In his first visit to Atlanta as the newly appointed Secretary of Transportation, former Charlotte mayor Anthony Foxx spoke with lawmakers from across the country Monday about advancing transportation goals in an economic climate that has sapped funding to pay for them.
Because of his time in North Carolina, Foxx already has strong relationships with Atlanta movers and shakers that could signal hope for more federal funding support here.
The new Atlanta Beltline director, Paul Morris, worked alongside Foxx as the deputy secretary of transit for the N.C. Department of Transportation. MARTA CEO Keith Parker, once the assistant city manager of Charlotte, counts Foxx as a personal friend. And Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed helped lobby behind the scenes for Foxx’s appointment.
Of his Atlanta connections, Foxx said: “Georgia and North Carolina are joined at the hip. It’s never unusual for there to be a large North Carolina contingent in Georgia, or vice-versa.”
Foxx was a keynote speaker at the National Conference of State Legislators, a gathering of 5,000 state lawmakers from around the nation. Later, he attended a round-table discussion at City Hall with the Atlanta’s Chief of Staff Candace Byrd, Parker and high school students.
Foxx was noncommittal when questioned about the feasibility of getting a bigger slice of transportation funding for projects in Georgia. Yet many local leaders are hopeful that his Atlanta ties will prove fruitful for the city and the state.
Foxx said he had no immediate plans to meet with Gov. Nathan Deal while he was in town. But he spoke by phone with Reed, who was traveling Monday. A spokesman for the mayor said Reed used the opportunity to advocate for deepening the Port of Savannah.
Transit supporters look to Foxx’s efforts to extend light-rail rapid transit system in Charlotte as a hopeful sign for MARTA.
“We are very fortunate to have a secretary who really understands mass transit,” said Parker. “I think he and Mayor Reed have such a strong relationship. I believe that only bodes well for MARTA.”
However, the obstacles to expanding current transportation plans — or keeping them the same — are many. Federal and state gas tax collections are shrinking and Congress is log jammed over the re-authorization of a new transportation funding bill.
“The way we’ve been doing business is simply not sustainable,” Foxx told lawmakers during his speech.
Georgia is already grappling with the local effects. The state expects a $7.5 million shortfall this year in a federal funding program that supports urban transportation projects such as roads, bridges, bicycle/pedestrian projects and transit.
Most transportation projects in Georgia are funded with 80 percent federal transportation dollars and 20 percent local match. Historically, nothing big gets built — not the Beltline, the Atlanta Streetcar, not new MARTA stations or highway projects — without a major contribution from Uncle Sam.
John Orr, who manages the transportation access and mobility division of the Atlanta Regional Commission, said that because of the $7.5 million shortfall, many transportation projects in the pipeline for the next six years will have to be re-evaluated. Some may have to be rescheduled to later years in order to be funded.
“We’re very concerned we could see a significant decrease in federal funding for transportation projects all across the country if this issue is not addressed in the coming year,” Orr said.
Foxx hears those concerns and said that he is echoing them in Washington, D.C.. He said President Obama has suggested a bipartisan compromise that uses savings from proposed corporate tax reforms to provide the $50 billion needed to fix the nation’s bridges and roads.
“There’s a dance involved here and it’s hard to dance by yourself,” Foxx said. “We need our leaders in Congress to engage in that discussion.”
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