"I thank God that we were able to get it done. There have been lot of talks, a lot of discussion, a lot of going back and forth between my board and MARTA's board. Luckily, we were able to come to an agreement the citizens wanted. And today's vote did nothing more than to put it on a referendum for the citizens to vote on in November. If this measure failed today, we would have been doing nothing more than suppressing their vote. I am thankful enough board members came on board at least to pass it. We owed it to the citizens to provide them with transit, because that's what they were asking for. The next step will be to have it on the ballot and let the citizens decide. I'm hoping for a positive outcome. I have faith in the contract (with MARTA). When you talk about economic development and job growth, it's great. Right now, we don't have a way to get citizens to jobs. I would predict, if I'm a betting man, that this measure passes with 75 to 80 percent of the vote."— Jeffrey E. Turner, Clayton County commission chairman
"The last time we were here (July 1), we heard the story of a woman who walked an hour to be here. She didn't have a car. She didn't have another way to be here. But she wanted to make sure her voice was heard for transit. It's stuff like that, that stays with us. That's what makes this matter so much. The team effort that went into making this happen is one that I'm going to remember for a long time. We're extremely confident we'll have some excellent transit service working if rail doesn't happen." — Robbie Ashe, chairman, MARTA Board of Directors
"Cobb and Gwinnett (counties) will fall behind Clayton because of this. They have no passenger rail at all. Clayton now has a chance to go from worst to first. The amazing thing is that transit helps the wealthy as well as the poor. All of our counties need public transit. It's the great equalizer." — Lee Biola, chairman, Citizens for Progressive Transit
"Our goal is to develop a series of different alternatives for Clayton County to take a look at. We feel confident that within the budget we have allotted to us, we'll be able to come up with excellent high-capacity options. The first choice would be commuter rail, and if the commuter rail line does not come to fruition, we'll have some other excellent service that we're extremely confident about. We will start deliberations with Norfolk Southern (railroad) as soon as practical." — Keith Parker, MARTA CEO and general manager
