Transportation Investment Act Forgets SE Atlanta

By Robert Whittington Titus
Not one single mass transit project serving southest Atlanta was included in the $6 billion list of final transportation project recommendations that the Executive Committee of the Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable adopted and made to its full body on August 15. And that is “SE Atlanta” as defined by the quadrant bounded by I-75 to the west, I-20 to the north and I-285 to the south and east, a much larger area than that served by this publication.
This, despite the fact the area contains the highest percentage of “transit dependent households” in the entire region, if not the state. About $3 billion could be slated for new transit projects in the 10-county Atlanta region through the Transportation Investment Act (TIA) process. “Transit” includes regular bus service, bus rapid transit, and urban street cars as well as light and heavy rail. Not a single dime will be expended in southeast Atlanta for these types of services. However, more than $2.5 billion is slated for investment in at least five transit projects serving communities north of I-20, primarily north of downtown Atlanta.
Ironically, the Georgia Regional Transit Authority (GRTA) express bus service, currently funded by the state, may now be partially accommodated through the TIA process to the tune of approximately $100 million. About $3 billion in TIA funds is allocated for roadway (vs. transit) improvements. In SE Atlanta there are two potential traffic management improvement projects, budgeted at approximately $2 million, which may be included in the City’s list of roadway improvement projects, but a final determination on those efforts won’t be known until the fall.
The Atlanta City Council, NPU-W, EACA, and SAND have all formally expressed their support for two SE Atlanta oriented projects to more than a dozen elected officials and the Roundtable. These are the MARTA East I-20 Transit Initiative from downtown to Candler Road, and the Moreland Bus Rapid Transit initiative.
The next opportunities for residents of SE Atlanta to communicate with the members of Atlanta Regional Transportation Roundtable will be on Thursday, September 15 at 6:00pm at Atlanta City Hall and on Wednesday, September 28 at 6:00pm at the Manual Maloof Auditorium, 1300 Commerce Drive in Decatur.