
After reading this article on the snail's pace (no pun intended) that the Georgia Legislature is acting to pass a transportation funding mechanism, all I can say is:
This is ridiculous.
Our state legislature only meets for 40 days a year, and they put off such a critical issue until the last minute. What is even more ridiculous is that they got to the same point last year, and adjourned without passing anything.
I am especially incensed about this particular issue: The Federal government has $87 million set aside for funding commuter rail between Atlanta and Griffin, and has been waiting for years for Georgia to provide $15 million to make it happen. Last year, it ALMOST happened, again, being held up another year as a result of the impasse in the Georgia Legislature. This year, again, the money has been left out of the budget.
No wonder Atlanta has some of the worst traffic in the nation. We rank close to the very bottom in per capita investments in transportation infrastructure, yet we are one of the fastest growing states in the nation.
For more information on this issue, visit Get Georgia Moving.
I especially like that Get Georgia Moving provides Denver as a valuable case study. Denver is aggressively building light rail and other transportation infrastructure as a result of the FasTracks Program, partially funded by a regional (let me say that again, R-E-G-I-O-N-A-L, this means YOU, Gwinnett and Cobb!) 0.4% increase in sales tax and issuance of bonds.
More coverage on this issue through Forbes Magazine.