You don't have to dig too deep to tap into the human pain of traffic congestion in metro Atlanta. It's a main topic of conversation around the water cooler at work and around the dinner table at home, once you've slogged through traffic to get there.

But traffic congestion is not just a human inconvenience. It's also a critical economic issue, not only for metro Atlanta, but for the entire state. Because of this growing issue, businesses are carefully considering the wisdom of staying in this area and others looking to possibly relocate to Atlanta are often choosing other less-congested areas such as Charlotte and Nashville.

The Georgia General Assembly had a chance to provide leadership and address this issue in the 2008 session. Legislation failed in the final minutes of the session that would have allowed residents within regions throughout the state of Georgia to decide via referendum whether to supplement transportation funding and congestion relieving projects through a 1 percent sales tax. Now, the economic engine of the state is mired in traffic for several more years.

Oh, there was leadership for sure. No one could have exerted more effort toward addressing traffic congestion through pursuit of new funding legislation than House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) and state Rep. Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain). Also, other members of the conference committee deserve our sincere thanks.

As Mullis liked to say in his stump speech for the legislation, "I don't understand why the 4 million folks in this area aren't down at the Capitol picketing to demand solutions to traffic. Oh, yeah, they can't get here . . . they're stuck in traffic!"

However, other state leaders elected to craft solutions for Georgia's greatest challenges were not on board. These top leaders either stonewalled or actively opposed legislation to provide new funding for greater mobility in our state.

When you hurt metro Atlanta's economy, you are helping the economies of Charlotte, Nashville and Jacksonville —- not Albany, Columbus and Augusta. This is an issue for our entire state. Every region in Georgia can benefit from new transportation funding mechanisms, considering the current Georgia Department of Transportation funding deficit of more than $1 billion.

Other cities, including Houston, Dallas and Denver, are leaping ahead with new or expanded transit projects, improved roads to move their citizens and the new businesses they are attracting, more efficiently and effectively.

In a new survey, conducted by the Transit Planning Board, the majority of residents throughout an 11-county metro Atlanta area heartily support a new sales tax to fund new road, rail and bus options —- some 58 percent, overall. So what's stopping us from moving ahead? Call your state elected officials and ask them for a good answer. Demand the relief that we all deserve and that is long overdue.

> Sam Olens chairs the Cobb County Commission and the Atlanta Regional Commission.