Look to The Past for Transportation’s Future
We face a historic decision on transportation that people will talk about for decades to come. In many ways it will define our legacy.
History provides two examples of just such decisions and how those tasked with making them are remembered.
The first is the Atlanta Airport. Investment in an “air port” seems obvious today but in 1925, it was radical. Seven years after the WWI, there was no commercially viable use for the airplane.
With weight being the limiting factor, mail delivery was the obvious first step; yet, that had failed six years earlier despite the investment of hundreds of thousands of dollars (millions in today’s economy) and dozens of lives.
In fact, it would take another 17 months after Atlanta leased a defunct automobile race track located well outside the city as a municipal airport before another attempt at airmail would be made. It failed in just three months.
Undeterred, Atlanta invested even more money installing state-of-the-art electric lighting and the exotic new electrical infrastructure to power it, all to accommodate night operations when, and if, commercial aviation ever became feasible – something it had not done in daylight.
It took 18 months for a third attempt to be made. Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce led an all-out campaign to garner support from the city council and mayor to buy the land outright and build additional facilities to support the fledgling private endeavor that now stood teetering precariously at the edge of the nest.
With less than a year of air mail service under its belt, Atlanta invested the staggering sum of nearly a half-million additional dollars to buy and upgrade the port facilities that they hoped would one day support the futuristic dream of commercial transportation through the very air itself.
We’ve patted ourselves on the back – and rightly so - ever since for our vision, our faith in ourselves and in the future, and our shrewd investment in an economic engine for the entire region.
The second example comes from the Downtown Connector. By the 1920s, Atlanta’s traffic was a chronic and stifling drag on the city. In 1946, we finally adopted the Lochner Plan. Its centerpiece was a hub-and-spoke unit of four short, limited-access highways radiating just a couple of miles from the central business district to relieve traffic congestion on surface streets.
Ten years later, the federal government provided the funding mechanism for interstate highways. While the funding was new, the plans were almost a generation old, and they were going to be a boon to Atlanta.
The two main north-south Interstates east of the Mississippi, I-75 west of the Appalachians and I-85 to their east, would both come through Atlanta. Finally Atlanta wouldn’t have to fight for its claim to legitimacy as a first-rate center of commerce. Yet the city that had always managed to unite – especially where economic advancement was at stake – turned on itself.
As the years passed, not a single proposed route for these Interstates could gain approval. Finally, in desperation, the city was forced into a decision that was doomed to failure from the very start. The two main eastern Interstates would simply have to merge, supplanting the already outdated limited-access highways of the old Lochner Plan.
The downtown connector was born . . . and we’ve been kicking ourselves for the last 50 years.
Our choice on July 31 is whether future generations will look at us and say, “Thank goodness they had the vision and guts to seize these opportunities, overcome the obstacles and make the tough decisions for our future” just like we do with the airport.
Or will they look at us and ask, “Why didn’t they do something about this when they had the chance? Why did they leave it to us to solve when it’s so much harder now? What happened to their vision, their faith and their courage?”
It’s easy to point out flaws, to tear things down, but those reasons always fade quickly to insignificance and, if remembered at all, are written in history as mere excuses for possibilities lost. In the future, we will have to live with success or failure, and to do nothing is the worst kind of failure. Instead, I urge the people of this vast 10-county region to look to the past for the inspiration to meet the challenges of the future with courage, vision, and faith in ourselves, just as an earlier generation did with an idea as outlandish as commercial aviation.
