes down to an unclear message of “Why exactly are we looking at high-speed rail to Chattanooga?”.   The recent $4 million grant to connect high-speed rail to Charlotte currently makes a lot more sense at first glance.  The map above shows that a Chattanooga line would only connect to Chicago in the “long-term”.

I’m not sure we can sell a rail line north on promises of quicker trips to Cleveland.