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133 Coalition makes noise
August 19, 2008
The economic success of a community rests with its access to transportation. That’s why the widening of Georgia Highway 133 from Albany to Valdosta is vital to all the communities that the 65-mile stretch of road connects. more »
Struggling Economy Won't Slow The Push To Fix Transportation Woes
August 18, 2008
The downturn that’s forcing the state to look for $1.6 billion worth of spending cuts and has pushed unemployment to the highest level in 15 years is going to put a damper on lots of things in next year’s legislative session - but one of them isn’t the push to find new revenue sources for transportation. more »
Road projects in limbo as DOT struggles with funding
June 8, 2008
Funding shortfalls, rising construction costs and the urgent need to reform DOT's accounting are coming home to roost, and a lot less dirt is getting turned. more »
Cagle promises traffic relief
June 4, 2008
After listening to him speak at the high-powered Cobb Chamber of Commerce Chairman's Club luncheon on Tuesday, local leaders say Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle has received the "loud and clear" message that failing to pass legislation to relieve traffic congestion in the 2009 session is not an option. more »
Transportation still a local priority
April 14, 2008
A new sales tax could be the Holy Grail for solving Athens' transportation woes, and state lawmakers came closer than ever to passing one this month. more »
DOT fears $1 billion shortfall
April 11, 2008
Just days after the defeat of transportation legislation in the Georgia General Assembly, the Georgia Department of Transportation announced that projects across the state will be cut for lack of funds. more »
Life in the 'Burbs: Heavy Costs for Families, Climate
March 31, 2008
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: The average Atlanta resident with a job drives 66 miles every day. In fact, people here drive so much that if you added up every commute and every trip to a store or soccer practice on just one day, you'd get a number that's larger than the distance between the Earth and the sun. more »
House OKs transit-tax referendums
March 28, 2008
ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: The state House on Thursday approved a measure to allow regions in Georgia to seek voter consent to a penny sales tax for transportation projects. more »
House approves vote on tax for regional transportation
March 28, 2008
COLUMBUS LEDGER-ENQUIRER: Casting traffic congestion as a family values issue, the House voted on Thursday to give local governments the option of levying a 1-cent sales tax hike to fund regional transportation projects. more »
Solve the transportation funding crisis
March 27, 2008
AUGUSTA CHRONICLE: Over the past year, Georgians everywhere have heard the painful truth that our state is suffering from a massive transportation funding shortfall -- a deficit that has led to the death or postponement of hundreds of local projects, some of them right here in Augusta. more »
Kessel Stelling: New sales tax would help relieve traffic congestion
March 27, 2008
MARIETTA DAILY JOURNAL: Traffic down Interstate 75 is bad and getting worse. And while counties across Georgia are doing their best to ease traffic within their county limits, their hands are tied when it comes to big projects that connect the region. more »
Overextended DOT plans to ax projects
March 25, 2008
ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Georgia is about to undertake some painful project-cutting to fit its transportation program to its budget, state Department of Transportation Commissioner Gena Abraham told her board Monday as they met at a retreat in Macon. more »
Board supports HOV tolls for solo drivers
March 21, 2008
Metro Atlanta cars with one or two people could be paying tolls to drive the area's HOV lanes in as little as two years, state officials said. The state Transportation Board on Thursday passed a resolution to push the plan forward. While the measure does not give final approval to convert metro Atlanta's 45 miles of Interstate HOV lanes into a comprehensive system of "high occupancy toll" lanes, that is the direction the state is headed, board leaders said. more »
Officials work on new transportation tax
March 18, 2008
House and Senate leaders are working on a penny sales tax that might cut years of delay from the completion of a $300 million upgrade to the Macon interchange of interstates 75 and 16, if local voters agree to pay it. more »
Transportation Funding Bill Gets Boost From Public Transit Advocates
March 17, 2008
INSIDER ADVANTAGE: The local option transportation funding bill that’s making its way through the Georgia General Assembly drew fresh support at a rally Monday of public transportation advocates who hailed it as a potential source of new funds for bus systems and commuter rail lines. The proposal already has strong support from a coalition of key Georgia business leaders and from those who look to it as a way to fix a backlog of problems with the highway network. more »
Roads by region
March 16, 2008
SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS: This new concept - a transportation special purpose sales tax, or TSPLOST - would provide a needed funding source for Georgia's counties. more »
Transportation woes worsen
March 14, 2008
COLUMBUS LEDGER-ENQUIRER: Rep. Vance Smith, R-Pine Mountain, and his Senate counterpart Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, Transportation Committee chairs in their respective chambers, are pushing for something a bit closer to home rule, and home funding, of transportation projects. more »
EPA tightens ozone limits; 14 Ga. counties in violation
March 13, 2008
