The cardinal problem with rail transit is the influence of special interests, forcing logical deliberation to take a back seat.
The lust for rail projects is so strong that rational thought simply disappears. Certain development interests see new, heavily subsidized rail projects as an attractive feature to sell real estate projects. They do not care about the costs, because they are not responsible for paying the costs.
Peering through the hype surrounding the 2012 regional T-SPLOST referendum, it was easy to see that critical questions were being avoided. First, no one could give us a dollar figure on the maximum amount the region or state was willing to pay for rail transit per rider. Second, no one could tell us how we would pay the perpetual operation and maintenance costs of current and proposed rail transit.
We are being asked to spend billions of dollars on projects with the faint promise that the government will somehow figure out how to pay the billions in continued expenses. Does this sound like skillful planning to you?
I’m sad to say special interests and state Republican leaders’ ultimate goal is to plonk us into an eventual, permanent, annual, multi-billion-dollar regional sales tax to fund an expanded rail system that accounts for a small, single-digit percentage of the commuting population. Of course, cost per rider is irrelevant because we do not have a model that offers a red line, determining whether a rail project is worth building. Feelings are more important than figures.
Currently, Atlanta is suffering from under-utilization of its existing transit network due to low population density. Atlanta is one of the lowest-density metropolitan areas in the United States and not a suitable candidate for a successful commuter rail system. New York, Paris, Seoul and Moscow are excellent candidates.
Nearly all rail transit is heavily subsidized, so it only makes sense to choose projects that produce the greatest efficiency — something government cares little about.
Why would state government want to begin funding a rail system tantamount to a financial black hole? Likewise, why would taxpayers in Valdosta, Albany, Athens, Blue Ridge and Chickamauga want to pay Atlanta’s transportation costs, especially uneconomical alternatives?
In 2011, then-MARTA CEO Beverly Scott warned the transit system would have $2.9 billion in unfunded maintenance costs over the next decade. Why do my fellow Republican elected officials want to expand this type of financial liability with commuter rail?
Supposed successes like the Charlotte-Raleigh Piedmont service in North Carolina rely on federal assistance in the form of competitive, merit-based grants. But federal transportation funds are dwindling. North Carolina taxpayers will end up carrying the burden.
Keep in mind that every Georgia dollar spent on ineffective rail expansion is a dollar not producing in our local economy. We need to examine worthwhile forms of transit other than “too big to fail” rail projects.
Steve Brown is chairman of the Fayette County Board of Commissioners and a member of the Transportation Leadership Coalition.
