Gwinnett creates transit committee, citing failed MARTA vote

02/26/2019 — Duluth, Georgia — The exterior of a Gwinnett County Transit bus is displayed at a Gwinnett County Transit bus center near Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth, Tuesday, February 26, 2019. (ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM)

02/26/2019 — Duluth, Georgia — The exterior of a Gwinnett County Transit bus is displayed at a Gwinnett County Transit bus center near Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth, Tuesday, February 26, 2019. (ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM)

Gwinnett County has created a new committee to determine what the future of transit could look like after March’s failed MARTA referendum.

The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the new Transit Review Committee in a Tuesday meeting. The committee will review what Gwinnett’s existing transit system needs and the options for addressing those needs.

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Once assembled, the committee will hold regular public meetings to discuss possibilities for Gwinnett’s future in transit. Those meetings have not yet been scheduled. The committee has until the end of the year to put together a report that will be submitted to the Board of Commissioners. That report will contain recommendations for what the county should do with its transit system in the near future, as well as a summary of public comments made during its meetings.

The new committee will consist of 13 people: five nominated by county commissioners and Chairman Charlotte Nash and one member each from community groups including the Gwinnett Council for Seniors, the Georgia Gwinnett College Student Council and the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce.

The committee is, in part, a response to March’s failed transit referendum, which would have merged Gwinnett County Transit with MARTA, giving the county drastically expanded bus service and, eventually, a train station in Norcross. The resolution establishing the committee cites the transit plan that was part of the referendum and notes that “additional ideas regarding transit in Gwinnett were suggested by the community” in the run-up to the vote.

“The Board of Commissioners recognizes that there are multiple options for the provision of transit services to Gwinnett County’s residents, businesses, and visitors and desires to pursue options that will be feasible and meet the needs of the Gwinnett community,” the resolution says.

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