To those of us who spend our lives mired in gridlock, it didn't come as news back in September when a national survey found that metropolitan Atlanta has the nation's second-worst traffic.

But here's even worse news: There's a good chance the upcoming General Assembly Session won't move us ahead by even half a mile. Because 2008 is an election year, lawmakers vying to retain their seats may be disinclined to do any of the heavy lifting on transportation policy that circumstances demand of them.

"I'm surprised that people aren't picketing at the Capitol every day over transportation. They probably can't get there because of all the traffic," said state Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) — only half-jokingly.

Mullis, chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, is optimistic the Legislature will have a productive session in spite of election-year politicking. He expects major transportation funding bills and other ground-breaking initiatives to get passed.

Don't bet on it. With a $2 billion budget and 6,000 employees on its payroll, the state Department of Transportation is the dominant player among the slew of agencies responsible for helping Georgians get where they're going.

But the multitentacled DOT is in a state of confusion. After a contentious election for a new commissioner, Gov. Sonny Perdue's candidate, Gena Abraham, won the job by a single vote. On organizational charts, the DOT is independent from the governor's office, but in reality, that's hardly the case. The agency's commissioner is almost always the governor's hand-picked choice — including the most recent one — and therefore more prone to do his bidding.

That outcome infuriated House Speaker Glenn Richardson, who was lobbying hard for his choice, Rep. Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain), who chairs that chamber's transportation committee. Threats of retaliation against DOT board members who voted for Abraham over Smith have been flying ever since and could haunt this session.

Even before Abraham took the helm at DOT, the agency was facing a $7.7 billion statewide funding shortfall over the next six years; that has resulted in hundreds of pending projects being delayed indefinitely. Abraham soon discovered other serious problems, including the fact that DOT staff had no idea how many projects are on the books, guesstimating it's somewhere between 1,100 and 9,211.

That kind of mismanagement isn't even good enough for government work. While overhauling DOT is an urgent priority, doing so could take months — at least. In the meantime, the urgent transportation needs of the region and the state shouldn't be held hostage.

While the prospects for passage may be slim, lawmakers should try avoid to election-year paralysis and approve one of the better transportation funding measures that were the subject of lengthy legislative hearings held this summer. The most promising option would allow two or more counties to band together and create a special local-option sales tax. The revenues generated by the tax would be used for regional transportation projects ranging from road-building to light rail lines, or anything in between.

The measure, which was proposed by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, has some notable flaws, including an opt-out clause for counties that choose not to participate. But given the gridlock at the DOT, ceding greater regional control over transportation projects makes sense.

Another, less sanguine funding proposal — dubbed "The Big Idea"— is being pushed by DOT board member David Doss. It would impose a one-cent statewide sales tax to pay for a broad range of transportation improvements. Both measures would be subject to voter approval and would first need enabling legislation from state lawmakers to put them on a future ballot.

The most straightforward approach to raising revenues for transportation would be to raise Georgia's gasoline tax, which is one of the lowest in the nation, but no one in the Legislature is talking about doing that either. Again, any mention of the "t-word" is probably a nonstarter in an election year.

The joint legislative study panel on transportation is supposed to issue its recommendations in a report due Monday. Mullis, who co-chaired the committee, said even if that deadline is missed and the 2008 session is overtaken by other distractions, "My expectations are still very high. We're determined to get something done."

Georgians who have been waiting in vain for solutions to their transportation problems can only hope he's right.

— Lyle V. Harris, for the editorial board