Atlanta Forward/ At a Glance: Consider light rail for the future

Although other successful transit modes should be studied, there are strong arguments in favor
of light rail for the metropolitan area, says a study from the Civic League for Regional Atlanta:

Precedents

Many regions similar to the Atlanta region ... are turning to light rail as the next step in creating a full-service, multi-modal transportation system.

A workable option 
in conservative places

As documented [in the study], the successful implementation of light rail not only in conservative, pro-highway states like Texas, Utah, and Missouri ... shows that light rail can work in politically conservative places.

A good fit for less densely populated regions

When regions, like the Atlanta region, are less densely populated ... the higher passenger capacity of heavy rail is less useful while the lesser construction and operating costs of light rail are more advantageous

What’s different about light rail transit?

Fewer traffic jams. Buses and streetcars, which both typically travel along the same roads as automobiles, are subject to the same stop-and-go traffic. ... Like subways, many light rail trains have a travel path separate from automobiles; even when they do travel on the same roads, many light rail trains, have the ability to change traffic signals on approach. Dedicated-lane buses are a clear exception, having ... travel lanes separate from vehicles.

More sustainable and socially equitable. While some white, middle- to higher-income people ride buses, they are far outnumbered by the poor and by minorities, according to a recent study by Harvard University’s Civil Rights Project. ... Importantly, this same study also shows that white, wealthier individuals are nearly 10 times more likely to ride some form of rail transit than they are to ride a bus. Adding light rail thus might attract more riders from a broader cross-section of the population than a bus system. That would make light rail ... the more sustainable option, in that a larger ridership increases the likelihood that a transit system can support itself.