Already struggling to meet the old ozone standards, the state will now have to find ways to meet the new directive. These Georgia counties are in violation of the new EPA standards: Bibb, Athens-Clarke, Cobb, Coweta, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Murray, Paulding, Richmond, Rockdale. more »
House Panel Moves Ball Forward On Possible Transportation Funding Compromise
March 13, 2008
INSIDER ADVANTAGE: After a debate that ran for more than three and a half hours, the House Transportation Committee got the ball rolling Wednesday towards a proposed compromise on how to raise funds to meet the state’s massive backlog of transportation needs. more »
Group urges sales tax to fund transportation projects
March 12, 2008
MACON TELEGRAPH: A coalition of more than 50 entities, ranging from chambers of commerce to government leaders to environmental groups, are banding together in support of a new transportation bill for the state. more »
Transportation committees near consensus on transportation funding proposal
March 7, 2008
Rep. Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain) and Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga) spoke at a press conference held by Get Georgia Moving, a coalition of a broad spectrum of interest groups that are pushing for some kind of transportation funding. more »
Getting somewhere: House, Senate can meet in the middle with regional approach to transportation funding
March 6, 2008
To their credit, leaders in both the House and Senate have gotten serious about meeting the state's transportation funding crisis, with each chamber proposing workable approaches that would put a dent in the problem. more »
With the GREAT plan gone, it’s time to talk roads
March 6, 2008
... Leaders of the House and Senate announced this morning that they’ve got their eyes on a compromise plan to inject more money into Georgia roads, bridges and, perhaps, other forms of transit. more »
Transportation Coalition Ramps Up Effort To Get Something Moving On Taxes
March 6, 2008
“Before we leave this session, we hope we come up with a package that will be beneficial to 9.5 million people in the state of Georgia,” said Rep. Vance Smith, chairman of the House Transportation Committee. more »
GOP stuck in tenuous position
March 3, 2008
Spurred by the newly formed Get Georgia Moving, a coalition of businesses, local governments and environmental groups, House and Senate Republican leaders are pushing competing proposals to raise funds for a backlog of needed highway and transit projects. more »
State representative says tax still sought for transportation
February 29, 2008
A plan that would create a statewide transportation sales tax appears to be short on votes in the House of Representatives said Smith, R-Pine Mountain. As a result, he and others have started work on a second plan which would allow regional development commissions the chance to put particular projects up to a funding vote. more »
DOT to ax 150 road projects next week
February 29, 2008
AJC: We’re picking up word that the state Department of Transportation, in an effort to reconcile the reality of funding with an overpromised list of projects, is preparing to issue stop-work orders on 150 current road projects contained within 70 contracts. more »
Govs target transportation funding
February 28, 2008
The nation’s governors are ratcheting up pressure on Congress and the White House to fix the country’s crumbling roads, bridges, dams and sewers, an investment some governors tout would serve a dual purpose by boosting the slumping economy. more »
The Nation In Numbers; America’s aging and congested road, rail, and air networks are threatening its economic health.
February 26, 2008
Transportation spending is spread around the United States like peanut butter, and while it’s spread pretty thick—nearly $50 billion last year in federal dollars for surface transportation alone—the places that are most critical to the country’s economic competitiveness don’t get what they need. more »
Insider Advantage: Cagle Pushing 1-Cent Local Option Sales Tax For Transportation; Counter-Proposal Dropped In House
February 8, 2008
The local option approach has long been favored by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, and has consistently enjoyed Cagle’s support. Other business groups favor a 1 percent statewide tax increase, and House Speaker Glenn Richardson said several weeks ago he believes transportation solutions “should be statewide.” more »
AJC--Cagle backs local taxes for transit funds
February 8, 2008
Special regional sales tax advocates, such as the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, hope the tax would enable an area such as metro Atlanta to build large projects the state can't or won't now fund. Such projects could include major roads and mass transit to ease congestion. The way the gas tax now works, much of the tax paid by metro Atlantans is siphoned off to projects in the rest of the state. Metro Chamber of Commerce transportation committee chairman and AirTran Chairman Joe Leonard said the group expected a number of legislative proposals, and the important thing is that some sort of sustainable transportation funding be passed. But just the act of high-ranking officials publicly and forcefully supporting new transportation funding is a turnaround from recent years. more »
Atlanta Business Chronicle--Cagle backs regional transportation tax with major twist
February 7, 2008
That's similar to a plan endorsed by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and other business interests. "This development is a huge step forward in the transportation funding debate," said Charles Tarbutton, chairman of the Georgia chamber. "Now state leaders can dig in and find a consensus transportation solution," said Joe Leonard, chairman of AirTran Airways and the metro chamber's point man on transportation. more »
