Franklin Roundtable Opposes Cobb County Transit Tax

Marietta, Georgia – July 25, 2023
Franklin Roundtable, a non-partisan advocacy group based in Marietta, will oppose the transit tax Cobb County commissioners are planning to place on the ballot in 2024. The Franklin Roundtable Board of Directors has voted unanimously to oppose the new tax.

Jim Jess, chairman of Franklin Roundtable said, “A transit tax is nothing but a boondoggle. We need serious traffic solutions. But what do we get from our commissioners? Empty buses on Cobb County streets. Multimillion dollar transportation studies that make consultants rich. And transit proposals that won’t improve traffic flow. Who is being served by this? It’s certainly not the citizens of Cobb County.”

“Most of our current commissioners are not serious about real traffic solutions, and they are not fiscally responsible,” Jess said. “They are more concerned about serving the economic development lobby and the consultant lobby. County spending reflects this year after year.”

A 19th-century hub-and-spoke transit system defies traffic patterns in Cobb County and other areas of metro Atlanta. Riding a train or bus to downtown Atlanta is not how most of metro Atlanta gets to work. Traffic patterns follow the pathways that people use for work, school or entertainment, and for many Cobb residents, that doesn’t mean downtown Atlanta. We need to improve arterial roads in Cobb County.

Mass transit is an idea best left in the previous century. If county leaders are serious about moving people, they should consider strategies that would actually work:

lisa.cupid@cobbcounty.org

keli.gambrill@cobbcounty.org

jerica.richardson@cobbcounty.org

joann.birrell@cobbcounty.org

monique.sheffield@cobbcounty.org

Marietta, Georgia – July 25, 2023

Franklin Roundtable, a non-partisan advocacy group based in Marietta, will oppose the transit tax Cobb County commissioners are planning to place on the ballot in 2024. The Franklin Roundtable Board of Directors has voted unanimously to oppose the new tax.

Jim Jess, chairman of Franklin Roundtable said, “A transit tax is nothing but a boondoggle. We need serious traffic solutions. But what do we get from our commissioners? Empty buses on Cobb County streets. Multi-million dollar transportation studies that make consultants rich. And transit proposals that won’t improve traffic flow. Who is being served by this? It’s certainly not the citizens of Cobb County.”

“Most of our current commissioners are not serious about real traffic solutions, and they are not fiscally responsible,” Jess said. “They are more concerned about serving the economic development lobby and the consultant lobby. County spending reflects this year after year.”

A 19th-century hub-and-spoke transit system defies traffic patterns in Cobb County and other areas of metro Atlanta. Riding a train or bus to downtown Atlanta is not how most of metro Atlanta gets to work. Traffic patterns follow the pathways that people use for work, school or entertainment, and for many Cobb residents, that doesn’t mean downtown Atlanta. We need to improve arterial roads in Cobb County.

Mass transit is an idea best left in the previous century. If county leaders are serious about moving people, they should consider strategies that would actually work:

Contract with Uber or Lyft to transport those who lack transportation between point A and point B. No new buses or additional infrastructure would be needed. This solution would save money.
If vital bus routes need to be added, buy $50,000 vans instead of wasting $500,000 or more for a bus that is running almost empty. Vans are smaller and can move through traffic more quickly.
Build flyover lanes or access roads to bypass busy intersections. This has been done successfully in other jurisdictions. Many cities use these roads to alleviate congestion.

Jess said, “Solutions like the ones we are talking about are simply common sense. We need our commissioners to make some better decisions, beginning with dropping the idea of a transit tax. It really doesn’t make sense for our situation in Cobb County.”

Franklin Roundtable will oppose any attempt to place a transit tax proposal on the ballot. If placed on the ballot, the Marietta-based nonprofit will be working with a coalition of like minded citizens and organizations to defeat this wasteful, ineffective and unnecessary tax.

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Franklin Roundtable encourages every Cobb County citizen to contact their county commissioner AND the commissioner chairwoman and ask them to NOT put the transit tax on the ballot in 2024. This is not something that is needed in our community.

Phone numbers and email addresses for each commissioner are below. Please reach out and contact them today.

Call them, email them, or, if you have a fax machine or fax software, you could even fax them a note!

A few, committed patriots with common sense CAN make a difference. We who speak up join a growing chorus of citizens seeking relief from a growing, overbearing, wasteful government that no longer serves our interests in Cobb County.