Don McKee
This is the reality facing Cobb voters. It is well documented by supporters of the tax in their comments and in their materials, online and printed. It was confirmed Tuesday night at the Cobb Young Republicans meeting by Seth Millican, lobbyist representing the Metro Atlanta Voter Education Network. He was asked by county GOP chairman Joe Dendy if the original purpose of the TIA was for traffic relief, economic development, beautification or a combination of all.
“All of the above,” was Millican’s answer. He said it would create jobs, reduce traffic congestion 24 percent, and “make our communities a better place to live because we’re not sitting in traffic.”
That’s the line touted by another pro-tax group, Citizens for Transportation Mobility. Its website is titled “Untie Atlanta” (never mind untying Cobb) and warns: “Traffic is suffocating Atlanta.” The group makes the claims echoed by the MAVEN promoter, including:
“A yes vote means nearly 200,000 jobs will be supported or created, with two-thirds of them being in high or mid-paying sectors.” How do we know? Just take CTM’s word for it. Also notice that these jobs “will be supported or created” (a la the Obama stimulus), meaning that most are probably existing jobs. No explanation of how CTM knows two-thirds of the jobs will be in the high- to mid-range pay scale.
“Collectively, our region will benefit from a $9.2 billion savings in fuel and personal time,” CTM asserts. That’s an estimate based on another estimate of $924 “current expense per average metro commuter due to traffic congestion.”
Finally, the claim is made that the TSPLOST plan will result in a 24 percent “average decrease in traffic delays with buildout of 157 transportation projects.” No explanation is given as to how this figure is reached. Your guess is probably as good as any. But let’s take the 24 percent and apply it to a commute of one hour. Shaving 24 percent will reduce the drive time by about 14 minutes, leaving a 46-minute commute. How is that going to untie traffic congestion?
Talk about over promising. The Utopia envisioned by “Untie Atlanta” is captured in such hype as this: Voting yes will “make our region more competitive again.” And in addition to helping create or support those 200,000 mid- to high-paying jobs, the TSPLOST “will free up our clogged roadways so we can be more productive at work and spend more time at home.” While new construction is going on, our clogged roadways will be freed up?
Another claim presented as fact: “Investing in transportation improvements will take thousands of cars off the road.” Proof? None. But that’s the kind of stuff being shoveled out to metro area voters through a campaign of nearly $10 million by CTM and MAVEN.
Voters, educate
yourselves.
dmckee9613@aol.com
Follow us on Twitter!
Tolls on highways will not decrease the number of cars on the highway. They will just reserve lanes for those who can afford to pay for them and force the rest of us into the "slow" lanes, where we will burn more gas, to fund more construction and maintenance of more toll lanes.
It is crazy. We need the corridor study completed so we can choose buses or trains. That is not something to leave up to a few politicians who will award those who contribute to their campaigns.
Vote No.
Big Companies will still move here if they see it being cost or revenue favorable - BS on the mass transit justification. Those companies can go to New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, pay higher taxes and for their mass transportation if they want, the smart companies will go for lower taxes and cheaper, non unionized labor.
Let's work on timing of work schedules, traffic light patterns, and improving flow of traffic like allowing more right turn lanes and no more red turn signals at intersections with 2 turn lanes - if no oncoming traffic, then Y can't U turn?
Our local Government designs poor traffic flow for 2 reasons (1) we burn more gas and therefore pay more fuel taxes and (2) try to tick us off to vote for silly transportation dreams and spend more of our money on a failed venture designed to run deficits forever.
Vote NO on SPLOST and ask your local Commissioner to justify each and every improvement to you.
What you say is , indeed, reasonable.
We - the voters - should already know that,
as the cost will be charged to us. If the business, money making groups want this - let them pay for it.
You are making the erroneous assumption that the proposed TIA project list is a realistic transportation solution that will inevitably lead to quality economic development.
Hardly.
It is nothing more than a taxpayer scam.
Once potential businesses and large employers see what has been cooked up by the developers, politicians and special interests in Atlanta and foisted on the ignorant, uneducated taxpayers in the region they will avoid us like the plague.
They don't want to tie their future to a community controlled and manipulated by a group of corrupt group individuals who are willing to sell their citizens down the proverbial river for their own selfish gain.
If this TSPLOST was a true transportation solution I would be all for it, but it is not.
Tim Lee, Cumberland CID, Town Center CID, MARTA, Cobb Chamber of Commerce, Mark Mathews. How many conspirators do your want the names of? Open your eyes and read the papers. The scam is so blatant, a blind man can see it with his cane.
You are either totally naive, part of the "in group", or you live in a foreign country.