and they voted NO big time...the referendum was defeated in all 10 counties in the region. In fact, only 3 areas in the state approved their regional plans.
http://www.ajc.com/news/transportation-referendum/tea-party-notches-a-1488517.html
and of course, the result will be more centralized (vs. local) decisions
http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2012/07/31/nathan-deals-plan-b-governor-intends-to-step-into-transportation-vacuum/
make no mistake...this is the "road" Florida is headed down as well, with a very striong hand from the FDOT Central Office in Tallahassee
thought simms said they loved paying taxes up there?
Disappointing news.
Quote from: tufsu1 on August 01, 2012, 09:14:52 AM
make no mistake...this is the "road" Florida is headed down as well, with a very striong hand from the FDOT Central Office in Tallahassee
Someone mentioned to me recently that the FDOT Secretary is making his feelings very clear about not supporting any reductions in road capacity for bike/ped projects.
Too bad they aren't looking at the entire economic picture when coming to these policy positions. Property values are higher in areas that are more pedestrian/bike friendly, and maintenance costs are lower when we have fewer cars on the road.
Quote from: fsquid on August 01, 2012, 09:18:40 AM
thought simms said they loved paying taxes up there?
Simms says lots of things. Apparently Atlanta is a world class, modern day utopian city & I just didn't know it. ;)
And I like how the analyst in the video mentions toll roads & gas taxes as "transit improvements". Sound familiar??
Make no mistake about it. These southern tea party ran states that have been sprawl messes for decades where the automobile is deep rooted (and public transit/pedestrians have remained a complete & intentional afterthought) will never allow their corporate masters to fail.
I've heard that people have been very unhappy about the process and that the Sierra Club, Tea Party and NAACP were united in opposition.
http://www.ajc.com/news/transportation-referendum/voters-reject-transportation-tax-1488552.html
This article describes the failure very well... a few telling passages...
QuoteShirley Tondee, a Brookhaven Republican, thinks the region must do something to solve constant transportation woes. But she voted against the T-SPLOST anyway. "I just don't trust that government is going to take the money and do what they say they're going to do," the retired sales representative said outside her precinct.
and...
QuoteThe campaign lost huge potential endorsements at the core of its voter base this spring, when the state organizations for both the Sierra Club and the NAACP came out against the tax, feeling there should be more transit in the list.
The distrust part is real. Same thing is happening in Jacksonville. "Give us a 1% tax for this" But once it is done... the tax remains and is used for something else.
QuoteJacksonville had tolls on the Mathews, Hart, Fuller Warren and Trout River bridges and on Butler Boulevard â€" and were planned for the new Dames Point bridge â€" until Duval County voters approved a 1988 referendum to replace tolls with a local half-cent sales tax in the county. The tolls went away in 1989, and the tax is still in place.
Tommy Hazouri, who was mayor at the time and pushed to get rid of the tolls, criticized the planned toll lanes.
“If this goes forward, then the city should give back the money it collected from the sales tax,†Hazouri said.
People agreed to tax themselves because the city agreed to never bring tolls back. And even though this is the state and not the city, it’s still a violation of trust, Hazouri said.
http://m.jacksonville.com/news/florida/2012-06-14/story/toll-roads-returning-jacksonville-2017
well...yes and no
folks like the Sierra Club thought the 50/50 split wasn't enough to transit....folks like the Tea Party (and many suburban residents) felt there was too much money being wasted on transit projects (like the Beltline)
btw,...another takeaway here is that regions are very diverse...and what works for one county doesn't for another...in Atlanta's case, the problem was trying to spread projects out to satify politicians and their constituents.....here in jax, this could be an issue with the Regional Transportation Study Commission
turns out folks in Atlanta proper approved the measure 59-41
http://dc.streetsblog.org/2012/08/01/atlantas-bad-traffic-situation-is-about-to-get-worse/#more-128306
the same thing happened in Tampa last year where city voters approved their transit plan...but the plan was defeated overall as folks in unincorporated Hillsborough County were strongly opposed.
As I stated before, this should caution some on the advantages of regionalism...and in the case of Jax, one of the downsides to consolidation