Today’s Marietta Daily Journal pondered reasons why the transit tax initiative failed. I’m not a subscriber to this paper. I glanced at the newspaper while in the check-out line at Walgreen’s this morning.

Raising my hand to answer:
(1) This initiative was for 30 years, not the same 5 year renewal cycles as the existing two SPLOSTS for education and special county projects (parks & rec, libraries, etc.).
(2) Because the super low levels of ridership do not warrant any additional investment. I frequently travel along some of the “higher utilization” bus routes and the buses usually have only 1-5 passengers on them. This is not sustainable long-term. If I start seeing buses 50%-75% full regularly, then maybe we’ll have reason to revisit the transit tax.

Most people who move to the ‘burbs do so without any expectation of public transit availability. The only bus service they might use would be the Express Buses that run M-F along I-75 into downtown Atlanta. (These run 3x each day/evening and are self-supporting.) As an alternative, many commuters use the toll lanes and buy a Peach Pass. Should I decide to relocate to Cherokee County in the future, I will consider toll lane entrance access a priority of where to buy.

The point here is I don’t expect the county to provide me with transportation to get from Point A to Point B. It takes me 20 minutes to get from my home to my part-time job by car. It would take almost 2 hours if I took the bus and the fares would cost more than the gas I’d use driving myself. Then, there’s the value of my time. I’d rather do other things than wait on a bus.

Madame Chair argues that in interest of equity, every resident should have access to wherever they wish to go. They already do – drive a car, ask a friend for a ride, call an Uber, take a taxi or walk. If it’s to go shopping, most things can be delivered to your home for a modest fee. The elderly and disabled already have on-demand senior transit services and disability mobility services available. Expand those services, if necessary, but trying to mimic a MARTA type bus service out here in the ‘burbs makes zero sense. That’s what the voters told you by a wide margin. I hope you listen.