Georgia needs to look at its 2009 State Rail Plan and begin deploying commuter rail in metro Atlanta immediately.
Less than three inches of snow should never shut down a major American city and leave thousands of motorists stranded on frozen roads over night; but that happened in Atlanta Jan. 28-29.
When people, not used to driving in snow, tried to be responsible and get home before too much accumulation occurred, bad road management combined with the lack of any transportation alternative to create gridlock.
But the trains kept running.
Georgia boasts one of the most extensive freight rail systems in the country. According to the Georgia Department of Transportation, 5,000 miles of track serve most counties in the state, yet passenger rail service is almost unheard of.
That could change, and it could change relatively quickly. GDOT’s 2009 Rail Plan estimates that if Georgians were offered quality passenger rail service, they would take advantage of it in huge numbers.
The report estimates that a commuter and intercity passenger system stretching to Athens, Canton, Macon, and other cities would carry “10.7 million commuters and 2.1 million intercity passengers in 2030.”
If GDOT’s commuter rail plan, using currently operational tracks, was fully realized, the region would be transformed for the better. Residents would breathe cleaner air, drivers would see less congestion and shorter commute times, and people would no longer face being stranded in frigid temperatures because of snow.
Prior National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) analyses have already concluded with a “Finding of No Significant Impact” for both an Atlanta-to-Athens route and an Atlanta-to-Macon route, clearing one hurdle and ensuring that the project would not degrade the environment.
Indeed, commuter rail would improve the environment by getting cars off the roads and helping the cars that stay on the roads burn less gas because of the reduced congestion.
The biggest challenge to commuter rail in metro Atlanta comes from the state’s apparent disinterest in the project. The 2009 Rail Plan begins by explaining that a more comprehensive plan was due out in 2011, but despite that assertion, a new plan has not emerged. The 2009 Plan is still the plan promoted on GDOT’s Rail page as the “State Rail Plan.”
Also, the 2009 plan explains that the Georgia Constitution restricts revenue from the state gas tax to use on roads and bridges and calls for the creation of a new fund to finance freight projects.
The state needs to face up to the necessity of funding passenger rail service.
Building healthier, more logical, and more sustainable cities makes all the sense in the world, but metro Atlanta needs immediate relief. Getting people in and out of the city is the region’s biggest problem on a daily basis. Commuter rail service, built on existing tracks with relatively modest improvements, can fix that.
William Tomlin is an attorney at King & Spalding in Atlanta.
