Government leaders have taken people’s angst for traffic congestion and turned it into a special-interest boondoggle list rife with pet projects that will have very little impact on commuting traffic woes. The T-SPLOST has turned into a federal-style stimulus program where the people in the building, transportation and engineering industries reap a huge windfall while the rest of us will continue to sit in traffic day after day.
Government numbers show that $8 billion will save a mere 2.5 minutes per day. We can do a lot better. Likewise, the $3.2 billion set aside for mass transit will affect only 1.8 percent of all AM/PM drive-time commuters.
ARC transit planner Cain Williamson was asked how our region, which cannot cover current operating and maintenance costs for MARTA and GRTA buses now, would cover the exorbitant costs of a significantly expanded transit system, totaling in the billions year-over-year. Williamson’s reply: “We don’t have an answer for that yet.” No answer on how to pay billions in perpetual transit costs? Do you need another reason to vote against T-SPLOST?
The planning expert, Chris Leinberger, on the T-SPLOST light rail projects, admitted: “The goal of having a rail system is not for traffic relief, but for economic development.” Special interests have twisted a referendum created for traffic relief and, instead, created a bogus stimulus program for the development industry.
Development attorney Doug Dillard, chairman of the pro-T-SPLOST Council for Quality Growth, said, “If we’re going to bring real estate out of this depression, we’ve got to give it some help.” Weren’t we promised the referendum was about traffic relief? Now we’re salvaging the real estate market?
We’re told we have to be like Portland and spend billions on light rail and streetcars and billions on development subsidies. But Portland still has thick traffic congestion and a journey-to-work study shows their commute to work transit ridership remained flat for 12 years even though they opened four new transit lines during that period.
If you want the train projects implemented, it’s not happening (they are only partially funded and it will take an additional 10 years of sales tax or more to complete them).
Clayton County will receive a new bus system with no plans on how to fund it.
Imagine what we could do with $8 billion to resolve congestion if we didn’t pander to certain special interest groups.
Steve Brown is a Fayette County Commissioner and member of the Transportation Leadership Coalition.
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