Transportation has been at the heart of Atlanta’s progress since its creation. In the 19th century, that meant railroads. In the 20th century, it meant Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The question before us now is whether our present transportation woes will sow the seeds to our decline in the 21st century because urban areas — even historically great ones like Metro Atlanta — are perpetually in a period of growth and greater prosperity, or steady decline. There is no standing still.
Metro Atlanta drivers have one of the worst commutes in the nation. This translates into more time in our cars and less time for work, home and play. It also wastes — on average, in fuel, for each of us — over $900 per year sitting in traffic. In addition, Atlanta is ranked 91st out of 100 among major metro regions for access to transit. Major business prospects rank our transportation difficulties as one of their major concerns about relocating here, and our inability to address this problem will only further aggravate their concerns.
This month, the Joint Study Committee on Critical Transportation Funding Infrastructure for Georgia began its work. I am pleased to be a citizen member of this committee. The following are sobering transportation facts we confront in our search for solutions:
• The Georgia Department of Transportation’s revenue sources for Fiscal Year 2015 were approximately $1 billion from our state motor fuel tax and $1.2 billion from the Federal Highway Trust Fund.
• Georgia ranks 49th in the nation in per capita spending on transportation.
• Georgia presently receives back from the federal government $1.14 for every dollar we pay into Federal Highway Trust Fund.
• Fuel taxes paid in Georgia consist of 18.4 cents per gallon in federal taxes and 7.5 cents per gallon in state taxes.
• In addition, consumers pay a 4 percent sales tax on gasoline. Three cents of that tax goes directly to transportation, while the fourth penny goes into the state general fund to be spent on other things. This one-penny diversion equals $180 million per year, on average.
• A Georgia driver with a vehicle that averages 24 miles per gallon and travels 12,000 miles per year will pay approximately $85 in state taxes.
• Our reliance on fuel taxes as a principle means of paying for transportation improvements will be increasingly tenuous in coming years, as cars become more fuel-efficient and the number of electric cars increases.
• Likewise, given the gridlock in Washington and the rising federal deficit, our reliance on federal funds for transportation is also precarious.
• Georgia’s Statewide Transportation Plan for 2005-2035 has an estimated cost of $160 billion. Total expected available transportation dollars based on present revenue resources is estimated at $86 billion over this period, leaving a funding gap of $74 billion.
The discussion, moreover, must also go beyond simply considering how to find more transportation revenue, or any plan offered will face the same fate that befell T-SPLOST in 2012.
While the list of reasons given by voters for T-SPLOST’s rejection was a long one, at its heart was a simple failure to convince people the plan would deliver on the promises being made. Most voters saw the project listweighed down with too many local political pet projects and too little real regional gridlock relief. Any “Plan B” emerging from this study committee, therefore, must also ensure money is spent wisely.
In short, up or down? We either attack our transportation infrastructure problems head on, or sit back and watch our past successes slip away into the history books. The choice is ours. Let the work begin.
Former state Rep. Edward Lindsey is a citizen member of Joint Study Committee on Critical Transportation Funding Infrastructure for Georgia.
