Wednesday, February 26, 2003
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Wednesday, February 26, 2003 |
Fayette officials looking at regional transitBy JOHN
THOMPSON
Fayette County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn says he favors a regional transportation approach, but is not ready to sign on to any new taxes to pay for a system. During the Atlanta Regional Commission's recent retreat, the group agreed to approach Gov. Sonny Perdue about seeking a regional transportation group to oversee operations of a system. MARTA is currently financially strapped, and Dunn said there are ways to help the ailing transit system without the outlying counties paying a regional transportation tax. "MARTA is the only subway system in the country that does not receive an aid from the state. You can also change the gas tax to help fund the system," he said. Dunn said DeKalb and Fulton counties cannot continue to fund the system by itself and other funding sources have to be found. Since Fayette County does not have any public transit currently, Dunn does not favor residents paying a transportation tax. But in the next 10 years, the county may have a need for buses and he would like to see an agency already in place to help guide the transit plans. In fact, Dunn would love to see GRTA operate as a transit operating agency. "You can't do both roads and transit. It's just too big," he said. Dunn also believes the days of heavy rail systems such as MARTA will soon go the way of the dinosaurs and transit systems such as flex-rail, which is far cheaper and more flexible, will become the norm. "Flex-rail allows you to monitor the growth patterns and allows you to quickly provide transit where the growth occurs," he said. The issue of the state stepping in and helping out MARTA and getting further involved in transportation issues is expected to be voted on by the full ARC at its March meeting, he added.
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