That congestion and transportation challenges in Georgia have taken a back seat for a while can be attributed to the region’s economic woes: Unemployment keeps commuters off the road. As the economy improves, however, traffic logjams will return.
Our transportation bottlenecks include roads, transit, funding — and the image of the state Department of Transportation. The recent upheaval in the DOT is over, but the perception of inefficiencies and mismanagement lingers. Transparency is key to overcoming public mistrust. An easy start is to stream department meetings online so citizens across the state can view the process for themselves.
Of course, after last year’s regional transportation sales tax (T-SPLOST) referendum failed in nine of 12 regions across the state — including in metro Atlanta — funding continues to be a challenge that policymakers, the Legislature and DOT must overcome. It’s time to stop looking to Washington for solutions. Those funds come with strings attached, and the federal bureaucracy’s priorities rarely are in sync with Georgia’s.
State DOT leadership understands the need to find funds through the private sector. Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are crucial to getting projects expedited and completed efficiently; tolls on managed lanes can help fund much-needed infrastructure. Unfortunately, after years of battling the state transportation department as the PPP process has been refined and reworked, many private investors are rightfully skittish.
Part of the problem appears to be a bureaucratic reluctance to relinquish “control” of transportation. DOT leadership must lead by example and demonstrate its willingness to embrace private investment — indeed, to insist that staff actively seek out opportunities to include public-private partnerships.
The 2012 T-SPLOST vote showed jaded Georgians’ reluctance to give more money to transportation. There’s an easy solution. DOT must convince the Legislature to dedicate 100 percent of the state motor fuel sales tax to transportation. Now, just three-fourths of the 4 percent tax goes to transportation; 25 percent goes to the general revenue fund. With an improving economy, the state can afford to allocate all funds to transportation and lead by example.
The hodgepodge in the T-SPLOST project list reflected the politics in the decision-making process. That was on a large scale, but it highlights DOT’s everyday challenges in prioritizing projects. The disconnect between transportation “needs” and “wants” often can be traced to a legislator’s desire to impress constituents. While downtown streetscapes and bike trails are nice to have, DOT must work to allocate funds based on congestion relief and mobility and avoid the latest “smart growth” trends that do not move Georgians quickly, efficiently and cost-effectively from Point A to Point B.
Overcoming politics requires outreach to legislators and local government to promote an understanding of budget and policy decisions. Showing them how the pieces fit together will create a cooperative relationship instead of a combative one, and a better transportation agency in the process.
Benita M. Dodd is a vice president at the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, a conservative think tank.
