Improved transportation options in metro Atlanta will help reduce income inequality in the region, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Friday.
By creating new jobs through construction, and improving access to existing jobs, transportation can have a profound impact on improving the middle class, he said.
“When you’re moving transportation and infrastructure projects, you’re moving the economy forward and dealing with income inequality,” Reed said. “We want people to access well-paying jobs so folks, wherever they live, can get to where the well-paying jobs are.”
Reed, head of the transportation committee for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, was speaking on a White House conference call with other mayors about ways to expand opportunities for the middle class. He cited the MARTA expansion in Clayton County. as well as a planned March referendum that would allow Atlanta to borrow up to $250 million for infrastructure improvements, as steps to improve access to transportation. Atlanta has a $900 million infrastructure backlog, he said.
Reed also said the city is doing a better job of matching its talented employees with higher-paying jobs. He said city workers will not earn less than $10.10 an hour, and the change has led local businesses to raise their wages.
“You don’t need to wait for government to change policy to pay your employees a fair wage,” he said.
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