MARTA Must Die In Order For Regional Transit To Fly

House Bill 277, signed by Gov. Perdue back in June, created the Transit Governance Study Commission.

The 17-member panel brings together all the major players from GRTA, MARTA, Gwinnett County Transit (GCT), Cobb County Transit (CCT), the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and the state legislature with hopes of creating a truly regional mass transit agency for metro Atlanta.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Ariel Hart wrote, in her article, that state legislators may have "started demolition [...] on MARTA as it has existed for 40 years." [Hart, Ariel (2010-9-8). Transit patchwork under fire. Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved on 2010-9-9.]

The Transit Governance Study Commission is tasked with examining the feasibility of combining all of the regional public transportation entities into an integrated regional transit body.

If this commission recommends that MARTA, GCT, CCT, GRTA and the now-defunct Clayton County Transit (C-TRAN) must come together, then Ariel Hart is right. MARTA, as we know it, is dead. But MARTA's death will also bring about the death of this unfeasible, piecemeal method of providing mass transit to metro Atlanta.

The Atlanta region does not need a dozen or so different bus systems all doing the same thing. It makes no sense, and it does not work. Each metro Atlanta county is bound to the fate of mass transit. We either unite or we fail. It's that simple.

State Representative Ed Lindsey was on point Wednesday when he said, "The status quo is not acceptable."

If MARTA, as we know it, must die in order for regional mass transit to fly, then so be it.

The commission's preliminary report is due by December 31, 2010. The final report, along with any recommendations and proposed legislation, is due by August 1, 2011. Listed below are the members of the Transit Governance Study Commission:

Criteria	Member	Details	Email
4 Senators from the Atlanta Regional Commission area appointed by the Lieutenant Governor
	Judson Hill	R - 32nd district	judson.hill@senate.ga.gov
	David Shafer	R - 48th district	david.shafer@senate.ga.gov
	Ron Ramsey	D - 43rd district	ronald.ramsey@senate.ga.gov
	Steve Henson	D - 41st district	steve.henson@senate.ga.gov
4 Representatives from the Atlanta Regional Commission area appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives
	Ed Lindsey	R - 54th district	edward.lindsey@house.ga.gov
	Pat Gardner	D - 57th district	pat@patgardner.org
	Donna Sheldon	R - 105th district	donna.sheldon@house.ga.gov
	David Knight	R - 126th district	david.knight@house.ga.gov
Chair of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Oversight Committee	Jill Chambers	R - 81st district	jill.chambers@house.ga.gov
Chair of the Atlanta Regional Commission	Tad Leithead	Chairman, ARC	tadl@mindspring.com
Chair of the Regional Transit Committee of the Atlanta Regional Commission	Kasim Reed	Mayor, City of Atlanta	mkreed@atlantaga.gov
Staff member from the Atlanta Regional Commission selected by the ARC Chair	Tom Weyandt	Director, Comprehensive Planning	tweyandt@atlantaregional.com
Executive Director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority	Jannine Miller	Executive Director, GRTA	jmiller@grta.org
General manager of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority	Beverly Scott	General Manager, MARTA	bscott@itsmarta.com
Cherokee Area Transit System (CATS)	Jackie McMorris	Community Services Agency Director	jmcmorris@cherokeega.com
Cobb Community Transit (CCT)	Faye DiMassimo	Director, Cobb County DOT	faye.dimassimo@cobbcounty.org
Gwinnett County Transit (GCT)	Brian Allen	Director, Gwinnett DOT	brian.allen@gwinnettcounty.com