Several City of Atlanta elected leaders are urging MARTA and the city to move forward with rail on the Atlanta Beltline.
Atlanta City Council President Doug Shipman went as far as saying that without rail on the Beltline, we will have failed our future.
Three other city councilmembers — Liliana Bakhtiari, Amir Farokhi and Jason Dozier — also are voicing strong support to move ahead with the Atlanta Streetcar extension to the Eastside Beltline and onwards to Ponce City Market.
Shipman made his comments during Beltline Rail Now’s unfurling of a large banner promoting Beltline rail on a red brick building in Reynoldstown on Aug 17.
“Equity will never be solved unless we have transportation,” Shipman told the enthusiastic crowd of Beltline rail advocates. “Affordability will never be solved unless we have transportation. Transportation in areas that have been underinvested in is not enough. Transportation from areas that have been underinvested in — to affluent areas — is required.”
Shipman went on to explain that jobs are being created along the Eastside trail, and it is important to provide access to those jobs.
“If we exclude parts of Atlanta from access, we simply continue to build inequality into the fabric of our city,” Shipman said. “We cannot have equity without transit on this corridor.”
The issue of Beltline rail has become more controversial since an influential group created Better Atlanta Transit by questioning plans to put a streetcar on the corridor.
Shipman, who ran for City Council President on a platform of Beltline rail, said his commitment is steadfast. If anything, he is even more committed to rail because of environmental reasons. He pointed out how the State of Georgia continues to spend billions of dollars to build highways.
In the past week, the state announced it was going to spend $1.2 billion on a new 1-285 interchange at I-20 as well as $4.6 billion for 15 miles of toll roads on Georgia 400 north of I-285.
Shipman said that investment is being during a summer when “we continue to suffer from heat, from humidity, from rainstorms and from air quality that is below health standards.”
Then he declared: “Climate change is here,” as the Beltline rail supporters agreed.
“We cannot have a healthy Atlanta without more mass transit in Atlanta,” Shipman said. “We have to face the reality that our economic future, our health future, our vitality is at stake with climate change. It comes down to heat and water in Atlanta, and we need to deliver more transit options. And this is the one we must deliver for a healthy Atlanta.”
Shipman said that if we don’t build Beltline rail, we as a city will have failed as we did when outlying counties did not vote to expand MARTA.
“If we do not put rail on the Beltline, we will once again fail our future,” Shipman said. “I am not going to fail our future.
You are not going to fail our future. We cannot afford to fail our future. Let’s fulfill the commitments that we have made.”
In an interview after the event, Shipman added: “If we are serious about mass transit, rail is the only viable solution. I’m convinced it will work. Atlanta is better off competitively leaning into being a city and not being a suburb.”
Although they were not present at the event, the three other councilmembers sent in statements of their support for Beltline rail.
Amir Farokhi of District 2, which includes the Eastside Trail, said he supports rail for two reasons.
First, rail, above other technologies, is proven in countless cities across the country and the world,” he wrote. “We have studied other modalities. Light rail delivers. We should, of course, be good stewards of public dollars. This is a must. Yet, we are also called to be good stewards of the City’s future. Livability, affordability, and vibrancy in all corners of the city are tied to this transit project. It’s time to stop second guessing ourselves and commit to being bold and transformative.
The second reason…is that we do not exist in a vacuum. As much as we love Atlanta, it is not the only place to live. We are in constant competition for jobs and people in the Metro region and across the South and Sun Belt. Our peer cities, close and far, are not hesitating to invest in light rail and other transit. They see the immediate and long-term benefit of these investments. They are building vibrant, livable communities. And they love beating us when they can. When we dawdle, we lose. If we want to ascend from a big American city to one in the upper echelons of great American cities and even global cities, light rail on the Beltline is an investment we need to make.
Jason Dozier, who represents District 4, said he remains committed to transit on the Beltline.
“Specifically, I advocate for the adoption of light rail as the preferred mode of transit for this infrastructure,” Dozier wrote. “Too many significant planning, funding, and right-of-way (ROW) acquisition efforts have already been expended under the premise that rail transit would eventually be integrated into the Beltline framework. Restarting this process from scratch would not only be inefficient but would also squander valuable resources that could have been allocated more effectively elsewhere.”
Liliana Bakhtiari of District 5 said rail was part of Ryan Gravel’s vision when he created the concept for the Beltline.
“With Beltline rail supplementing our current transit infrastructure, we have the opportunity to support affordable transportation, helping to bridge gaps between underserved areas and vibrant communities,” Bakhtiari wrote in her statement. “This connectivity is essential for fostering inclusivity and ensuring that all Atlantans benefit from economic opportunities and access to essential services.”
