By PATRICK STAFFORD
Special to the Citizen

Any savvy Atlanta driver knows that the secret to driving is to find the route less traveled, and it may make all the difference in the world. The problem is that the "secret" is quickly discovered and you are once again back in gridlock.

Well, pardon me if I do not choose to ramble on about a subject that has been and may continue to be talked about for years and years. It is merely my intent to offer a few short timeframe suggestions to alleviate some vehicular traffic along Interstate 20, I-75 and the west side of I-285 in metropolitan Atlanta.

While they may not be the most innovative ideas on the planet, some of them might just help us out in a portion of Atlanta as we work on future solutions. Additionally, the pattern to these "simply seven" suggestions is that they tie together like building blocks, revolving around the unscientifically designated "center of metro Atlanta" Fulton County Airport. They are as follows:

Initially, steps should be taken to encourage the Cobb County Transit (CCT) system to formulate an agreement with MARTA to deliver to and depart from the Fulton County Airport.

MARTA should then commence two routes of bus service from Fulton County Airport to the Hamilton Holmes Station and along Fulton Industrial Boulevard to the Campbellton Road Park-and-Ride Lot. This would allow the I-20 and I-285 westside patrons from the city of Atlanta and the counties of Cobb, Douglas and Fulton to have an alternative to driving by riding CCT and MARTA and avoid the often massive delays driving north or south on I-285.

Secondly, the CCT buses, MARTA buses, and Douglas County should be encouraged to provide express service from the six major employment centers of Town Center Mall, Cumberland Mall, the Fulton Industrial Business District, Greenbrier Mall, Shannon Mall, and Arbor Place Mall and establish or utilize existing park-and-ride lots along the route(s) to tie into the express service.

The third suggestion is that Douglas County should establish an agreement with MARTA, GRTA, or Clayton County to establish express bus service to and from Hartsfield International Airport from the Camp Creek Parkway­Thornton Road hotel area.

The fourth suggestion is that Douglas County should work out an agreement with MARTA to establish express bus service from the Fulton County Airport or Hamilton Holmes Station to Arbor Place Mall.

The fifth suggestion is that MARTA should establish daily local service from Fulton County Airport along Fulton Industrial Boulevard to Westgate Parkway from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The current ridership along portions of that route is 4,600 per day, placing it among MARTA's top three routes.

The sixth suggestion is that public, private and quasi-private operations such as the state of Georgia, Fulton County, Six Flags and the Georgia World Congress Center should run buses from Fulton County Airport to their designated destinations to alleviate some traffic congestion caused by their employees and patrons.

The final suggestion is that counties, chambers of commerce, and planning authorities need to work more diligently to seek agreement and arrangements across county lines in order to protect and perfect their citizens' quality of life for the betterment of the entire metro Atlanta area. We can do no less for our future.

[Patrick Stafford is a writer. He has written for a number of years on trends and intergovernmental issues of concern to various communities.]

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