The city of Atlanta will soon decide if it can resolve an airport shuttle contract that has been held up for nearly four years, getting tangled in everything from accusations of political cronyism to a traffic wreck that injured 17 people.
The contract in question calls for a company to operate “shared-ride” shuttles between Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and the central business district of Atlanta, namely downtown, Midtown and Buckhead. For some travelers, the shuttles are their first taste of Atlanta and one of their last experiences before they leave the city.
The dispute over the contract for the shuttle service shows how fierce battles at the world’s busiest airport can get when politics, money and stiff competition all combine.
Yet the quagmire over the shared-ride shuttle involves a contract that some say isn’t profitable now and may not be in the future.
“It’s been an ongoing saga,” said Atlanta city council member Felicia Moore, who chairs the council’s transportation committee. “It’s just been one delay after another. … Now we’re at the finish line with it, and there are other concerns that have come up.”
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