Groups Say Atlanta Transportation Plan Must Be Revised

“The new Atlanta plan would cheat the public of promised progress on clean air. On paper, it moves in the right direction. But where it really counts, the State of Georgia and local governments fail to assure funding to develop and operate needed public transportation while opening the door to more sprawl-inducing road projects,” said Michael Replogle, transportation director of Environmental Defense. “When errors in the traffic analysis are accounted for, this plan produces 40 tons more nitrogen oxide smog per day than the pollution limit set by the state to protect public health. It must be redone with more guaranteed funding for pollution solutions like clean natural gas buses and incentives for employers to pay employees added income in lieu of a parking space at work.”

“A delay in approving the plan will assure that transportation funds continue to go at a greater rate than ever before to transit, walking, bicycling, traffic signalization, traffic safety and projects that improve air quality. If approved, the proposed Atlanta transportation program would sharply cut the use of flexible transportation funds for MARTA transit, and over the life of the 25 year plan, bicycle and pedestrian projects would, on an annual average, receive less funding compared to last year’s spending. That’s got to change,” said Jim Chapman, Director of Georgians for Transportation Alternatives.

The groups charged that the plan would violate civil rights laws by failing to consider or remediate disparate impacts in the distribution of benefits and burdens among communities. The $35b plan would leave 6 of 10 jobs in the region unreachable by transit for low-income people. “If all the transit funds go to develop commuter rail without radically improving transit, walk, and bicycle access in the suburbs and city, the system will reinforce apartheid instead of improving transportation equity,” said Reverend Richard Bright, executive director of the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda. “African-American children suffer asthma at five times a greater rate than others and are more exposed to air pollution from traffic. And city taxpayers have gotten stuck with a $1 billion water pollution cleanup thanks to runoff that GDOT channeled into our sewers from roads serving suburban and interstate traffic. This plan fails to address those problems, fails to seriously consider how transportation spending affects minority communities, fails to bring all of us into the planning process as respected partners, or to make information and resources available to empower action. It’s time for change.”