Proposed sale of state-owned site on westside furthers interest in new Tech study of Northside Dr. corridor

Monday brings announcement that city will include Northside Drive as a transit corridor in its updated comprehensive transportation program, Connect Atlanta.

$1.1B bus system service between Midtown and Cobb proposed

The $1.8 million study looked at the best possible ways to establish a mass transit conduit from Acworth to the MARTA Arts Center Station in Midtown.

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners were briefed on the progress of a transit alternatives analysis presented by Connect Cobb, a project of the Cobb County Department of Transportation, during their Tuesday morning meeting in Marietta. The $1.8 million study, performed principally by Croy Engineering, looked at the best possible ways to establish a mass transit conduit from Acworth to the MARTA Arts Center Station in Midtown.  The presentation outlined several different mass-transit scenarios, including light rail, express service in HOV or managed lanes on Interstate 75, and a bus rapid transit (BRT) proposal. All proposals have the goal of extending rapid transit options from Cobb County to the existing mass transit systems inside …

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Don't be an S.O.V. (Single Occupant Vehicle)

With gas prices rising, vRide might be the answer for many Atlanta commuters.

While there was much debate over the recent transportation referendum that was defeated two weeks ago, most metro Atlantans can agree that the region suffers from a serious traffic congestion problem. A recent analysis of data from 371 transit providers in the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas revealed that “over three-quarters of all jobs in the 100 largest metropolitan areas are in neighborhoods with transit service. Western metro areas like Los Angeles and Seattle exhibit the highest coverage rates, while rates are lowest in Southern metro areas like Atlanta and Greenville, S.C." Atlanta very well may be home to the largest number of S.O.V.s – or single occupant vehicles – in the entire country. With that in mind, vRide is …

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'T-SPLOST Prospects Look Dim'

Charles Bullock of the University of Georgia, sees small chance of the initiative passing.

Georgia Republicans' aversion to any kind of tax, and concern about riling the Tea Party, are helping to consolidate opposition to the state's one-percent sales tax referendum for transportation, UGA professor Charles Bullock said in an analysis of a recent Patch survey. Patch's unscientific survey of about 60 state Republican activists, candidates and office holders showed overwhelming opposition to the TSPLOST referendum. Bullock, a longtime observer of Georgia politics, says that while the Tea Party didn't put up as many primary challengers to sitting Republican legislators as it had hoped, anti-tax pressure within the party remains high. "So although tons of money is being spent to encourage voting for the T-SPLOST and the support of …

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Are you in favor of connecting Monroe and Ponce via 8th?

On Wednesday, Atlantic Station is partnering with Untie Atlanta for an online Tweetup to discuss the upcoming regional transportation referendum

With less than three weeks to go until the July 31 vote, the T-SPLOST referendum debate is heating up big time. Wednesday morning, Vincent Fort of State Senate District 39, which includes portions of Midtown, is expected to join T-SPLOST opponents, including the Atlanta Tea Party, Sierra Club, the NACCP, and AFL-CIO, in a press conference on the steps of the Georgia State Capitol. Fifty-two percent of the projects list to be funded by the proposed one cent sales tax will go to transit projects. On Monday, Sen. Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock), the Senate majority leader, said at a press conference that an alternative plan needed to be created (and voted on in two years when it’s next eligible to be done so) that needs to be less about transit and…

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TSPLOST: Where Do You Stand?

Midtown, how will you vote on the transportation referendum next month?

Thirty-three days. It is just a tad more than a month until metro Atlanta residents head to the polls to vote on a referendum that will fund $8.5 billion in transportation improvements through a regional one percent sales tax. If approved, it will fund a 157-project list that will include many items that will affect transportation and traffic in the inner city. Detailed project maps are available online.   WSB Radio talk show host Adam Goldfein certainly knows where he stands and he is firmly against it. Heard weeknights from 8 – 10 p.m., Goldfein spent his entire Wednesday evening program discussing the upcoming vote and why he’s against it. In a recent blog, Goldfein wrote: "The effectiveness of the T-SPLOST at creating and funding large…

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City Releases Regional Transportation Referendum Draft Project List

If the July 31 referendum passes, the city is expected to receive a little over $9 million per year for ten years, or about $94 million total to spend on local projects.

This past Tuesday evening, the city of Atlanta hosted a Regional Transportation Referendum Open House at City Hall. If the July 31 referendum passes, the city is expected to receive a little over $9 million per year for ten years, or about $94 million total to spend on local projects.  The city of Atlanta transportation project list unveiled gives high priority to multi-modal corridor improvements along major city-maintained roadways and within economic development priority areas. Officials said they will concentrate on making improvements to some of the city’s busiest roads and intersections. In addition, making heavily congested areas more pedestrian friendly and making parks more bike friendly would also focused goals. Over the last …

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Cassidy Turley Video Series Supports TSPLOST Initiative

Weekly series will feature interviews with Atlanta business and community leaders.

The Midtown-based office of commercial real estate services provider Cassidy Turley has launched a 10-week video campaign supporting the passage of metro Atlanta’s historic TSPLOST ballot initiative. Each week until the July 31 vote, Cassidy Turley will release a two-minute video featuring an interview with a prominent Atlanta business or community leader to educate the public about the importance of the TSPLOST initiative, which would fund a series of transportation projects aimed at alleviating the traffic congestion plaguing metro Atlanta. Interviewees will include Sam Massell, former Atlanta mayor and current president of The Buckhead Coalition; Jim Durrett, executive director of The Buckhead Community Improvement District and a member…

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North Ave or 10th St: Which is better for 'crosstown' streetcar route?

The Atlanta BeltLine has secured $600 million of the upcoming transportation referendum project list, including $227 million for a 'crosstown' line that would connect the westside of the BeltLine with the eastside.

In two months, residents across the 10-county Atlanta region, including City of Atlanta residents, will head to the polls to vote on the Transportation Investment Act (TIA) referendum that would fund $8.5 billion in transportation improvements through a regional 1 percent sales tax. The vote will come on July 31 and a lot is riding on it. Last week, a Rosetta Stone poll was released by WSB-TV indicating that 42 percent of likely voters would vote yes. No information about the demographics of those polled was provided and the margin of error was plus or minus 3 percent. Proponents of the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) contend the economic future of Atlanta and the state are hanging in the balance. Those who …

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