The Atlanta Streetcar (Auburn Avenue trolley as you call it) has absolutely nothing to do with the T-SPLOST. Totally FALSE. Funding for this was put up partially by the City of Atlanta and a Tiger II grant from the Federal Government which was completed last year. Also, funding for maintenance and operations will be funded by fares, hotel tax and rental car tax.

You say that Beltline plans have dropped in Ormewood Park, but they do not own that right of way of the Beltline because it's still an active rail line owned by the LaFarge concert company in Glenwood Park. They are up for selling it, but until then the Beltline can do nothing on that park of the railway.
http://aisforatlanta.com/2011/02/lafarge-ready-to-leave-beltline/

Also, the next section of the Beltline trail scheduled to be worked on after completion of the Eastside trails in the section through Reynoldstown to Glenwood Park which will come up to your neighborhood.

This is only the beginning of the false statements you have here. I'll come back and prove even more of your statements here false with cold hard facts when I have more time...

Our region really does need more investment in transportation. But the sales tax would apply to every gallon of milk you buy at the grocery — but not to a gallon of diesel fuel bought by trucking companies that use (and clog) our highways. This tax literally gives the trucking industry a free ride on Georgia highways. Most of the projects are NOT regional projects. Look at the $25 million project to "improve" (that means widen) North Druid Hills Road by adding a median. This project clearly meets the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" test. (Needed improvements at NoDH – Briarcliff intersection are already underway). Example two: the light rail line to Clifton Corridor / Emory. Its $700 million price tag gets light rail only as far as Emory University, a religious-affiliated institution that pays no property taxes and no sales taxes. The line would not extend to North DeKalb Medical Center which is the objective in MARTA's plan. Emory and the CDC (again, a federal facility and therefore exempt from local taxes) benefit directly from this line but pay nothing. Plus, according to the project fact sheet, construction would not even begin until 2020! For Clifton Corridor workers who commute from Stone Mountain / east Gwinnett and southeast DeKalb, this rail line from Lindbergh does nothing to help them. As a professional city planner, I cannot vote for this.

thanks so much for posting this. i've been on the fence and needing some research! i'll check the links. :)

You're right about a lot - but, also wrong on some parts.

"The tourist trolley down Auburn Avenue" isn't part of the TSPLOST.

I believe you have misinterpreted the whole 85/15 thing. The Clifton Corridor MARTA extension and the Beltline are part of the 85, not the 15.

The Atlanta Streetcar (Auburn Avenue trolley as you call it) has absolutely nothing to do with the T-SPLOST. Totally FALSE. Funding for this was put up partially by the City of Atlanta and a Tiger II grant from the Federal Government which was completed last year. Also, funding for maintenance and operations will be funded by fares, hotel tax and rental car tax.

You say that Beltline plans have dropped in Ormewood Park, but they do not own that right of way of the Beltline because it's still an active rail line owned by the LaFarge concert company in Glenwood Park. They are up for selling it, but until then the Beltline can do nothing on that park of the railway.
http://aisforatlanta.com/2011/02/lafarge-ready-to-leave-beltline/

Also, the next section of the Beltline trail scheduled to be worked on after completion of the Eastside trails in the section through Reynoldstown to Glenwood Park which will come up to your neighborhood.

I'm not sure how the editorial process works at East Atlanta Patch, but there are quite a few things in this piece that are either misleading or flat-out wrong, enought that this article really should be either fact checked or pulled down. For example, the Atlanta Streetcar is not one of the T-SPLOST projects and other projects actually on the project list are incorrectly described as being paid for out of the 15% local funds component (e.g., the Emory MARTA extension and the Beltline).

What happened to my comment?

"I also resent that there are penalties for any region that does not vote “yes” to the bill. Here is the quote from t-splost.com: “Regions where the voters do not approve the transportation tax will not receive the additional funds to pay for proposed projects in their area of their state.” This, to me, is political blackmail presenting the threat of penalties for anyone not voting in favor of this particular transportation tax bill. In my opinion, this should be illegal." That's fucking ridiculous. It's only saying that if your county doesn't approve the Tsplost then they don't get funding. That's they same way Marta was founded in the seventies. By this person's logic, Fulton and Dekalb should have paid for bus service to Cobb and Gwinnett, who voted down the plan, for the last 35 years.

‎'We are not intrinsically against sales tax, but we don’t believe this particular plan gives enough back to our neighborhood.' This statement is fucked up for two reasons. One, she is intrinsically against sales tax as she clearly states in her last four points. Second, saying it doesn't specifically reach one area over another is so mind-bogglingly self centered. I don't spend anytime in Bankhead but that doesn't mean I'm opposed to Marta running there. I could give two shits about road widening in Douglas County, but I do see how road improvements benefit them as much as transit infrastructure benefits me in the city proper.

We can't expect to suddenly have a series of commuter lines running to all the burbs. We have to begin creating infrastructure here so that we can get future federal funding to build up the city and move forward. No one will ever be happy with just roads or just transit and in order to get either of those we need to compromise.

The 15% vs. 25% isn't up to the local region. It's in the definitions used in the TSPLOST authorizing legislation - municipalities that cross county boundaries get 25%. I don't know which cities in Georgia crosses county lines, but assume it was written this way to scratch their backs - whoever they are.

And that highlights the core problem with this article and with the position taken by the Sierra Club. Any solution must be passed by the Georgia General Assembly. I agree wholeheartedly that there are better ways to fund transportation. But they will *never* pass a solution that uses an increase in progressive income tax or increases gas taxes. And Republicans will be in power for Georgia for many many years to come.

For progressives considering voting against TSPLOST, Atlanta's projects will benefit low income areas including better bus or rail service for south Dekalb and massive increases in transit for densely populated low income west Atlanta. TSPLOST won't impact food stamp grocery purchases, which the elderly man in the grocery store probably qualifies for as do most low income Atlantans.

Andrea, I'm not buying your argument -- which is little more than this: "we are hostages of the Republican General Assembly so lets be happy with the bread crumbs they give us". And your statement that the "elderly and most low-income Atlantans" qualify for food stamps is factually wrong, insulting, and delusional. The sales tax you so eagerly want will screw over low-income and middle class alike. You are obviously no "progressive".

Closing of major projects can be a major decline in jobs
http://www.search50.net