Put MARTA under state control now

By Fran Millar

For the past few years I have watched the frustration build with my neighbors and the metropolitan business community on the failure of our state government to deal with our transportation issues in a comprehensive manner.

To compound the problem, we have now been told by Georgia State University that MARTA will probably be short $85 million in sales tax receipts for fiscal 2010 and over the next decade could be short $1.4 billion. In other words, MARTA cannot be financially viable in the long run with only Fulton and DeKalb as its source of primary funding.

2010 is an election year and politically it is imperative that the General Assembly give the public an opportunity to vote on a comprehensive transportation solution. In my opinion, a regional approach with a sales tax component has the best chance of acceptance by the public. I know of no other statewide approach that has passed in recent years.

In 2009 we passed SB 200, which created a planning division in the Department of Transportation. The purpose of the planning division is to be responsible for planning and transportation (not just highways) policy in Georgia.

In 2010, it is my intention to add to SB 200 or any other approach a public transportation division under DOT with the director of that division also being appointed by the governor. This director can be responsible for operating public transportation agencies in Georgia, including MARTA.

At the same time, I plan to introduce local legislation in DeKalb and have one of my fellow members in Fulton do likewise to repeal the current MARTA act.

Obviously there are details that need to be worked out with the state assuming the assets and liabilities of MARTA. Priority issues include operations and federal funding. Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, other transit systems such as Cobb and Gwinnett and agencies such as the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and Georgia State Road and Tollway Authority can be incorporated into this comprehensive approach.

Any comprehensive transportation solution voted on by the people requires a two-thirds vote by the House and Senate for the initiative to be placed on the ballot.

Local legislation requires a majority of the county representatives and the county senators to sign the bill and a majority vote in each chamber.

This is our one chance to get away from a department of highways and have a meaningful department of transportation. With this new MARTA financial data, any reasonable person must conclude that Fulton and DeKalb can no longer carry this burden alone. I would hope Fulton and DeKalb representatives and senators would agree with me and insist that MARTA be folded into any comprehensive transit solution.

Furthermore, per Georgia State University, metro Atlanta (10 counties) pays 53 percent of the state’s taxes and receive 37 percent of the state’s spending. If metro Atlanta’s physical infrastructure cannot allow further growth and/or our competitive position deteriorates, then the balance of our state will not continue to receive this additional funding over what they collect.

This alone should be the necessary incentive for non-metro legislators to support the creation of this public transportation division under DOT and a regional transportation solution with a sales tax component.

No great city in our country (New York, Chicago, Washington, San Francisco) relies only on highways. We either seize the initiative now or in the not-too-distant future explain to our children why Atlanta is no longer the capital of the South. Remember when we were the financial headquarters of the South?

I urge you to contact your representatives and senators and voice your support for this approach. The time to act is now.

State Rep. Fran Millar is a Dunwoody Republican.