Friday, March 8, 2002
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Friday, March 8, 2002 |
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County wants answers before it board the bus By JOHN
THOMPSON Before Coweta County commits to any express bus routes, it needs more answers. That's the message the Coweta County commissioners delivered to officials from the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority Tuesday. GRTA has proposed a program that would allow metro counties to get on board a bus program for a small cost. In return, GRTA pledged a large amount of transportation funds would be released to the county. In Coweta's case, GRTA is asking the county to pay $850,000 up front, in return for nearly $9 million in transportation funds. Commissioner Vernon "Mutt" Hunter said he would drive to Atlanta tomorrow to sign the contract if everything was as GRTA has promised. But Hunter said state Department of Transportation Commissioner ? Coleman said the DOT has not signed onto the program. The GRTA officials expressed surprise that Coleman would issue such a statement, but pledged to get the county answers on their questions. GRTA plans running six buses a day to and from Hartsfield Airport, where residents could connect to MARTA. It's also possible the buses could run to high employment areas, such as Delta's facilities. If the county accepts the funds, they could be used to improve arterial roads such as Lower Fayetteville Road. The program has sparked controversy in the 13-county Atlanta region. Commissioner Lawrence Nelms asked a question about a neighboring county's take on the offer. "Why isn't Fayette County participating?" he asked. The GRTA officials said they were not comfortable speaking for anyone else, but said the impression they got was that Fayette County did not want commuter buses as part of their transportation plans. The officials pledged to get back to Coweta County with answers to their questions. Commissioners said they would be glad to meet with GRTA's chairman, Catherine Ross.
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