Atlanta - MARTA expansion bill passes

[shivtim]

Originally Posted by electricron

A bill that allows them to hold a referendum in Fulton County, which still has to pass. An additional half cent sales tax over the full penny already in force is a regressive tax on the poor. Who knows how the electorate will react to the referendum? Maybe it will pass, and maybe it will fail. Let's wait and see the eggs hatch before we start counting chickens.

1) Nobody's counting chickens. We're counting eggs. It's good to finally have some transit eggs in Atlanta.
2)I agree about the regressive tax. It sucks. But that's all the state will give us right now. Hopefully, if it passes, the money can then be used to leverage Federal funds, so it's not all paid for on sales tax. In addition, the property tax allocation district for the Beltline is a non-regressive funding source.
3)Transit has strong support in the City of Atlanta, and previous sales tax referendums (on transit, water infrastructure, general infrastructure, schools) have all passed by wide margins.

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by N830MH

Ah, just stay away from the gay areas. Do not go there! Don't don't it. It would be very extremely dangerous for that.

Are you really saying that gay people are dangerous? That is so insensitive.

As for the color, while my preference for a line serving a gay area in the Atlanta metro area would be the Brown Line, the colors Orange, Purple, or Silver are also available. The color Pink should be avoided for a line serving a gayborhood since it promotes gay stereotypes and could be offensive to some gays. I am not gay myself, but I hate the stereotype that men who like or wear pink are gay (considering pink is my signature color), and probably many gay people hate that stereotype as well.

The Lake View area (Chicago's largest gayborhood) isn't served by CTA's Pink Line; it is served by the Red, Purple, and Brown Lines.

If there is any gay stereotype that relates to the color Brown that I am unaware of, please let me know.

[cabasse]

fantastic news about the governor signing the bill, as expected. apologies for steering this thread off topic.

[BrownTown]

Originally Posted by cabasse

i'm gay, and as far as i'm aware there is no stereotype that relates to the color brown.

Is that a joke? You can't possibly think of a stereotype associated with the color brown? In Atlanta of all places? Seriously?

[Pink Jazz]

Originally Posted by BrownTown

Is that a joke? You can't possibly think of a stereotype associated with the color brown? In Atlanta of all places? Seriously?

Specifically relating to gays? I don't know of any. There are plenty of stereotypes about the color pink that relate to gays, which is why it would be inappropriate for a line serving a gayborhood to be called the Pink Line.

[shivtim]

MARTA unveiled their initial project list today.

Heavy rail, light rail, and BRT expansions:


Bus expansions:


$2.5 billion wouldn't quite fund all of this, but it could all be funded if additional funds are leveraged (for example, Federal funds and the Beltline TAD funds).

[cabasse]

the push for LRT on the beltline and crosstown and the additional infill stations is exciting to me - those in particular would greatly increase transit connectivity in the densest parts with the most potential for further improvements. the future of things is looking very positive back home.

[eleven=11]

can we change name of forum to
Marta expansion IF bill passes?

[cabasse]

Originally Posted by eleven=11

can we change name of forum to
Marta expansion IF bill passes?

the title makes sense in the context of local politics. the biggest hurdle by far was getting the government to allow the city (if not the greater metro, yet) to vote to tax itself to expand transportation. as was mentioned earlier, the former TSPLOST vote back in 2012 passed in the same area that this bill covers by a large margin. it is very likely that this bill will pass as well once presented to the same group of voters.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by cabasse

the title makes sense in the context of local politics. the biggest hurdle by far was getting the government to allow the city (if not the greater metro, yet) to vote to tax itself to expand transportation. as was mentioned earlier, the former TSPLOST vote back in 2012 passed in the same area that this bill covers by a large margin. it is very likely that this bill will pass as well once presented to the same group of voters.

You're probably correct, assuming there aren't other refrendrums to raise taxes on the same ballot.
Who knows what will happen if voters are given a choice of multiple tax increasing refrendrums on the same ballot?

I'm not suggesting that will happen, just that it could happen.

[shivtim]

This week the Atlanta city council unanimously approved a list of transit projects, so this is on its way to voters in November.

Google map of proposed transit construction

"A light-rail system connecting the Beltline loop as well as Midtown, Southwest Atlanta and downtown is one of the major proposed improvements. MARTA also proposes extending the heavy-rail Blue Line westward.
The plan calls also for the building of rail stations at Murphy Crossing, Boone and Armour Circle (in south Buckhead). Meanwhile, existing stations would receive rehabilitation, maintenance and additional signage.
The focus with bus transportation is to add rapid transit routes while also increasing frequency for local routes. Bus services would include on Cascade Road, Campbellton Road, Metropolitan Parkway and Peachtree Road. Transit centers where drivers can park buses could also be added at Greenbriar Mall and Moores Mill."

It's important to note that the tax wouldn't actually pay for all of these things - the idea is that with Federal funding and other funding sources (Beltline TAD, state, regional commissions, etc) this would all get built. Otherwise, it's an edited "menu" of options, and some more will need to be removed.

And here's the BRT proposal for Northside Drive:


"The buses can travel from end to end with almost a guaranteed travel time of about 20 minutes... We’ll be running every 10 minutes, morning, noon and night, as well as on the weekends.”

[shivtim]

The tax passed.

ATLANTA MARTA REFERENDUM
Yes Percent 71.53% Votes 123,539
No Percent 28.47% Votes 49,163

"MARTA will expand in Atlanta, according to the city. Voters overwhelmingly approved a half-penny sales tax that will last for 40 years, and is intended to raise more than $2 billion."

More info here on the MARTA tax and the bike/ped/streets tax that was also approved.

[Eightball]

Congrats Atliens, great work

[N830MH]

Congratulations! Great job!!! You did it!

[orulz]

I noted that this measure hopes to pay for 5 Marta infill stations, but not all are noted on the map (presumably because their exact location has not yet been determined?) I did some searching and found that they are:

• Mechanicsville

Plus, four intersection points with the Beltline.

1. Armour (Northern intersection of Red/Yellow, Amtrak, and Clifton Corridor with Beltline)
2. Hulsey/Krog (Eastern intersection of Green/Blue with Beltline)
3. Boone (Western intersection of Green Line with Beltline)
4. Murphy Crossing (Southern intersection of Red/Yellow with Beltline

[bobdreamz]

Congrats to the ATL on willing to tax themselves to improve transit in their city .

[CastleScott]

Congrads Atlanta and 71.53% is HUGE!!

[tdawg]

Not sure if it's been mentioned here yet but MARTA finally updated their horrible web site. It's a huge step forward, although I wish the rail map was more front and center.
http://itsmarta.com/Default.aspx

[SpawnOfVulcan]

Originally Posted by tdawg

Not sure if it's been mentioned here yet but MARTA finally updated their horrible web site. It's a huge step forward, although I wish the rail map was more front and center.
http://itsmarta.com/Default.aspx

Very modern, yo.

Maybe with Atlanta's approval of funding and wishes to expand, Birmingham's transit authority will notice and pursue the goals they've boasted about achieving...

[electricron]

Originally Posted by CastleScott

Congrads Atlanta and 71.53% is HUGE!!

Yes, a very successful referendum is something worthy to celebrate.