Cobb transit future can't wait
22.02.12
Unfortunately, for years Cobb has not had the leadership and voters with the same courage and vision on transportation matters. The traffic problems of Cobb today are largely the results of lack of leadership and decisions not made for many years. None of us would be talking about T-SPLOST projects and votes if people had stepped forward over the past 40-plus years.
During the eight years I served as Marietta’s mayor, and during the years I served on many boards, I participated in and/or reviewed a myriad of transportation studies, plans, proposals and pipe dreams. I think I have seen the results of most, if not all, of the transit options: bus rapid transit, toll lanes, HOV lanes, commuter rail, trolleys, heavy rail, light rail, more lanes, new roads, better interchanges. None is without problems.
MARTA was voted down in Cobb County in the latter 1960s. People can and do disagree on that issue and vote. However, if MARTA had come to Cobb County, we would not have as much of the urban sprawl that we have today. Much of our denser commercial, office and residential developments would now be concentrated along the transit lines instead of eating so much of our green space in all parts of Cobb County.
Source: Atlanta Journal Constitution
