Sierra Club to oppose transportation tax; urge metro Atlanta elected officials to try again
Says measure leans heavily toward roads
You'd normally expect the Sierra Club, which for years has been among the most vocal proponents of new transit in auto-dependent metro Atlanta, to embrace a measure that would raise billions of dollars in funding for new buses and rails throughout the 10-county region. But in this case you'd be wrong.
The Georgia chapter of the eco-advocacy group went public today with its opposition to the regional transportation tax. Executive Director Colleen Kiernan argues that the list of projects to be funded by the one-percent tax measure feature too many road that will fuel sprawl. And the proposed transit projects are "vaguely defined" and underfunded. Interestingly enough, the Sierra Club is joining forces with tea party members to defeat the measure.
Here's the group's full statement released this morning:
Today the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club announced that it will recommend a "no" vote on the July 31st transportation sales tax referendum (T-SPLOST). "This project list is primarily a business-as-usual sprawl-inducing road program," said Georgia Chapter Director Colleen Kiernan. "We support Plan B - a fix-it-first road strategy and a project list that emphasizes transit expansion and improvement."
The Georgia Chapter has a long history of opposing sprawl-inducing highways like the Northern Arc and supporting increased funding for sustainable transportation including MARTA, Beltline transit, and commuter rail.
While much discussion has focused on the transit component of the project list, the T-SPLOST is first and foremost a road building initiative. Claims by pro-transit supporters that 52 percent of revenues would go to transit do not account for the 15 percent local set-aside, which is expected to go primarily to roads; the final total for transit would be closer to 40 percent. Given that existing transportation funding already overwhelmingly favors roads, passage of the T-SPLOST would only further entrench that divide.
Even the transit expansion projects that Sierra Club supports in concept, including the Northwest corridor, are vaguely defined and underfunded. Other transit projects, like the continuation of GRTA bus service, reward the state for not coming to the table to continue commuter bus service, instead electing to rely on the region step in and assume responsibility.
Other supporters of the regional T-SPLOST argue it will be make-or-break for MARTA, but passage would not address MARTA's most pressing need, which is to raise service up from the skeletal current levels. Because the legislature didn't suspend or remove the 50/50 split this year, further deterioration of MARTA service remains a real and unacceptable possibility. The current suspension expires just after regional T-SPLOST revenue would flow, so the supplemental capital funding would have limited impact on MARTA's operational budget.
Sierra Club hoped that the 2012 legislature would make the regional T-SPLOST more palatable to transit supporters by creating equitable and representative regional transit governance, but unfortunately the 2012 session was the worst in recent memory for transit.
"We hope Atlanta can follow the example of Seattle, defeat the current proposal and get right to work on Plan B," continued Kiernan. "Other funding options that should be considered include restructuring the gas tax, charging more for parking, and an expanded regional transit agency. If our leaders fully embrace transit as the centerpiece of a transformative vision for the region's future, Atlanta can take its place among other forward-looking metropolitan areas that have positioned themselves for enduring success in the 21st century."
Will such an effort work? Writes Charlie at Peach Pundit:
To some, this may appear to be a huge problem for passage of the T-SPLOST, as there are now two groups with both grassroots activists and nominal money to counter the multi-million dollar PR campaign being waged by those who favor the massive tax increase. Yet in the new opposition one can now see the roots of a new message emerging from the pro T-SPLOST advocates -and those roots are blond.
Consider it a Goldilocks campaign. With the Sierra club saying there's not enough transit and the TEA Party saying there's too much, expect those supporting the measure to claim it's just right. Now eat your porridge.