Study: GA needs $100B for transportation
Atlanta Business Chronicle - by Maria Saporta Staff Writer
A gap of about $100 billion exists to fulfill Georgia’s transportation needs in the next 20 years, according to the first part of a study commissioned by Gov. Sonny Perdue and his transportation agencies.
The study, conducted by the McKinsey & Co. consulting firm, examined the relationship between future transportation investments and economic development.
“We are trying to change the paradigm from just talking about transportation needs to economic development investment,” said Dick Anderson, executive director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, in an interview Tuesday.
The study explores improving mobility in the Atlanta region through three different ways:
• Demand management: teleworking, compressed workweeks, employee vanpools, congestion pricing, better clear of accidents and converting existing HOV lanes to High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes, where people pay a premium to drive in faster-moving lanes.
• Connecting infrastructure: HOT lanes connecting major employment centers, an express bus system, commuter rail to Griffin and additional arterial roads.
• Invest in most congested corridors: replace express buses with light or heavy rail in dense corridors, build high capacity road projects and build commuter rail between Atlanta and Athens.
The “scenario study” defines those high-capacity road projects as a tunnel underneath the Downtown Connector from I-675 to Georgia 400; and another tunnel paralleling the northern arc of I-285.
“We have come up with a set of investments which are modeled on a variety of new capacity options,” Anderson said, adding that the metro area would be involved in the planning for specific projects.
The price tag for the statewide transportation plan over the next 20 years is between $142 billion and $251 billion. About a half of those funds would likely come from existing sources, such as federal highway dollars, the motor fuel tax and the MARTA sales tax.
That leaves an estimated shortfall of about $100 billion, Anderson said.
The next phase of the study will focus on a variety of options for new revenue sources to meet that shortfall. Anderson said the Georgia Department of Transportation will hear those ideas this week.
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