Regional Redundancy

The AJC,1/31/18 article State Senator offers outline for regional transit system  Brandon Beach would call it the Atlanta-region Transit Link Commission and it would funnel transit funds to transit projects. The reason he gives for this is that 4 years ago, he tried to go from Kennesaw to Duluth and it took him 3.5 hours. Apparently he tried to take the bus and discovered what all bus travelers already knew; it takes twice as long to take a bus than it takes when you drive your car. The real problem between Kennesaw and Duluth is I-75, I-285 and I-85 gridlock and the lack of an East-West highway grid.

 

We already have ARC, the Atlanta Regional Commission, useless as they are. ARC tried to give MARTA $3.5 billion in the 2012 T-SPLOST, but it failed.  If he can get the Georgia legislature to approve this duplication, he should also set up the “Department of Redundancy Department” to oversee all duplicative, competing efforts.

 

Brandon Beach is a developer and CID chief who has been in the mall business.  He was championing a $2.5 billion MARTA expansion to his Alpharetta mall, but that didn’t succeed. He is the poster child for conflict of interest.  

 

Government run public transit costs twice as much and is half as efficient.  Private bus service is the answer. Beach would not agree, because he wants bags of “economic development” cash to build ever-failing retail space for his overpriced empty transit villages.

 

Brandon Beach is nuts, because the transit village model is dead and so is the mall model and taxpayers are not likely to approve another sales tax hike. We have Uber for God’s sake.

 

MARTA is the creature of DeKalb and Fulton counties and should remain so. MARTA will never be a “break-even” operation and will always need a 2 cent sales tax subsidy.

 

Public transit is the easiest thing government can remove from its budget. They should do this and open their routes to public companies that should be able to operate without oversight by the Georgia legislature. They can be kept occupied by continuing to ruin healthcare and education.

 

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader