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DEL.ICIO.USDOT commissioner outlines reform goals
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia needs more transportation funding, and it needs to look beyond roads and bridges to improve mobility in the Atlanta region.
That’s what Gena Abraham, who recently became commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation, told people attending today’s luncheon sponsored by the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.
Abraham reviewed what her tasks have been in the last several months, from getting a handle on all of GDOT’s projects to figuring out which ones are top priority to working with other transportation agencies in an effort to attack the the traffic problems in our region and state.
She told luncheon folks that it was “unrealistic” for people to believe “we can build ourselves out of this with roads and bridges.”
For example, Abraham said she was especially excited about pushing commuter rail beginning with a line between Lovejoy and Atlanta. The big question is figuring out how to pay for the commuter rail’s longterm operating and maintenance costs.
Then she added that in a visit to several cities around the country looking at other commuter rail systems, Abraham observed that “rail is typically subsidized in some form or fashion” by as much as 70 percent.
After the meeting, Abraham said that she is making an effort to include MARTA at every discussion on regional transportation with the other agencies - the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and the State Road and Tollway Authority.
“MARTA will be the backbone of our transit system,” Abraham said, adding that she is most impressed with MARTA’s new general manager. “Dr. Beverly Scott is awesome.”
Abraham also said a challenge will be to find innovative and alternative ways to finance transportation projects. The department has been studying public-private partnerships on new toll roads and the possibility of converting High Occupancy Vehicle lanes to managed lanes, also known as HOT lanes. That’s where people pay extra to be able to drive on freer flowing lanes.
By the way, the sponsor for the lunch was Transurban, an Australian company that invests and/or builds toll roads.
Transurban has just opened an office in Atlanta to cover the Southeast. The Atlanta office is headed by Bill Berry, who said his firm has eight toll road projects across the country.
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