The Georgia Regional Transportation Authority also
committed to eventually launching similar vehicles along U.S. 41 in Cobb
County and Marietta Boulevard in northwest Atlanta.
The compromise, forged late Wednesday, broke a
deadlock on the GRTA board between advocates of the I-75 proposal and
members who preferred running the buses along the surface streets to spur
new development.
Now the state Department of Transportation can begin
the required environmental assessment process and could have the buses,
described as "trains on tires," rolling down the high-occupancy vehicle
lanes within a decade.
Georgia Conservancy President John Sibley cast the
board's lone dissenting vote because he said the plan does not tie the
transit system closely enough to development.
"Even though this resolution pays homage to the
language of the regional development plan, it doesn't really marry
transportation and land use," Sibley said.
The $1.4 billion cost makes the transit initiative the
least expensive proposal on the table at a time when money for
transportation projects is scarce.
"We have to deal with the lack of funds," said GRTA
board member Richard Tucker, a Gwinnett County developer.
Cobb County residents who support the HOV plan
applauded the board's decision.
"[It] is simply the best transit plan for suburban
commuters in general and for an integrated regional system," said Ron
Sifen, president of the Vinings Homeowners Association.
At the same time, Sifen expressed some reservations,
saying the plan could undermine funding for other projects, such as I-285
transit, an intown Belt Line and other projects already in planning
stages.
Intown resident Reagan Quigley, a 26-year-old
management analyst who lives near downtown, said she thinks the decision
to invest in rubber-tired vehicles is short-sighted.
"I don't see the need to put more money into a bus
system. If you're going to spend the money, you might as well throw it
into a train," she said
Georgia Sierra Club Director Bryan Hager told the
authority Wednesday the plan will do little to ease gridlock or curb
sprawl, which will continue to damage the environment and hamper metro
Atlanta's economy.
"You are putting us on a treadmill that's going to
bankrupt this region," Hager said.
But the compromise that committed the authority to
come back later with a plan to put transit on new, exclusive lanes along
Marietta Boulevard won the city of Atlanta's endorsement, which was
crucial to board approval.
Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin has been unwavering in
her support for mass transit along Marietta Boulevard to spark
redevelopment along a mostly rundown industrial and commercial strip.
"In my ideal world, we would have done [Marietta
Boulevard] first, but ultimately we need both," said GRTA board member Lee
Morris, an engineering company executive and former Atlanta City Council
member. "If we get them both, then everybody wins."
