Clayton bus protest scheduled

By Megan Matteucci

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Dozens of Clayton County bus drivers and riders are scheduled to protest the county commission ending the C-Tran bus service.

Marietta-based New Order National Human Rights Organization has scheduled a protest for Oct. 24 at noon in front of the Clayton County Commission building in Jonesboro.

“I think it’s a state of emergency for the county,” New Order founder Gerald Rose said Thursday. “People need to get to work. They need to get to school and their doctors’ appointments.”

Rose said the protest will also include disabled residents who rely on C-Tran's paratransit service.

On Tuesday, the county commission voted 4-1 to terminate its contract with MARTA, which operates Clayton’s bus service. Service is slated to end March 31, 2010.

Commissioners said the county cannot afford to subsidize the bus service.

C-Tran had about 2 million rides last year, according to county officials. Sixty percent of those rides were for people going to work and about 9 percent were people going to school. And 65 percent of riders said they have no other transportation option, County Commission Chairman Eldrin Bell said.

About 200 people attended Tuesday’s commission meeting, including many who wore red and waved white towers in support of keeping the bus service.

The county collected 142 comments from citizens before voting to end service, said Jeff Metarko, the county’s transportation and development director. Of those 142 comments, 60 were from residents who spoke at a public hearing and 62 were messages left on the county’s website.

One fifth of the comments were from people who do not live in Clayton, Metarko said.

Commissioners said they are short $1.3 million to operate the bus service. Commissioners have proposed a one-cent increase to the county’s sales tax to fund C-Tran. Raising the sales tax rate would require approval from the legislature and county voters.