Opinion: Speak out on speeding up Beltline rail timeline

Like most parents, I spend quite a lot of time thinking about the future city that awaits my four-year-old daughter. Right now, Atlantans have a chance to weigh in on a 30-year, $172.6 billion Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) designed to improve mobility across metro Atlanta. Federal dollars to support construction will only be available to projects that the Atlanta Regional Commission includes in the plan. The plan, as proposed, includes Atlanta’s $2.7 billion More MARTA program, which is funded by the 0.5% More MARTA sales tax that voters approved in 2016. One of the fatal flaws in the design of the More MARTA program is the timing of completion for the transit on the Atlanta Beltline.

The plan, as proposed, won’t deliver the light rail on the Beltline until at least 2045 – the same as saying never. This timeline is far too long, considering that the Atlanta Beltline is the most shovel-ready project in the More MARTA list of transit projects, with completed environmental studies on the eastside streetcar expansion and the East and Westside trails of the Beltline.Atlanta Beltline rail was featured prominently during the campaign to increase the MARTA sales tax. I, like many voters, supported the increase because I believed that the city and MARTA’s leadership was committed to quickly completing the Beltline light rail loop.

The fact that gentrification is now associated with the project is unfortunate. The More MARTA list, with its decades-long proposed construction timeline, is a failure of city leadership to advocate for affordability and equity. The MARTA sales tax is regressive, meaning the burden of paying the tax is higher on low-income people. Prioritizing Beltline rail ensures that this community of people can benefit from transit service that truly connects them to opportunities around the city, especially in tandem with the Campbellton Road light rail project. Unfortunately, MARTA has decided to prioritize the Emory Clifton Corridor, socking away millions of dollars to for a project that serves a mostly suburban, wealthy, and white population at the expense of the residents of Atlanta who are paying the tax now.