Florida Times Union—Transportation funding desired for all of Georgia
February 3, 2008
Charles Tarbutton, chairman of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, which supports the plan, said some of the projects would be in the Governor's Road Improvement Program. That plan is meant to widen highways in rural Georgia to give more state residents access to multilane highways. "It's way behind schedule," said Tarbutton, from Sandersville. "It is very important to rural communities that that program be completed." Another example, he said, are the "last mile" projects at the Port of Savannah, roads meant to relieve congestion caused by trucks bringing the cargo from the rest of the state and the nation to ships for export. "Those have strategic importance to the state of Georgia despite the fact that the money gets invested in Chatham County," Tarbutton said. more »
Albany Herald--Road funding plan mulled
February 3, 2008
As envisioned in a bill introduced last year, it would allow two or more adjacent counties to band together and ask their voters to approve a 1 percent regional sales tax for transportation projects. The Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce led the fight for the legislation in 2007 and backs it again this year. It is modeled after the highly successful special-purpose local-option sales tax (SPLOST) votes that have become a fixture in counties and school districts across Georgia. more »
Transportation funding desired for all of Georgia
February 2, 2008
The Georgia Department of Transportation estimates that it is $7.7 billion short of having the funds it needs to make necessary improvements to the state's transportation system in the current six-year period. more »
Albany Herald: Lawmakers still face numerous transportation funding choices
January 31, 2008
…But Charles Tarbutton, chairman of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Get Georgia Moving Coalition, said the state has the wherewithal to overhaul the DOT and pursue new transportation funding sources at the same time. "We understand the challenges facing (DOT)," said Tarbutton, assistant vice president of the Sandersville Railroad Co. "But we feel very confident that reform and funding can and should be addressed concurrently, so that 18 to 24 months from now, an improved DOT will have the resources needed to move forward with the infrastructure projects this state needs." more »
Marietta Daily Journal: Committee recommends two tax plans
January 31, 2008
…Charles Tarbutton, who chairs the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, said the report boils down to one conclusion: "Georgia needs new and innovative funding solutions for transportation." more »
Savannah Morning News: Two transit-funding formulas offered
January 31, 2008
…"Once those reforms are fully in place ... the money would be immediately available for their deployment," said Charles Tarbutton, incoming chairman of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. more »
Athens Banner-Herald: New approach to transportation holds promise
January 31, 2008
Comments from the co-chairmen of a legislative study committee that spent last year looking at state transportation funding are a welcome indication that at least a part of this state's leadership is beginning to recognize roads are simply one component of transportation infrastructure. more »
Chattanooga Times-Free Press: Highway funding may be legislative tussle
January 31, 2008
…“We recognize the need for additional (transportation) funding,” said Charles K. Tarbutton, chairman for the Chamber. “The people of Georgia will have to decide whether they want a statewide or regional funding mechanism.” more »
Associated Press: Transportation committee's report recommends two tax plans
January 30, 2008
… If business groups were upset lawmakers didn't endorse a specific tax plan, they didn't show it. "We have to spend money on transportation. We're very encouraged the committee has said a transportation funding bill will be passed," said Sam A. Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. "The key question is: Will voters pay to fund transportation improvements? and I think they will.” more »
Atlanta Business Chronicle: Legislative task force backs regional penny for congestion
January 30, 2008
…The report also endorses legislation backed by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and other groups for a regional penny sales tax to combat congestion in the Atlanta region, where traffic is second-worst in the nation. more »
AJC: New twist: Road money may stay in Atlanta
January 30, 2008
… In a startling move for a Legislature often perceived as catering to rural interests, a high-powered committee Wednesday recommended allowing regions like metro Atlanta to levy a new 1 cent sales tax for transportation and spend it all on themselves. … Chamber of Commerce Chairman Charles Tarbutton, of Sandersville, said that it is too soon to know which provisions would find statewide support. But he said "marrying the best parts" of the regional and statewide funding plans has won the support of a coalition of interest groups including his chamber. more »
Insider Advantage: Transportation Panel Unveils Recommendations For Funding Improvements, Other Steps
January 30, 2008
…The "Get Georgia Moving Coalition," which represents more than 50 groups across the state, lauded the recommendations. …"Today's recommendations from the study committee are the result of months of hard work and it all comes down to one conclusion - Georgia needs new and innovative funding solutions for transportation," said Charles Tarbutton, chairman of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the coalition. more »