franklin59
10:36 am on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Mr. Hill, while your nostalgia of the history of Atlanta’s transportation’s obstacles is noteworthy, it does not in any way resolve the issue that this new tax will in no way alleviate any of Atlanta’s present traffic problems. While there may be 3 or 4 worthy projects in the T-SPLOST, the majority is “pork” for those “lawmakers” and DOT executives who have zero knowledge of keeping their budgets. They are more concerned with subsidizing the outrageous pensions they will receive upon early retirement. Fact: DOT has stated, “…any new lanes added to the existing Interstate system will be “hot lanes” or will have a toll imposed…”, meaning that any monies now generated from this felonious tax will not go towards improving our highways without additional cost to the taxpayer. Fact: not one of the plans to improve the specified interchanges will be implemented until the year 2020. Fact: the Federal Government just granted the State of Georgia TWO BILLION dollars from the recent passing of the Federal Transportation Bill. Why are these funds not going to be used immediately to “Untie Atlanta?” Fact: an increase in sales tax to 8% will not influence potential future companies to “swarm” to Atlanta. This tax will make us the next California; who, by the way is flat broke. “Untie Atlanta” will only be a moniker seen on the shirtsleeves of Atlanta’s commuters until a major change is made in our overall Interstate system; and that's not in T-SPLOST
Rob Hill
8:26 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Franklin, I simply have to take issue with your assertion that none of 157 projects will have an impact on transportation. What’s more, while “pork” is conveniently undefinable, our founding fathers certainly recognized that building and maintaining a transportation infrastructure was a necessary and proper function of even the most limited government. As for DOT executives, a recent independent, nongovernmental, national study rated the Georgia DOT as the best in the nation in terms of completing projects within budget and second best at completing them on time. (“Ambition should be made of sterner stuff”.) Following your comments, there is a difference between a highway and an Interstate which negates your argument, and a special purpose sales tax is certainly not a felony. Keep in mind that 2020 is less than 7 and one half years away. $2 billion in federal money translates to just a little over $12.5 million per county. This referendum does not impose an 8% sales tax; but institute a 1% sales tax. However, you are correct that an additional 1% limited sales tax for a maximum time of 10 years will not, in and of itself, attract businesses to the region. A deteriorating and wholly inadequate transportation system will certainly keep them away, though. (California isn’t going broke because they built too many roads, by the way.) Finally, the problems with transportation are simply not limited to the Interstate system, thus their solutions lie elsewhere as well.
Nick
11:09 am on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Well-written and very informative! I'm still voting "no", and I'm in agreement with franklin59's reasoning.
Rob Hill
8:33 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Nick, thank you very much. While I take issue with the arguments and reasoning you site, I can certainly respect reaching a different conclusion. I have been wrong in the past (just ask my wife) and will surely be wrong again (my children will soon be teenagers). I do appreciate your consideration, though.
Chris H
3:18 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
More "NO" voters that never come up with an alternative to the T-SPLOST. I voted YES because I see this as a first step to begin expanding our transit infrastructure. If it fails it will take many many years for another plan to come to fruition and we will be back with the same problems.
Chris Long
4:36 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
"NO" voters don't have to come up w/alternatives...just like "YES" voters did not come up w/the current plan. & voting for an intiative just b/c it's the only initiative out there is not a smart thing to do...especially when said initiative does little to solve the problems it claims to, & especially when there is ample reason from our transportation past not to trust the promises made about our transportation future. Also, if the current TSPLOST gets voted in & then fails, we won't come back w/the same problems, we'll come back w/more...the problems that the TSPLOST did not remedy, as well as undoing or changing the ineffective work that has already been done (as well as the costs associated w/doing so). Something that takes this much effort & money to lobby for clearly has major problems before it even starts. Come up w/a good plan, & people will vote for it...it's really that simple.
Rob Hill
8:52 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Chris, while I obviously agree with your conclusion, I don’t think that it is necessarily incumbent on those who disagree to present an alternative. You also make a great point in recognizing these projects as “a first step”. Struggling with an ever increasing population is nowhere near as much trouble as struggling with its alternative – ask Detroit – and I hope that this remains a persistent problem for us. I also strongly agree with your view of inaction at this point. Voltaire said "the perfect is the enemy of the good" (or something like that – it was in French, after all), and a lack of action in the pursuit of perfection is simply . . . inaction. And inaction is a luxury we can ill afford any longer.
