Throughout metro Atlanta, the Braves’ announcement that they are moving from Turner Field to a new stadium in Cobb County has generated a wide variety of reactions. But whether you support the move or not, everyone agrees the proposed location, at the traffic-choked intersection of I-75 and I-285, presents a major transportation challenge.
The good news is that the move also presents an opportunity to advance a conversation of critical importance to Cobb’s future: expanding mass transit.
That conversation is playing out against the backdrop of rapidly shifting perspectives about transit in the region. A recent poll by the Atlanta Regional Commission found 71 percent of area residents think improved transit is “very important” to the region’s future, and more respondents now favor transit expansion than any other traffic-relief strategy, including more roads.
Fortunately, several major transit investments for Cobb are already in planning. One is the proposed Cobb Parkway bus rapid transit (BRT) line from Kennesaw to Cumberland. Not your average city bus, the service would have its own lanes and fixed stations like rail transit. And its Cobb Parkway alignment, which would deliver Braves fans right to the stadium’s doorstep, could change the transportation dynamic for the new stadium and Cobb as a whole.
In addition to transit improvements within the county, Cobb also needs strengthened connections to the rest of the region, including Atlanta. This is where expansion of our rail network has a role to play. Over the years, various ideas for light rail connections have been floated, including potential links from Cumberland to central Atlanta and from Cumberland to Perimeter along the I-285 top end. Both concepts would complement the Cobb Parkway BRT proposal and are worthy of further consideration.
But regardless which corridor or technology is pursued first, a necessary first step will be identifying a funding source that can pay for these long-term investments. Thankfully, such a source is available to Cobb today: the MARTA Act. Cobb is one of three counties, along with Clayton and Gwinnett, authorized to join MARTA under existing law. Joining MARTA would give Cobb the capacity to make the major transit investment it needs, and it could be put to a vote during any general election year.
Some have pointed to Cobb’s original rejection of MARTA in the 1960s as a sign transit is not wanted in the county. But the Cobb County of today is a vastly different place from the county that voted down MARTA nearly 50 years ago. It is far more diverse. It is rapidly urbanizing. And like the larger Atlanta region depicted in the ARC poll, it has a growing population of residents who are demanding alternatives to being stuck in their cars.
By landing the Braves, Cobb is signaling it is ready to be a big-league place — which means having a big-league transit system. It is time to advance the conversation about serious rail and bus investment in Cobb County.
David Emory is president of Citizens for Progressive Transit.