Bakhtiari expressed frustration that light rail transit has not yet been realized.
“We are a world class city that is building our progress on clay legs,” she wrote. “Without alternative forms of transit, without multimodal connectivity, we are land locking ourselves and deepening class divides and our ever-widening wealth gap…. Although I could not be with you today, please know that I am with you in solidarity, and I will continue to push for the Beltline and the Atlanta that we have all envisioned.”
Note to readers: As regular readers know, I have been a tireless advocate for Beltline rail. Although some of my close friends and colleagues are questioning plans to move forward with rail on the Beltline, I feel it is important for Atlantans to know what’s at stake. Thankfully, Shipman, Farokhi, Dozier and Bakhtiari shared their positions and arguments for why we should build Beltline rail.
Just a reminder folks…the belt line, as it is known today, and as envisioned by Ryan Gravel, was, just a few decades ago an actual cobbled concept freight rail belt moving freight as varied as whatever Sears Roebuck needed to move from it’s multi-story warehouse east of city center throughout the southeast…to sand and other aggregates that Williams Brothers shuttled to (curiously enough) highway construction corridors in north and middle Georgia for decades…and NAtional BIScuit COmpany moved wheat and other food commodities by rail to it’s factory southwest of the city, until a new bakery was established elsewhere. As utilization of freight rail plummeted in the last third of last century…many rail routes and ways were consolidated or wholly or partially abandoned(e.g. Silver Comet Trail) leaving sections of once vibrant infrastructure to molder disused or reclaimed by nature…and newly woke “transit activists.” Some of us(our numbers are dwindling rapidly) always knew of the multi-use vitality of “fixed guide-way” transport and could only shake our heads as the rest of the civilized world cherished and preserved and then rebuilt their vital, energy efficient rail networks, while in this nation/state the “baby was tossed with the bath water”…so now….let’s throw some million$ and billion$ to rebuild what we had!!?!
The Beltline as it is today reflects the original 1993 city plan. Gravel had nothing to do with that. He came along and hijacked it for his streetcar scheme a few years later. His thesis doesn’t even mention the parks or paths. That’s why he is so desperate to build the streetcar. Without it, he has no legacy on the Beltline.
Imagine thinking this is about “legacy” and not a public works project that will be beneficial for generations of people. How small minded can you be!
“Glorified sidewalk”
That was the term the NY Times used in an article about the Beltline a few years ago. If that is all that results- a linear park- the *that* would be an actual waste of “million$ and billion$.”
“We cannot have equity without transit on this corridor.”: totally agree with this part – but if one can solve a problem -achieving the same desired results for 50% less – Most folks I know would grab that deal in seconds & not think twice.
This “Streetcar or Die” idea is a total ” Ryan Gravel’s” fantasy – that keeps on being repeated with No mention of a 300% project cost per mile increase since his initial Grad School Paper. No mention of the fact that we get NO State investment cash -so today it’s 100% on the backs of ATL folks. When Gravel’s paper was published -cost per mile to install a streetcar -about 18-20 million Today East Trail = 100+Million per mile – Per Marta.
There are better ways to fix this transportation issue – without bleeding ATL Taxpayers dry.
There are not better ways to fix this transportation issue. Mode choice has been studied ad nauseum for this project, and LRT has won out everytime because it delivers more than other alternatives can. It’s pricier because it’s better.
Now you have thoughts on how to reduce transit construction costs, which have gotten out of hand in the US, then by all means. But offering less capable, less robust alternatives isn’t actually a solution.
Why do you even need a rally if it’s such an amazing idea? Where are all these transit “advocates” to push for better bus service, more Bus Rapid Transit, infill stations – things that would actually bring about equity. This is a single-minded lobbyist group that values grass tracks and aesthetics of the streetcars rather than what the over actual transit can do to move people from point A to point B.
BRN has supported infill stations since long before Mayor Dickens promised them earlier this year, and, frankly with more curiosity and detail for how to fund them than the mayor or your fellow beltline rail naysayers have been able to muster.
But no one is naive enough to buy that this unfunded, relatively unstudied alternative to beltline rail is actually any alternative at all for a project that is ready to begin construction next year. As your fellow naysayer Bill Torpy admitted in the AJC, it is just a cynical attempt to divert momentum from the exisiting work for beltline rail. It is a delay tactic and nothing more, and all for stations that are a decade or more off instead of a solution that can begin construction next year.