Rob Hill
9:11 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Chris L.: You are quite right. The vote is strictly limited to the referendum on the ballot. To what degree these projects will alleviate the problems they were designed to address is – to a certain degree – a matter of conjecture. As for trust, that can only be legislated so far. What I like about this resolution is its legally binding insistence on transparency. P. J. O'Rourke said that money and power are to politicians what whiskey and car keys are to teenage boys, but like teenage boys, politicians behave differently when they are being watched. (I know I was Wally Cleaver when my parents were around.) By prohibiting the comingling of funds and requiring full and public disclosure (as well as a legal mandate to fund the projects specified) politicians have little room for monkey business, and will have to explain their actions. (Take it from me: they aren’t happy about it either.) Also, consider that if we do nothing, we’ll still end up with more problems and a reduced tax base, as well. (There is really no relation between bad legislation and money and effort – it took a lot of money and effort (and lobbying, too) to win WWII and that was a good idea.)
Chris Long
12:54 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Rob, you may want to steer clear of P.J. O'Rourke quotes. While it does appeal to the Libertarian in me, they won't help your cause. I highly doubt he as a Libertarian would favor the TSPLOST given that most libertarians do not. You may also want to tone down the other quotes as well (Shakespeare, Voltaire, O'Rourke…& who knows how many others if you go further). The more you have to quote other people & draw analogies to deliver your message, the less worthwhile your message seems. WW2 comparisons won't work either. Attempting to draw an equivalence between 2 ludicrously different situations in an attempt to tug at people's patriotic heartstrings proves that you are arguing from a position of weakness. Plus, it starts us all down the slippery slope to proving Godwin's Law, & that's never a good thing.
Chris Long
12:58 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
At best the few improvements the TSPLOST would make are "to a certain degree – a matter of conjecture", & taxes/legislation of this magnitude should not be open to conjecture @ all. TSPLOST should clearly pave the way to a solution (pun intended), & much of what is proposed simply does not provide this path…not even close…no matter how much spin is applied.
We all have a vested interest in seeing our transportation infrastructure improved…& that's precisely why so many people are against this measure. This is a bad plan, & there should be no "first steps" taken on a bad plan. I can also give a laundry list of quotes from past/present statesmen & celebrities, as well as historical examples of how government inertia is next to impossible to stop…let alone reverse. Rob, I've served good plans, I know good plans, & good plans are a friend of mine. Rob, this is no good plan. (See what I did there?) People know this will not come close to solving our issues, & they will not take a bad action just to avoid inaction. If a good plan is put in place, it will get the votes it needs, & it won't even be close. It's that simple. But I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree.
Rob Hill
9:49 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
"I don't know what they have to say
It makes no difference anyway
Whatever it is, I'm against it!
No matter what it is
Or who commenced it
I'm against it!"
Groucho Marx
http://youtu.be/4v3etuIw-aM
Chris Long
3:51 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Rob, since you love your quotes, I'll quote you. "...while I won’t go so far as to call your comment “stupid”, I will say that it misses the point brilliantly."
Nick
4:31 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Sorry, I hit the enter key too soon:
1) Let computers control cars
2) Have more intelligently-timed traffic lights
3) Remove the on/off-ramp traffic lights
4) Remove the HOT lanes
5) Remove the restrictions from MARTA's operating costs, seek possible state funding
6) Entice business centers to spread out their locations
7) More police on the roads to ticket bad drivers that cause wrecks that create traffic jams
8) More bike lanes, retrofit existing roadways if possible
9) See #5...if state funds MARTA, then extend the North Line to the Mall of Ga
10) Work with CSX to bring back the "New" Georgia Railroad to offer service to Stone Mountain Park
11) The Beltline? Yeah, it's a good idea, but not that one...EXPAND the Beltline to 285...use GRTA or MARTA buses to get people around the perimeter, feeding into buses that use the bisecting roads
12) Work with CSX to use the existing rail for a train from Athens to Atlanta
Rob Hill
9:27 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Nick:
1) No one dies when a computer crashes (well, not usually)
2) That’s in the project list
3) Debatable at best
4) You may be right
5) Good luck
6) I’m in commercial real estate, and I can tell you that is already being done. In fact that is part of the problem that these projects will address. The roads between say Woodstock and Alpharetta were never meant to handle rush hour traffic.
7) No argument here
8) That’s more expensive than you think.
9) Currently there’s not enough density (of population) to support the investment and cost
10) CSX doesn’t want it because it’s not commercially viable and it disrupts freight transport which is commercially viable.
