Local

After T-SPLOST loss, MARTA Leaders Talk Next Steps

August 6th, 2012

MARTA today held its first board meeting since a proposed sales tax increase to fund transportation projects was overwhelmingly rejected by metro Atlanta voters.

If the referendum had gone through, MARTA would have received more than $1.5 billion over 10 years.

Despite the feeling that a major opportunity was lost, MARTA Board Chair Frederick Daniels says he wants to continue working with elected officials.

“We know that MARTA cant do it alone, there has to be a partnership amongst all stakeholders in making sure that our projects that were but forth, they can still stay on the table and they can still be put forth for our riding public,” said Daniels.

However, since the T-SPLOST failed, Governor Nathan Deal has made pointed remarks about MARTA inefficiencies. Deal has said voters would not support a regional plan until MARTA shapes up.

Daniels dismissed Deal’s comments in the context of the T-SPLOST.

“MARTA as we all know, was not the reason that the transportation referendum failed.”

But Daniels did say MARTA would continue its ongoing efforts to cut costs and improve service.

For MARTA chief Beverly Scott, the T-SPLOST vote was a major disappointment but the start of a new conversation. She says any new discussion must include comprehensive reform, including the permanent removal of a state-imposed spending requirement on MARTA operations and a plan for a regional transit governance system.

“One thing that is very clear is that what people want to be able to do is to be able to have a whole conversation,” said Scott.

Scott says she’s encouraged by the coalition of T-SPLOST opponents who are backing major reform efforts like permanently lifting the state spending requirement.

“The idea that we had tea partiers, and NAACP and Sierra Club and all of this all over the place, I think that that makes for a heck of a dialogue and conversation,” she continued.

As for the high profile projects that would have been funded – an Emory rail line along the Clifton Corridor and transit along I-20 East – MARTA officials say they will continue planning for the projects, while looking for additional funding sources to move forward.

However, Daniels said MARTA would continue to look for ways to cut costs and improve service. He said the transit system is currently undergoing a comprehensive audit to find additional efficiencies.