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Fayette Chairman Smith: Build commuter rail down I-85Tue, 03/11/2008 - 4:33pm
By: The Citizen
For years, the state’s leaders have argued about solving the region’s transportation woes. From a possible Outer Perimeter to bus-only lanes on the interstate highways, trial balloons have been floated and shot down. But a new group that has been studying transportation issues for the last 18 months believes it a has a solution for the area. The Transit Planning Board is composed of regional leaders, among them Fayette County Commission Chairman Jack Smith, who sits on the board. “I think it’s important for Fayette’s residents to have access to reasonably available mass transit,” Smith said. But access does not mean that Fayette residents will soon see busses or rail lines in the county anytime soon. The organization’s Concept 3 plan shows a commuter rail line extending from downtown Atlanta to Senoia with a transit center in Peachtree City. The plan also shows bus routes in the county, but Smith is not in favor of either proposal. Instead, Smith believes the focus should be more on rail and focusing on existing commuter patterns. For instance, Smith believes a rail line should run south down Interstate 85 with stops in Union City and Newnan. “I think the existing plan relies too heavily on buses. We need to offer folks a better way,” he said. Because of Fayette’s affluence, Smith believes the key for residents to use mass transit is the time factor. “We have to show residents how this could save them some time. If they could drive to a park and ride lot in Newnan or Jonesboro and save time, they would use it,” he said. Instead of using existing railroad right of ways for new tracks, Smith advocates looking at the commuter patterns and placing the rail lines there. “It might be cheaper now to use those existing right of ways, but freight predictions show those lines are going to be even more travelled, and we could end up having to lose the use of those right of ways,” he said. Smith knows he has an uphill fight but said the time is now to get the plan moving. “It’s only going to get more expensive the longer we wait,” he added. According to the group’s website,tpb,ga,gov, the organization is a joint venture between the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA). It is established through joint resolution of the governing boards of the three agencies. The TPB was created as a result of the lack of a clear institutional and financing structure to expand transit in the Atlanta region. Its primary mission is the creation of a regional transit plan and subsequently a new regional source of funds to implement and operate the system. login to post comments |