11) The Beltline is barely feasible with the current strips of unutilized land. Premium property and bus service that is grossly underutilized as it is would be unachievable and unsustainable
12) Even if CSX and the taxpayers wanted to lose a bunch of money, what are you going to do once you’ve finished your 3-hour train ride to the depot in Athens – call a taxi?
Mit
7:10 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Re:The downtown connector was born . . . and we’ve been kicking ourselves for the last 50 years.
Using a historical example of a stupid transportation infrastructure plan that was made, to justify another stupid transportation plan is just that:
Stupid
Rob Hill
9:28 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Mit, while I won’t go so far as to call your comment “stupid”, I will say that it misses the point brilliantly.
Tom C
10:20 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
How will a new air traffic tower and lights, undefined projects, and mandates that go unfunded after TSPOST affect my commute? While Atlanta is in need of a transportation plan, it must start first with balanced land use. What is should not be a giant Porkulus style stimulation plan where every special interest gets their pet project. This is what TSPLOST is in it's current form.
Steve
5:36 pm on Thursday, July 26, 2012
Tom C,
seems your excellent example of some "pork" in the plan has been completely ignored by the supporters of this doomed plan.
Ormewood Park Mom
11:24 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Voting NO
Alternatives:
Center city rail transportation hub at the Gulch
MARTA to Turner Field
Train line, El, or subway from Lennox straight up 400 with stops at every exit
Light rail from Atlanta to Macon
Light rail from Cobb County to Atlanta
Massive traffic alternatives...
Rosannrosannadanna
7:03 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Mom: These sound like great ideas, But that is part of the problem here when used as an argument against TSPLOST. All the rail options you listed (except the Turner Field one) were studied and presented and discussed for 25 over years. Even funding was identified for some of it. And if you think TSPLOST projects are expensive! The state can't/won't even provide minimal financial support to MARTA so it seems questionable that we start something as audacious as another Rail system.
Most of these rail options simply are not feasible because existing rail lines are either owned by or under long term leases by CSX and Norfolk-Southern. They have gladly taken the state's money (our tax money) to do "traffic studies" of the feasibility of a Multi-Modal Passenger Terminal (MMPT) in Five Points, and not surprisingly, came back with a response that their lines were too busy to also support commuter, let alone Intercity (from Macon or Athens), traffic. Projected fares under these early studies also indicated that very few people would ride it - too expensive compared to the low gas taxes in this state.
Ormewood Park Mom
6:42 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Scott, most people aren't afraid of the expense. It's simply a bad plan that doesn't even begin to really address traffic or a sensible solution.
Bryan Farley
6:09 am on Thursday, July 26, 2012
Mom, while I like a lot of your ideas (actually all of them I like) they will never pass. To many backwards thinking folks that are scared of public transit and don't want the "element" to come to their area.
Rosannrosannadanna
6:35 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
A few points:
1) It is true, as someone pointed out at the beginning of this thread, that there is no guarantee that traffic will be mitigated by TSPLOST. But please give an example, with evidence, about the certainty of any future event? We can talk about teleworking some too, but ultimately, people have to be able to get around with some kind of convenience or that is bad for us all.
2) The only alternative, at this time, to TSPLOST, is nothing. Please explain to me how nothing (which means a concious acceptance of current trends and problems) is better? And understand that an answer that discusses restarting this process is fanciful. Even supporters like me are burned out on this.
3) I am finally getting to the point that I don't care to understand the people that just root this all to bloated government. It is the equivalent of biblical literalism and there seems to be no rational discussions to be had. There is no other entity capable of implementing such a thing, regardless of the fact that business and citizen groups have been heavily involved in this from the start. The "special interests" here are you and me.
Alex
11:43 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
EG,
Have a look at this report that the Cobb DOT did. It is extremely informative.
http://dot.cobbcountyga.gov/Sept2011_CSX_rail_discussion.pdf
Nick
2:40 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
"This is a bad plan, & there should be no "first steps" taken on a bad plan."
--Chris Long
'nuff said!
Nick
2:41 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Rob, I want to again thank you for your article, and for taking the time to respond positively to everyone that has commented!
