SURPRISE: MARTA already spent nearly half the More MARTA tax proceeds on enhanced bus operations
Assistant General Manager Carrie Rocha at the Atlanta City Council Transportation Committee meeting
Wait. What?
If you tuned in to the City Council Transportation Committee meeting on May 25, you probably still have a few unanswered questions about how MARTA is choosing to spend the More MARTA Atlanta ½-cent sales tax.
Starting with: “Um, does anyone know if that’s even legal?”
It’s pretty clear from watching the briefing that MARTA would prefer not to have to answer questions. Questions like, “When was the decision to spend an enormous chunk of money intended for expansion on operations? Who made it? Were the City of Atlanta and the public consulted? Oh, and doesn’t Atlanta need that money to qualify for the massive amount of federal infrastructure funding that’s currently out there, but only for a limited time?”
It took six months for Councilman Alex Wan, who chairs the finance committee, to finally get the MARTA briefing he requested. But it wasn’t exactly the full accounting he and other members of the Transportation Committee were expecting.
“MARTA has misspent money on operations that was intended to fund capital projects,” BeltLine Rail Now’s Chairman Matthew Rao told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
To hear acting CEO and GM Collie Greenwood tell it, MARTA just implements what the MARTA Board decides. But the reality is the MARTA Board relies heavily on MARTA staff recommendations.
If you’ve been following along, you’re aware MARTA staff wants at least two of the More MARTA light rail projects approved by the MARTA Board in 2018, converted into bus rapid transit. Mind you, that’s not the “locally preferred alternative” (LPA). MARTA’s decision to push for BRT for both Campbellton Road and Emory Clifton Corridor has experienced varying degrees of pushback.
Emory seems to have thrown in the towel, worn down by two decades of trying to get reliable transit for a major employment center. Campbellton folks are still fighting to get the rail they were promised because of the economic development benefits of light rail, which historically surpasses what BRT brings. Interestingly, MARTA responded with a plan that would spend all of the money that light rail would have cost on a host of other transit and infrastructure improvements. So, is BRT about saving money or something else?
What other MARTA surprises might be out there? Will a full forensic audit be ordered?
Why not mention this to your council rep, Council President Doug Shipman, and Mayor Andre Dickens? BRN is confident that Dickens will want to get to the bottom of this. After all, he was chair of the Transportation Committee when MARTA started spending expansion funds on operations, long before the pandemic.
Hear City Council President Doug Shipman seeking clarification on BeltLine rail from MARTA Interim CEO and General Manager Collie Greenwood (timestamp - 1:28:55-1:30:03).