And what’s more, infill stations are not an adequate substitute for solving the coverage gaps in the current system. They would leave too many beltline adjacent neighborhoods without realistic access to adequate transit. They would however be a great addition to light rail running along the trail, creating more points of connectivity, and ultimately building a more robust overall system.
Time to move forward with beltline rail and work together to find more solutions for financing other important projects than can work in conjunction with what will be a wonderful new addition to our city.
We need rallies because unlike BAT, there’s actual grassroots support for rail on the Beltline rather than a small collective of affluent and connected people whispering in the mayor’s ear.
Hopefully Doug Shipman will be willing to provide a personal guarantee for the cost overruns that will inevitably result from this folly. And it isn’t just the cost of building this needless rail, it will require constant, never ending financial support from the tax payers of Atlanta. No thank you.
You mean like roads? Or literally any other piece of infrastructure?
Very proud of the community for coming out to support this wonderful project that has been voted on, studied, and funded.
It is past time to stop having second (3rd? 4th? 15th?) guesses and begin construction of what had been voted on and will go furthest to fill in the gaps in our transit network.
And thank you to council president Shipman and the other city councilers who are speaking out as well. Let’s hope they are able to work alongside Mayor Dickens to advance construction of SCE on schedule in 2025.
The use of an argument based on equity by Shipman and the streetcar buffs is a travesty, given that the city and MARTA have shifted funds from other transit projects in less prosperous areas to pay for a Beltline streetcar stub in one of the most gentrified parts of this city. Remember how there was supposed to be light rail on Campbellton Road? What happened to light rail on the Clifton Corridor? Oh, right, those projects served working people. Can’t have that in Atlanta. They were both supposed to be BRT lines by now, but this region simply can’t be bothered with things that aren’t flashy. This city’s “leaders” have always been obsessed with big, shiny projects, so it’s natural that some of them would fall over themselves to embrace a $300 million-dollar streetcar stub. They undoubtedly fantasize about a future streetcar ribbon-cutting, then plan to make themselves scarce when it turns out to be yet another white elephant. Meanwhile, Atlantans are embracing bikes and other micromobility, but can’t get the time of day from Shipman et al to build out a proper network of protected bike lanes. This inability to prioritize things that would genuinely make Atlanta a better place is what keeps Atlanta from being the world-class city its leaders dream of. Instead, we are stuck being no more than a tangle of smoggy highways surrounding a bloated airport. It is embarrassing.
Completely agree! Instead of providing useful transit around the city, we are talking about putting grass tracks and underground wiring on the most affluent area of the Beltline for a streetcar to better enjoy the ride from Brewdog to Ponce City Market. $300 million is likely a low estimate because the wish list keeps growing. We need our politicians to advocate for the city, not for one cost draining project that would bankrupt MARTA in operating costs at $40/passenger.
As usual the naysayers and misinformed BAT trolls contradict themselves with every stroke of the keyboard. They say “light rail is too expensive” but then turn around and ask “why didn’t they add light rail to Campbellton and Clifton?”
Value engineering a project of this scale is a complete waste of everyone’s time and energy, yet these folks seem hell-bent on using our tax money in the least efficient way possible: farming out the job to some private, unproven startups with slow moving, low capacity vehicles and flashy PowerPoints. That’s not transit, that is a carnival ride.
They claim the pro-rail advocates are a “lobby” group (?) yet have gotten themselves fixated on scamware, hoping that a gamble on something completely unproven will prove to be a magical silver bullet — solving all of our problems for a fraction of the cost. When things sound too good to be true, it’s because they are.
At least the rail people can point to functional, highly used systems. The T3 line in Nice, for example, moves 12,000 daily passengers. Or look at the Blue Line in Charlotte, with a daily ridership of 27,700 people. How many pods would that take?
As for grass tracks: they are cheaper to install than concrete and much better for the environment and sound absorption, which opponents frequently complain about.
Sure these things costs money. And there is a high up-front cost. But it is cheaper than having to fix the mistake later. And the extension project is already funded.
Do it right with rail or do nothing at all.
While I agree with everything in your post, the unfortunate reality is that “do nothing at all” is 100% BAT’s end goal.
It’s never been about actual workable alternatives to light rail, it has nothing to do with actual concerns about cost, or anything of the sort. It’s pure, unfiltered NIMBYism.
Call me skeptical, but I don’t think that a group of wealthy restauranteurs has the wider public in their best interests: https://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/news/2024/03/26/beltline-restaurateurs-streetcar-extension.html