Transports of Delight
American infatuation with the dream of high-speed rail doesn’t match its needs. Why can’t America build high-speed passenger rail systems? If the Chinese can do it, we can do it, as President Barack Obama reportedly declared to his economic advisory team. But should we? China can do it. China has built more than 1,000 miles
25 Worst Cities to Be Young
The Daily Beast crunched the numbers to find where unemployment and debt are highest for young adults. #14 Portland, Oregon Current unemployment, age 20-24: 12.7% Change in: Population, age 18-24: 4.8% Indebtedness: -8.3% Unemployment, age 20-24: 69% Population with associate’s degree or some college, age 18-24: 28% Population with bachelor’s degree, age 18-24: -24% Males
Too many troubles for TSPLOST
Too many troubles for TSPLOST July 18, 2012 12:29 AM | DEAR EDITOR: The TSPLOST has serious troubles, and unanswered management questions. For instance: * It’s not clear who will govern the new transit. The Legislature couldn’t agree. Oversight officials are proposed to be political appointments, not elected. Even the role of the new Fulton cities
Other ways to get road ‘bang’ for buck
The TSPLOST – There are ways to get more road ‘bang’ for buck July 22, 2012 12:01 AM SPECIAL PURPOSE LOCAL OPTION SALES TAX referendums for road improvements are old hat in Cobb County. In fact, Cobb voters three decades ago were the first in the state to pass such a local referendum. Metro Atlanta
Former Georgia state representative and state senator sounds off
Vote ‘no’ on the TSPLOST By Joey Brush Grovetown Sunday, July 22, 2012 In our region, local government representatives have done a fairly good job of assembling their list of the most pressing road projects for the transportation special-purpose local option sales tax, and have not fallen into the temptation of expensive, money-loser mass-transit projects
Highway contractors give heavily to T-SPLOST
From Atlanta Unfiltered: http://www.atlantaunfiltered.com/2012/07/17/highway-contractors-give-heavily-to-t-splost-bid/ Highway contractors give heavily to T-SPLOST bid July 17, 2012 — A citizens’ group today called out two committees pushing the July 31 transportation sales tax referendum for failing to disclose their donors. The Transportation Leadership Coalition also identified donors of at least $434,000 to the pro-tax effort. While we wait
Both Sides Rally for Vote
Single, independent rolling protest exceeds all 4 counties pro-Tax rallies
Sales Tax No Way to Fund Transportation Projects
I recently detailed several of the problems with the dozen separate Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referenda that will take place across the state on July 31 (Column, “Plenty of reasons to worry about transportation tax proposal,” July 8). This column adds to those original assertions. Unlike the opposition of
Plenty of reasons to worry about transportation tax proposal
The General Assembly’s passage of the Transportation Investment Act in 2010 began the process that culminates in a statewide July 31 referendum on whether to impose yet another optional 1 percent sales tax, this time to be levied on a regional basis. Commonly termed TSPLOST, this proposed tax is entirely different from the local option
Glynn County’s Jeff Kilgore on T-SPLOST
The very simple fact that the Georgia Department of Transportation with $2.5B in revenue from various sources… that money will now be freed up. If T-SPLOST passes in all 12 regions, all of the regions will be funding their projects internally within each separate region. Therefore, the $2.5B that used to go to GDOT to