HAMPTON IN (OR OUT?)

The Road Warriors are afraid that if the Atlanta-Lovejoy line is built, it quickly will be extended to its natural destination, through Hampton to Griffin. A Jan. 31 article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Commuter Rail Is a Tough Sell in Hampton," suggested that "skepticism abounds" in the Henry County community, but many of the negative opinions voiced in the article were ill-informed or contradictory. While some complained that no one would ride the trains, others complained there aren't enough parking spaces at the station for the cars of those supposedly non-existent passengers. The most troubling aspect of the article was reporter Eric Stirgus's misleading statement that the annual cost of running the Hampton station would be $540,000. In truth, commuter train stations can consist of as little as a platform and a parking lot, and you'd be hard-pressed to spend $500 a year running a train station in Hampton, let alone $500 thousand. What the $540,000 figure actually refers to is the cost of running the trains. Since the Georgia General Assembly has shamelessly abdicated its responsibility to fund operating costs for the Atlanta-Lovejoy trains, communities along the route -- recognizing the economic benefits of commuter rail -- have agreed to subsidize the trains for the first few years. While those communities are to be commended for their foresight, they should not have to bear this expense. This would be the equivalent of requiring every individual community along I-75 to help pay for road maintenance. It is blatantly unfair, because commuter train stations serve passengers coming from many miles away. In every other state that has commuter rail, train operating expenses are the responsibility of the state, or of a regional authority. Georgia needs to develop a regional plan to fund transit.

- Jim Dexter, The Peach State Xpress