A Solution to Georgia’s Transportation Problems?
There’s no denying that traffic congestion is one of Atlanta’s biggest problems. Many intown Atlanta workers live in the suburbs and commute over an hour everyday to the city. And, unfortunately, our city was not built to offer these commuters an alternative to driving, unless they live in Dunwoody, Sandy Springs, Doraville, Chamblee or College Park. These suburbs, and their surrounding areas, are the only ones situated near a MARTA rail station.
So, the traffic is getting worse every year, and finally Atlanta officials are beginning to take action to help correct the problem. This week, on January 20th and 21st, Georgia Tech and the Consulate General of Switzerland hosted a Sustainable Transportation forum to explore different transportation solutions.
Why partner with Switzerland? Well, the small European country has one of the best public transportation systems in the world and recently created a sustainable transportation model that is illustrated in the exhibit On Track to the Future – Sustainable Transportation a Challenge for the 21st Century. As worldwide pioneers for public transportation, we have a lot to learn from them. And the great thing is that they are willing to help us out.
The event had local, regional, national and international experts evaluating the future for Georgia in three different panel discussions. The first addressed the future transportation challenges of the Atlanta Region. Of course, the fact that our city was not developed for an underground transportation system is definitely one of the challenges facing Atlanta.
The second panel discussed the Swiss Model of Sustainable Transportation Solutions. With the city as whole taking a more serious approach to green building, constructing a sustainable transportation system would be ideal. However, can the city afford such an expense, and, if so, where would the funds come from?
And the last panel focused on Financial and Political Challenges. This was a great follow-up to the sustainable model discussion as many people had questions about where the money was coming from to fund the project. Obviously there have to be many budgetary changes if we are going to make a serious effort in correcting the transportation problem, and which programs will be getting budget cuts?
Right now, everything discussed at the forum is an idea. No finite plans or actions are scheduled to take place. There is no telling how long until we find out if there are any plans in the workings, but it is a step in the right direction to at least be addressing the problem.
If you have any questions about the future of Georgia’s transportation, feel free to contact one of the Senators who was speaking at the forum and let them know your opinions about the matter:
- Senator Jeff Mullis, Chair of the Georgia State Senate Transportation Committee
- Senator Doug Stoner, ranking minority member of the State Senate Transportation Committee
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Mark Douglas | Jun 21, 2010 | Reply
Atlanta needs another bypass on the west side from I-75 near Kennasaw or further north that will go through Douglasville and south to Griffin and reconnect with I-75 north of Macon. A lot of the cars you see that are adding to the traffic problem in Atlanta have tags from the northern part of the country and Canada or Florida and they are driving through Atlanta right at rush hour.
Krish | Dec 18, 2010 | Reply
Chattahoochee river divides norther portions of metro Atlanta. There are very few bridges on this river. if you look north east form 285 exit 31, there are only 4 bridges (total 5 lanes) on this river, while both sides of this river between 400 and 85 are densely populated.
They need to make Pleasant Hill/State Bridge and Hwy 20 as controlled access roads.
The other problem is too many signals. They make 3 lane road and then a signal every 200 yards, defeating the whole purpose. Need to make more access roads.