Lawmakers hope to move public transit to front burner

ATLANTA – Valdosta recently wrapped up a public transit trial that saw daily average ridership climb from just five folks a day to nearly 50.

Although temporary, the shuttles provided a lift to people who have limited options for getting around Valdosta, which lacks public transportation, said City Councilwoman Vivian Miller-Cody.

Nearly half of those who hopped on the shuttle during the 14-month pilot program either took it to work or used it to help them find a job, according to a survey of riders included in a report on the program.

The report, which was compiled by the Southern Georgia Regional Commission, found that 27 percent of riders would normally walk to their destination.

“We have so many people walking in our area that the north side of town, they have no idea that these people are walking back and forth,” Miller-Cody said, referring to a more affluent area of the city.

Uber, which is now operating in Valdosta, isn’t much of an alternative for them, Miller-Cody said. “Who can afford to pay $10 a day for just one way to work?” she said.

Local officials are now mulling whether to make the temporary transit system permanent and, if so, how they would pay for it.

But at least for now, Miller-Cody said she’s encouraged by a new state-level effort to assess how Georgia can do a better job supporting transit across the state. That panel, called the House Commission on Transit Governance and Funding, held its second meeting Wednesday.

The commission is in the beginning of what is expected to be a two-year process.

House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, speaking at the first meeting in June, said the commission’s recommendations may include restructuring governance or creating agreements between governments to improve efficiency, Ralston said. He said the commission may also recommend “reasonable state funding.”

Jason Shaw, R-Lakeland, who sits on the commission, said public opinion toward transit has changed in Georgia, particularly in the Atlanta area, which has left lawmakers more open to considering state support.

Still, Shaw said it is important that any state funding devoted to transit isn’t spent on operations that are “an open-ended pit.” Transit projects, he noted, do not necessarily all need to be eye-catching rail developments.

Partnering with rideshare companies, such as Uber and Lyft, could be a better solution for some areas, he said.

“Anything we can do to help citizens get from point A to point B is part of the solution, no matter where they live,” said Shaw, who also chairs the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee.

Most of Georgia’s counties have some form of public transit. The panel spent Wednesday, though, focused on Atlanta’s system, the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority.

Rep. Kevin Tanner, R-Dawsonville, who chairs the commission, said the group will develop a plan that aims to help all regions of the state and not just metro Atlanta, which is home to one of the largest transit systems in the country.

“We couldn’t have a thorough conversation about transit in Georgia without really diving into MARTA,” Tanner said at the meeting, which was held at MARTA headquarters. “MARTA makes up 80-plus percent of transit here in Georgia.”

Keith Parker, who is MARTA’s CEO, said the system is the only one among the 10 largest systems in the country that does not receive state funding.

MARTA hasn’t expanded its rail service in two decades, Parker said. The system has sketched out possible expansion routes, but those projects largely remain unfunded.

Parker also talked about how the system forged partnerships with rideshare companies during the I-85 bridge collapse earlier this year, which crippled Atlanta’s road infrastructure. MARTA continues to use that relationship to offer discounted rides to college students.

J.D. Dillard, who is transit and mobility coordinator with the Southern Georgia Regional Commission, said he’s hopeful that the commission’s work represents a shift toward Georgia officials treating transit as a statewide issue.

“We have to realize that Georgia is largest state east of the Mississippi and a good portion of it is rural, and there are people who live outside of Atlanta who need the benefits just as much as the people inside Atlanta,” said Dillard, who attended Wednesday’s meeting.

Valdosta has not had fixed-route public transit since 1963, when a private company stopped its operations. Lowndes County has a transit service that responds to requests.

The city’s pilot program was seen as a chance to try out transit again, even if only in a limited way, and the commission’s report on the program found that ridership grew even with just one shuttle running every 90 minutes on a loop.

The program “indeed has helped illustrate the viability of transit in Valdosta,” according to the commission’s report. The cost to bring transit to the city is estimated to be about $1.2 million a year.

“We feel like this is a great opportunity for transit discussion,” said Corey Hull, the Valdosta-Lowndes County Metropolitan Planning Organization coordinator, said of the commission’s work. “Transit has typically been a backburner issue.”

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.