George Dusenbury, Executive Director for The Trust for Public Land in Georgia From the Appalachian Trail and the Silver Comet, to PATH 400 and the Atlanta BeltLine, the Aerotropolis and the Augusta Canal to the Chattahoochee Riverwalk in Columbus, Georgia is traversed by a multitude of trails that define communities, connect neighbors and get people […]
Tag: Atlanta traffic
Posted inMain Slider
‘The ATL’ board needs more visionaries and fewer political appointees
Atlanta is a city founded on transportation.
Railroads were the economic engines of Atlanta and the state. After the railroads, there were horsecars, streetcars, buses and pedestrian-filled streets that enabled the city’s growth.
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Atlanta’s Changing Transportation Ecosystem
By: Sarah Kirsch and Daphne Bond-Godfrey, ULI Atlanta Atlanta’s traffic woes are a well-known story. Despite having the nation’s 9th largest transit system, we are still an auto-centric city and region, rife with congestion along our main corridors. The lesser known story, perhaps, is the remarkable level of investment and coordination currently underway among our […]
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Preparing for our electric, autonomous future
By Eric Tanenblatt Truly autonomous vehicles—that is, those not requiring drivers—will be freely navigating public roads in Georgia this year, marking the culmination of nearly two centuries of research and development of internal combustion engines and machine learning. Finally, for the first time in the history of the gasoline-powered engines, these recent developments in artificial […]
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ARC Sets the Record Straight on Metro Atlanta Traffic
You may have read about the recent Inrix Global Traffic Scorecard, which ranked metro Atlanta’s traffic congestion as the 8th-worst globally. While that made headlines here, there’s a lot more to the story: Atlanta fares much better using another Inrix measure The Inrix report also ranks regions by percentage of driving time spent in congestion. In […]
Posted inThought Leader, Transit
Attention MARTA riders, if you commute in from the Eastside of Atlanta, your commute will be affected by the upcoming Georgia Dome implosion. For safety reasons, MARTA is suspending all rail service west of Five Points after normal operations at 1:30 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 20. A portion of MARTA’s train tunnels lay almost directly under the implosion […]
Posted inSubmitted Photos
Photo Pick: Cyclist on the Peachtree Center Ave bike track by Darin Givens
From Darin: “Kudos to the cyclist (just visible in the bottom left) riding in the rain, uphill, on the Peachtree Center Ave bike track last night. On my walk home from the MARTA station I went over to the bridge to get a shot of city lights in the rain. It wasn’t until I took […]
Posted inDavid Pendered
Cobb County kicks off sales tax campaign amidst clamor over Braves, transit; little mention of 2011 results
When it comes to sales tax campaigns, the one that begins in earnest Wednesday night in Cobb County has to rank among the most politically loaded in a long time.
One issue that’s not being raised seems significant – almost no one is discussing the historic importance of 90 votes. There’s plenty of buzz about the Braves and bus rapid transit. But not much about the narrow approval of a similar 1 percent sales tax referendum in 2011 – a 90-vote margin for passage out of 43,014 ballots cast.
Nor is there much talk about how voters have seen many of the proposed road projects before. A fair share of the current proposals was on a list in 2012, when voters in metro Atlanta rejected the proposed regional transportation sales tax.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Ga. 400 tolls: Gov. Deal reminds that tolls are history, closure wins awards
The issue of tolls on Ga. 400 may not be a hot button issue in this fall’s race for governor, but a recent media release reminds voters that tollbooths came down during the term of Gov. Nathan Deal.
The State Road and Tollway Authority, which the governor chairs, issued a statement about SRTA winning a national award related to the toll closure. The release was dated Sept. 5 and referenced an award bestowed Aug. 13.
Meanwhile, the Ga. 400 tolls are featured on Deal’s campaign website. They’re listed in the section titled, “The Results,” where the website states without elaboration: “Promise Kept, End of GA 400 Toll.”
Posted inDavid Pendered
Traffic relief, transit upgrades funded in ARC’s five-year spending plan
A new plan due for initial adoption Wednesday by the ARC board shows the extent to which $7-plus billion can go toward improving metro Atlanta’s transportation network.
Planners talk up the will-do projects contained in this five-year spending proposal, rather than lofty visions in the Atlanta Regional Commission’s long-range transportation plan. The ARC’s 2040 plan update is up for adoption, as well.
This strategy of focusing on the five-year plan addresses some realpolitiks: Regional traffic is building after the recession, while transportation funding remains scarce; A vote to adopt a regional transportation plan will show ARC’s board is not immobilized by disagreement over who should be elected as a citizen board member.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Braves in Cobb: Traffic, transit access to stadium near Cumberland Mall may be less a nightmare than some predict
The notion offered by the Atlanta Braves that fans will find it easier to get to a ballgame in Cobb County than in downtown Atlanta ran into a buzz saw of criticism Monday.
“What a traffic nightmare!! I-75 and I-285 are already [troubled],” a writer identified as MayorDowning commented on ajc.com. “Now you’re adding to it.”
In reality, the Cobb site isn’t a hopeless traffic nightmare. The planned ballpark is alongside Gov. Nathan Deal’s major highway initiative. It’s in the middle of a grid of big roads served by three interstate highways. And it’s about a mile from the transfer station of Cobb’s bus system and its linkage to MARTA.
Posted inDavid Pendered
Metro Atlanta roads: How to make do with a transportation system that’s (mostly) already on the ground
State and regional transportation planners are taking the steps they think are within reach in order to relieve traffic congestion in metro Atlanta. GRTA’s board took its first step Wednesday.
The solution won’t be a magic bullet, no more so than if voters in 2012 had approved the construction program envisioned for the proposed 1 percent transportation sales tax. Transit was not part of Wednesday’s conversation.
Gov. Nathan Deal’s touch is evident in the new approach. Deal said after the sales tax referendum that the state would focus on affordable transportation solutions, or, in the words of the resolution approved by GRTA’s board: Georgia will, “improve the movement of people and goods across and within the state [in order to] expand Georgia’s role as a major logistic hub for global commerce.”
