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Why Streetcar Extension East (SEE) is Not a
Good Idea I have enormous respect for Maria Saporta, but I must confess my disappointment to read her support for rail technology on the Beltline right of way. Transit is a *service*. Transit is not a particular technology. In itself, a streetcar does not address traffic congestion. One of the biggest problems in Atlanta’s transit planning is the obsession with rail technology. We have that technology in the current streetcar, and indeed the streetcars are pretty. But they are a *symbol* of transit; they are not transit. For transit is a service not an 'equipment'. Today, Atlanta’s streetcars provide bad transit service. That is because transit service depends on other factors. Effective and efficient transit requires an unobstructed track, a right of way that connects travelers’ origins and destinations, and cost-effective equipment. The many idealistic young people (and some old ones, too) rallying around streetcars will set back Atlanta transit if they get what they want. On that score, see the analyses of Georgia Tech professors Mike Dobbins, Howard Wertheimer, and myself. When and where are the traffic jams in this city? They are at rush hour on North Ave., 10th Street, Piedmont Ave., and the freeways (and many other roads,) i.e. they are on radial routes in and out of the city. Traffic jams are not caused by people going from Grant Park to Inman Park to Virginia Highland to Ansley Park. That ring route (of the Beltline) does not correspond to patterns of travel. Moreover, running rail through what is now a linear park will not spur economic development. Development has exploded along the Beltline because the Beltline is a park. Most developments are located at the intersection of radial spokes that people use to get to work and the Beltline loop that people use for recreation. Mike Greene, who holds a day job as senior VP for development at Portman Properties (a firm that knows a thing or two about urban development!), has expressed concern about running rail through the Beltline. Developers fear that the public asset that has attracted developers may soon be a canyon of concrete rail beds and overhead electrical wires. Finally, consider the equity implications. Who desperately needs transit? Who relies on it for their livelihood? It is not readers of this column, most of whom live in northeast Atlanta. It is working class folks who live well outside the Beltline loop. South and West Atlanta need transit. Even Amir Farokhi has acknowledged that his Old Fourth Ward district is already comparatively well-served by MARTA heavy rail. Folks, what Atlanta needs is good transit service. To get that, we must spend wisely. Deploy transit to meet demand. Use cost-effective technology. Follow rights of way that connect origins and destinations. Promote urban development by preserving parks. Streetcars on the Beltline will set back transit in Atlanta. [Home Page] ### |