This article, Don’t Railroad Taxpayers into Transit Subsidies, asserts that “…no rail line should be designed or constructed unless approved by majority vote at the ballot box.”
Good idea. After all, this is a democracy, right?
So the next logical step here is to make sure that a majority of the public is on board with any significant investment in new infrastructure. That would mean putting any new roads up to a vote, too. After all, it’s only fair.
Luckily, we do live in a democracy and we all do get to vote. But some people aren’t too keen on letting us vote on the issues that matter most to us. In the last legislative session of the Georiga General Assembly, approval of a referendum on a consitutional amendment for a new transportation funding source failed.
A new survey by the Transit Planning Board indicates that there may be more interest in public transportation in the Atlanta region than many choose to believe.
Given the staggering growth projections for this region, given the aging of the population and their future transportation needs and given that we are, today, gridlocked, the least state leaders could do is allow citizens to choose whether or not they want to pay for transit services.
That’s just the bare minimum. That’s just a start.
Eventually, the folks who blocked the vote on the transportation sales tax may want to start thinking about how we’ll get around 50 years from now.
How do you envision the Atlanta region’s transport system 50 years from now?
May 7, 2008 at 8:44 pm
I envision Atlanta’s transportation system to be clogged and pitiful. Directly related to that, I envision Atlanta’s economy to be less diverse and sluggish, mainly because other regions chose to invest in light rail, greenspace, affordable housing and other attributes that make up thriving cities.
May 20, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Will top-down, legislative policy initiatives actually prove most effective, or even necessary? Do we need to rely on lethargic elected officials (and the constituency they represent)? How about free market realities such as the possibility of five dollar per gallon gasoline by the end of this summer?! That’ll stir much of the general population into changing their behavior. Free market based “dollar votes” which will increasingly provide demand for alternatives to driving are likely to be most powerful.
The POSITIVE results of this likely scenario may include: less traffic congestion, more people walking, riding their bikes, and taking MARTA, fewer Hummers, cleaner air, and lessened suburban sprawl. Sure, prices of other commodities may increase but I sure like the list above. Woo Hoo! $5 gas! Do I hear $6?! I almost can’t wait.
Hopefully, elected officials will have no other option but to respond in the proper manner. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, they will be relegated to following and not leading – following, nonetheless.