Ormewood Park Mom
4:52 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Scott, I am voting NO due to the lack of true vision and short sighted leadership. Develop trains, an el or a subway that makes sense and the region would back it and then let my family take MARTA to a ball game, like a normal city.
How about a BIG idea that really makes sense! Sidewalk improvements.... Really??
Sorry, no way.
Jack S
7:19 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
my chime....the bad part about the plan is that it only address existing problems: mostly revamping existing intersections or widening but adding a traffic blocking median. Nothing new. No alternative highway construction projects or toll roads (gah) that would be in addition to, not sucking up existing lanes; the rail project from Cumberland to Arts Center is a joke when the bulk of the traffic is from 575 to 75 S. The fear of bringing MARTA into Cobb when the opportunity existed is what fouled current traffic conditions. It is still, even with the best plans and intentions, hard to swallow a 10 yr 10 billion dollar tax that is set up to fail to produce a positive result. Start over, take 2 years to come up with a real solution, then let's talk.
Bryan Farley
6:11 am on Thursday, July 26, 2012
An all rail/transit SPLOST or an all road SPLOST will never pass. We have a balance of the two and all you get is people complaining about what "they" aren't getting. Everyone is looking for a better plan but they are only thinking it will be better because they get what THEY want. We will never come up with a perfect plan to satisfy everyone, and even if we did with the "Plan B" it would be so expensive that it would probably require a 3% tax for 30 years! Then we'll hear "I don't want anymore taxes, it will not get voted in, and then we'll be right back trying to come up with ANOTHER plan all while we sit and do nothing at all about our current situation, that will only get worse!
Jeffrey Allen
9:05 am on Thursday, July 26, 2012
Two "historic" projects that somehow didn't make the author's list that need to be discussed...THe Ga 400 Toll Lies-uhImean-Lanes, and the ridiculous I-85 H.O.T. lanes
The trust factor is huge in this referendum. There are a myriad of legitimate reasons to not trust the DOT with this money.
Obviously, the Ga 400 toll is reason #1. In recent days, we have been offered yet another promise to close the toll booths. While I believe that Gov. Deal is sincere in his attempt, as of yet it is just another as-yet unfulfilled promise in a decades long line of unfulfilled promises. This one cannot be fulfilled until well after the July 31 vote. How very convenient for the proponents. Forgive me for being prudent when I say that I'll believe that one when I see it. Too little, to late to sway my vote this go round.
Of course there is to boondoggle to the northeast, the H.O.T. lanes in Gwinnett. Toll Lanes nonwithstanding, one has to concede the traffic benefits of the 400 extension.
It actually does what it is supposed to do...alleviate traffic into the city.
Can anyone say with a straight face that the H.O.T. lanes have done anything but make traffic significantly worse? By it's very design, the only way for the special lane to worki s for the rest of them to become hopelessly clogged. As an added bonus, now all the surface streets in the area of I-85 get jammed up too! Brilliant!
It's a well informed "NO" vote here...
Kim
10:37 am on Thursday, July 26, 2012
Today I listened to how the TSPLOST commercials are trying harder to confuse the voting public. They are now condemning the TSPLOST agenda themselves and saying that we need to "re-think" the projects but vote yes so they can do that?? Hopefully the voting public knows that those porkful "projects" cannot be changed once it is voted in. If the DOT, TSPLOST supporters and Mayor Reed would put as much effort into coming up with a REAL plan instead of trying to blow smoke and use mirrors to hide their inadequate agendas, then maybe the citizens of Georgia would be able to support them. In this case, It’s a NO WIN for Georgia Citizens. If you have ever driven on any of our Georgia roads, you know that traffic exists. If you want to continue having your Highway lanes paid for with your hard earned tax money only to be HI-JACKED by the government as HOT LANES where you have to PAY AGAIN AND AGAIN TO RIDE ON THEM, then voting YES will CONTINE this "highway robbery". Be smart. Know that this is not the plan for Atlanta, and because we do not accept the current offering for this vote, they will have to come up with a viable and workable effort that will actually impact our traffic and not our wallets.