Georgia state legislators want road-funding fairness with Atlanta (Columbus, Savannah: 2015, how much)

[Born 2 Roll]

After the Georgia General Assembly approved significant tax increases to fund road improvements during the 2015 session, many Georgia state legislators from outside Metro Atlanta complain that too much transportation funding is being spent in the Capital region.

From the Athens Banner-Herald (onlineathens.com) via Walter Jones of Morris News Service: "Legislators want road-funding fairness with Atlanta"...
Legislators want road-funding fairness with Atlanta | Online Athens

From the article:

The governor, House speaker, lieutenant governor and chairmen of the House and Senate transportation committees stood before the media the first week of the legislative session to ballyhoo the coming results of a tax package enacted in 2015. The boost in gasoline taxes and new fees on electric cars and hotel stays is politically risky for Republicans, and the leaders were providing the political cover they had promised last year when soliciting passage.

The most expensive projects that the website highlights, which are along Interstate Highways, total $14.06 billion. Of that, $11.75 billion is for metro Atlanta, or 84 percent.

Only two of those large projects are outside Atlanta, an improved interchange at Interstates 16 and 95 in Savannah for $244 million and dedicated truck lanes on I-75 north of Macon for $2 billion.

The remainder of the 1,000 or so projects listed that have estimates published average around $2 million each. While most are outside Atlanta, even there the biggest are in metro Atlanta, like $61 million for sidewalks along that city’s Beltline Corridor and $30 million to resurface I-85 in DeKalb County.

“You’re going to run into cones everywhere you go,” Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry has been saying frequently around the Capitol.

But lawmakers want to make certain about the “everywhere” and not let metro Atlanta hog all of the benefits...

...“Obviously we are hoping there’s equity in the funding and making sure that rural Georgia gets its fair shake and fair share of transportation dollars to invest in our infrastructure in South Georgia ,” said Sen. Tyler Harper, R-Ocilla.

Everyone in the legislature has to deal with Atlanta traffic, often grumbling about it as they arrive each morning during General Assembly sessions. They’re realistic enough to know that about two-third of the state’s population lives in metro Atlanta and that much of the state’s economic activity is centered there. But not all of it is.

“I think that 85 percent of that money is going to go to within 60 miles of downtown Atlanta. That is a great need, but it’s not 80 percent of our needs,” said Sen. Lester Jackson, D-Savannah.

Airforceguy posted a version of this thread in the Georgia forum, but it does not seem like it is likely to get many views in a forum that does not get much traffic, so I reposted a version of it here in the Atlanta forum.

Airforceguy: Distribution of road-project funding draws scrutiny from Georgia lawmakers...
https://www.city-data.com/forum/georg...-scrutiny.html

And here is a link to the version of the story in the Augusta Chronicle that Airforceguy posted...
Distribution of road-project funding draws scrutiny from Georgia lawmakers | The Augusta Chronicle

[jsvh]

“I think that 85 percent of that money is going to go to within 60 miles of downtown Atlanta."

And I bet that is where 85%+ of the money in GA is coming from.

[atler8]

I'm reminded of the time we were driving on a new 4 lane road segment of something like U.S. Highway 27 well on down below Columbus & Fort Benning. We had no other vehicle in sight in our north bound 2 lanes for the longest time & at one point we drove for around 3.5 miles before another vehicle came southbound & passed us in the other direction over in the other 2 lanes.
What a waste of tax road $$$ projects of that ilk are in unpopulated areas; projects built just so that a sparsely-populated segment of the state can feel connected to everyone else & done at the behest of a particular set of legislators who want their share of pork barrel highway $$$ even if the traffic count doesn't support such a project.
That's the exact kind of road money waste that aggravates me.

[Ant131531]

What percentage of Atlanta's MSA GDP contributes to the overall state's GDP?

EDIT:
Atlanta MSA contributes 68% of productivity to the overall productivity of Georgia based on real GDP 2014.

Source: http://www.bea.gov/itable/

So Atlanta should get between 68-70% of the funding for any transportation and infrastructural needs.

[sedimenjerry]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

What percentage of Atlanta's MSA GDP contributes to the overall state's GDP?

EDIT:
Atlanta MSA contributes 68% of productivity to the overall productivity of Georgia based on real GDP 2014.

Source: http://www.bea.gov/itable/

So Atlanta should get between 68-70% of the funding for any transportation and infrastructural needs.

I think that's oversimplifying it. How much does the rest of the state use Atlanta's network? A business in Dalton has to ship something so it gets sent to Hartsfield using 75,285 and some local roads. A chicken farmer in Hart County sends product to Cobb county and the truck has to use 85 and 285. A business in Macon is flying in some executives for a business partnership and has to use Hartsfield to fly them in and 285/75 to get them to Macon and so on.

[jsvh]

All of this only goes to show why road revenues should be directly collected from users. All state and interstate road projects should be able to pay for themselves directly.

[whodean]

All MARTA lines should be able to pay for themselves directly.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by whodean

All MARTA lines should be able to pay for themselves directly.

That's fine, as long as all of the state's Interstate highways become tolled. Fair is fair.

[chiatldal]

Originally Posted by Ant131531

What percentage of Atlanta's MSA GDP contributes to the overall state's GDP?

EDIT:
Atlanta MSA contributes 68% of productivity to the overall productivity of Georgia based on real GDP 2014.

Source: http://www.bea.gov/itable/

So Atlanta should get between 68-70% of the funding for any transportation and infrastructural needs.

Keep in mind it's also about investing for the future and Atlanta is most of the state growth.

Atlanta is already 6/10 of the state in 20 years Atlanta may be 8/10.

It is fair it going to the most use roads.

[atler8]

Originally Posted by whodean

All MARTA lines should be able to pay for themselves directly.

That, my friend, is already an altogether-too-common refrain.