Atlanta Forward readers responded to recent columns on dwindling gas tax revenues by Georgia Department of Transportation Deputy Commissioner Todd Long, commuter Ben Assaf and transportation policy writer Robert Poole. Here are some select comments:
Don: Ben Assaf has found "big truth." When I started riding an express bus from Sugarloaf Mills to Midtown years ago, I found: 1) I get to work ready to go and get home less grouchy and tired. 2) I don't care how bad the traffic is on I-85 — even when the bus gets stuck in it. I'm usually asleep or reading. Not a minute of my life is wasted having to drive in traffic. 3) I have avoided having to buy a new car, and my car insurance is much cheaper. I used to drive 15,000 miles a year to work. Now it's less than 5,000 — and it's always close to home. 4) The bus is cheaper than gas plus parking (even at a sketchy surface lot). That each bus takes 30 to 50 cars off of I-85 is good justification for paying for its operation out of tax revenue. It greatly slows the need to expand capacity. GDOT might just have to find some other work to do.
Sawb: Sort of funny that the government has mandated more fuel-efficient cars, and now the revenue is down, so they want to toll and/or tax us. It reminds me of the issue with water a few years ago when we were asked to conserve — which, of course, like good citizens, we did. The utilities then wanted to raise rates to offset the revenue loss. As for the idea of tolls, I see the logic in using tolls to fund new roadway projects. However, adding tolls to existing roadways is wrong. Remember, many of us have paid fuel taxes for years to build those roads, and now someone is proposing charging a toll for us to use them. It would really be nice to have some pro-growth leaders along with an impartial economist making these decisions instead of the ideologues we currently have at the federal and state levels.
Another Voice: Peak-hour shoulder lanes on sections of Ga. 400 help move southbound morning commuters faster. Want to really see improvement? Widen the exit ramp at Northridge so that it is two lanes all the way up to the traffic signal. That diverging diamond — clever. Wish you'd light these and mark the lanes better, though. In nighttime, especially with rain, it's a hazard. Ramp meters on entrance ramps have improved interstate traffic flow by 14 percent? Maybe so, but the backups on surface roads is the trade-off. Try southbound Peachtree-Dunwoody Road after 4 p.m. for an example of "success." How about applying that "customer service" mentality to improving the way various jurisdictions work on mass transit? Obviously, we have plenty of "customer demand" on the top-end Perimeter, yet we have no mass transit solution. A bus connection from Doraville MARTA or even the park-ride lot at Indian Trail to Perimeter Mall MARTA and then to the Cobb Transit station at Cumberland Mall/Galleria would be a huge step forward.
