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TAKE ACTION: LOCAL
TRANSIT FUNDING
BikeAthens advocates for increased funding for our local transit system and regional passenger rail to better serve ACC residents and visitors. Athens Transit provides a truly valuable service to our community, but it could do so much more if it had the necessary resources. Based on many years’ worth of public comment to both ATS and local transportation planners, we are confident in the latent demand for even further expanded service—many people who do not currently ride the bus would do so if the bus ran more frequently and into later hours.
Besides providing mobility to our neighbors, more buses mean fewer cars on the road. This translates into less traffic congestion, less air pollution, and safer streets for everyone, including those who never step on a bus.
As with all public services, it ultimately comes down to money. As the Georgia Transit Association observes,
“Georgia is one of just nine states that does not provide any operating assistance to its public transit operators. Of the ten most populated states, not only is Georgia the only state not providing operating assistance to transit, it also only provides $.60 (down from $.72 in 2003) per capita for direct financial assistance to public transportation. Our neighbor to the South, Florida, by contrast spends $5.49 per capita, and New York spends the most with $91.88 per capita.”
(source: http://www.thegta.org/legislativeactivity.html)
Indeed, almost half of Athens Transit's budget derives from Athens-Clarke County’s General Fund, and, like many agencies, ATS consistently faces funding shortfalls and must cope with volatile fuel costs.
Athens is growing,, and Athens Transit needs to grow with it. Athens Transit’s services are essential for a healthy community. As such, it needs to have a more reliable, predictable source of funding each year.
While state dollars would tremendously strengthen local transit services (see the GTA quote above), ACC commissioners have asked Athens Transit staff to research local alternate funding sources for transit. The most viable idea was to levy a local sales tax specifically to fund transit. If Athens adopted a Local Option Transit Tax (LOTT) also sometimes referred to as a T-SPLOST (Transportation-Local Option Sales Tax), of just a quarter of a cent ($00.0025) on the dollar, Athens could enjoy more frequent service AND full-scale night service, and ACC would no longer have to fund transit from the general fund. General Fund money could be put to other beneficial uses in the community.
Stay tuned to the BikeAthens Blog for updates, transit news, and calls to action.
What can you do?
1) Contact
your mayor and commissioners, telling them
that you would like ACC to adequately fund transit in
this fiscal year, and that you would like to see the creation
of a Metropolitan Transit Authority in the near future.
Click here
for a sample letter.
2) Contact
your state representatives, telling them that
you support an amendment to House Bill #1444 or other
suitable legislation that will allow Athens to levy a
local tax for transit.
3) In the future, we will need
people to help with a referendum. We'll keep you
posted.
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