The recent decision by the Clayton County Commission to allow Clayton County voters to decide whether to join MARTA is a watershed moment for transportation policy in our region. If voters there say “yes” to MARTA in November — and given the enthusiasm seen in recent public meetings and past ballot questions, the chances of passage appear strong — it will be the most significant infusion of new transportation funding in the Atlanta region in years.
Success in Clayton can also help provide a template for progress on transportation elsewhere. The following principles, all of which have been central to the Clayton MARTA campaign, should also guide our efforts on transportation at the regional and state level.
Get the house in order before expanding: You don’t start an addition to your house when the existing structure is falling down, and we shouldn’t blame voters for thinking in those terms when voting down the T-SPLOST in 2012. Take MARTA as an example: two years ago, the anchor of our region’s transit system was in rough shape. The agency was running a structural deficit in the tens of millions of dollars, bus and rail service had been cut to the bone, and relations between MARTA and state officials had hit a low.
Just months after the referendum failed, the agency hired Keith Parker, a young, reform-minded outsider, as its new chief executive. What’s happened at MARTA in the last two years is nothing short of remarkable. The deficit has been erased, service is being restored, and a new culture of openness and accountability has been established at all levels. The post-2012 progress is a big part of why the Clayton Commission felt confident enough to put MARTA on the ballot this year, four years after saying no to a similar opportunity. What’s more, we are now seeing serious talk among legislators of possible state support for MARTA — something unthinkable just a few years ago.
Emphasize incremental, locally-driven strategies rather than “one size fits all”: One of the hallmarks of the recent success In Clayton County, is that the push to expand MARTA was not the product of backroom dealing or top-down decision making. The county’s elected officials were initially hesitant to put MARTA (and the associated tax increase) on the ballot this year. But one packed public meeting after another — even on a Saturday morning during a holiday weekend — eventually convinced a majority of commissioners that community demand for transit was too strong to be denied. Now, as we head into the November referendum, ordinary citizens in Clayton have a real feeling of investment in the process that led to the vote this fall — something that never really existed in 2012. Recreating that sense of community ownership will be essential to any future transportation investment efforts.
Focus on providing travel options, not fighting congestion: For too long, transportation planning and funding in Atlanta have been framed in terms of “fighting” traffic congestion. In fact, the entire $8 million pro-T-SPLOST “Untie Atlanta” campaign was based on the notion that congestion can be conquered if we throw enough money and asphalt at it.
Not only did the message clearly fail to resonate with voters, but the premise is inherently flawed. Traffic congestion is simply a necessary byproduct of thriving cities. The most forward-thinking regions have moved beyond the red herring of “congestion relief” and are instead focusing on giving residents meaningful alternatives to sitting in traffic, particularly by making walking, biking, and mass transit viable options for more people. It’s time for those strategies to form the backbone of our approach going forward as well.
Two years after the commission dismantled the C-Tran bus system in 2010, Clayton County voters elected new leadership in 2012 — Chairman Jeff Turner and Commissioner Shana Rooks. Both ran on a pro-transit platform, and after taking office demonstrated their leadership by involving their constituents. Last year, they commissioned a transit feasibility study and engaged thousands of Clayton residents to hear about where and what the mobility needs are and how they should be met.
Regional leaders should take note of this. There’s an old saying that if you do things the way you always have, you’ll get what you’ve always got. Today, metro Atlanta has traffic congestion and few other options. Ask metro Atlantans what they want, and regional leaders will be inspired by the solutions their constituents will demand — as long as they believe their voices will be heard.
