The quest for less congestion in Fulton County took leaders to Texas this week to tour transit and road projects in Dallas.
Representatives from 10 Fulton County cities, as well as several Fulton commissioners, some legislators and MARTA and state transportation department officials headed to Dallas Thursday and Friday to see the city's light rail system and some toll road projects. Representatives from the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and area community improvement districts were also in attendance.
After passing a transportation tax in November that raises up to $655 million over five years for road and sidewalk improvements in the county, mayors and commissioners have started to talk about the potential for another vote that would expand transit. The trip, in part, was a chance to show leaders a working transit system in an area similar to metro Atlanta.
As part of the trip, people road the DART light rail from Dallas to Plano, a trip that’s about as far as Atlanta to Roswell. Plano, once considered a bedroom community, has forged its own identity since the transit system has been there, Fulton County Chairman John Eaves said.
“I believe we have seen a community that has transformed as a result of transit,” Eaves said. “It emboldens us to carry that message to north and south Fulton.”
The trip to Plano “was very well received by the group,” said Commissioner Liz Hausmann, who organized the Texas trip. She said attendees found the light rail to be comfortable and effective, and that they were interested to see the economic development that the line brought to Plano. Light rail is faster than buses and carries more passengers per vehicle but is smaller and slower than heavy rail systems such as MARTA.
“It was turning into a ghost town and now it’s thriving,” she said.
The mayors and commissioners have a meeting later this month, where they will continue to discuss the options available to them. Leaders still need to come up with a plan and determine what transit options might be best for the county, Hausmann said.
But the trip improved leaders’ understanding of some options for Fulton.
“We’re all trying to figure out how to connect the dots to create something affordable and effective,” Hausmann said. “I think it opened a lot of eyes.”
Sandy Springs Mayor Rusty Paul, a proponent of transit, said the trip showed him that metro Atlanta is “a little behind” when it comes to transportation options. The Dallas area faced challenges as it tried to retrofit transit into mature communities, he said, but managed to make its system work.
“It’s always good to see what other people are doing well,” he said. “I look at Plano and I see cities like Roswell and Alpharetta.”
The tour led Commissioner Lee Morris to think about transit as a driver of economic development, he said. In Atlanta, the talk is often about putting transit where riders are. But Morris said the Plano example shows that transit lines can lead to growth.
In addition to the light rail, the group met with the North Texas Tollway Authority to learn about new road capacity, including new managed lanes at I-635, the Lyndon B. Johnson Freeway. Morris called the project a “fascinating eye-opener.”
“It was a really good trip, albeit short,” Eaves said. “Dallas is where we want to be.”
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