City, state need commuter rail now

Please, Gov. Sonny Perdue, say "yes" to Transportation Commissioner Harold Linnenkohl's request to support a commuter rail line from Atlanta to south Clayton County by mid-2006 ["State pushes rail to Lovejoy," News, Dec. 12]. Linnenkohl advised that funding is in hand to begin work immediately on the 26-mile stretch, the first step toward a Macon line that has been studied for years.

Improving mobility and air quality is crucial to Georgia's quality of life and economic development. Our local and national transportation systems need a third leg to stand on, which is particularly evident since 9/11. This is one of the keys to decreasing our dependence on oil, especially foreign oil.

Train travel shouldn't be held to a different standard than road or air travel, which operate with far heavier government subsidies. If transit systems are expected to pay for themselves through fares, the same standard should be applied to tolls on I-285 or any other road.

Combined with high-speed interstate rail and improved inner-city transit -- such as the slam-dunk Belt Line proposal championed by Atlanta City Council President Cathy Woolard -- commuter rail will help solve the biggest problem currently facing Atlanta's transit system: In most cases today, it just doesn't get you where you need to go.

Buses -- even the latest panacea of "flex-trolleys" -- are only a small part of the solution, and it is proven that we cannot pave our way out of this situation. In fact, we paved our way into it.

But before the talk about new taxes to fund transit goes any further, the existing transportation funding formula should be re-evaluated. First, state motor fuel taxes should not be limited to use only on roads.

We can't afford not to address this problem. With every day that passes, a solution grows more expensive.

JEFF GREEN

College Park


Source: Letters to Horizon, ajc.com