Rail on the BeltLine: The Path to a More Equitable Atlanta

Jan 27, 2021

2-page Executive SummarY (PDF)

2-PAGE FUNDING SUMMARY (PDF)

Twenty years after the Atlanta BeltLine idea was presented to city leaders, not a single mile of track on the 22-mile rail and trail loop connecting to MARTA rail has been laid. MARTA says it will be 2027 before the first tiny 1.4 mile segment is operational. The rest of the project is 25-30 years out under the best scenario. Atlanta’s leaders­ – its Mayor and City Council – have lost sight of the complete BeltLine vision. Today, neither Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms nor the City Council considers the rail portion of the BeltLine a top priority.

Spread access and mobility to areas that never had them. Connect 45 neighborhoods. Enable residents to stay in their homes as the city grows. Build thousands of units of affordable housing. These have always been the goals of the BeltLine, and BeltLine rail is an essential part of the solution. Without the density and mobility that transit allows, there can be no significant affordable housing. And without transit built-in from the beginning, gentrification – and its worst consequence, displacement of long-time residents – is accelerating. The promotion of a tax-subsidized trail without BeltLine rail has made these problems worse.

It would be a tragic and inexcusable failure of leadership to take another generation to complete this transformational project. With each passing year, the chances to deliver on the real promise of the Beltline diminish. The time to reassert the will is now, in this election year. 

Atlanta residents voted in record numbers (71%) in 2016 to pass the 0.5% More MARTA sales tax, designed to fund rail on the BeltLine and other transit projects. To date, the City has collected over $200 million from it. But leaders inside the City, at ABI, and at MARTA point to a lack of funding to explain the delays and unambitious timeline. We don’t believe them. Given the urgent need for a more diverse and equitable funding model, we created one.

We have looked at other cities’ successes, and illustrate how Atlanta can do the same. Yet the argument is not about funding scarcity. It is about our leaders’ political will. We cannot settle for a park and trail system that gives a bonanza to developers while sidelining equity, affordability and sustainability.

Today, we seek a rapid acceleration of the timeline to build the entire BeltLine -- the trail, transit, and parks. With committed City leadership and a broader funding model, BeltLine rail will be fully operational by 2035.

We will ensure that candidates for key elected offices in 2021 are informed about this paper’s findings, and we commit to providing opportunities for them share their views on completing the Beltline in the next decade. We believe this document will give them the tools to deliver on that promise.

It is time for vigorous and positive action. We must not let ‘too late’ become our legacy.