Bloglanta

You would have had to dig a little for it, but the AJC reported last week that Governor Perdue went to the ARC’s annual State of the Region breakfast and said he would like to see more people riding public transit. Before going any further, I’d be curious to know what was in his grits, and if he could pass some of that on over to Mike Kenn, the shameless assphalt … err, asphalt … advocate.

According to the same story, our newly-elected Senator Johnny Isakson recently endorsed high-speed rail to D.C., the GA-316 toll to Athens, and Lexus lanes. Apparently, Isakson could use some more grits — he made no mention in the article of any desire to actually see more people riding public transit, though he is on the board of advisors for the Atlanta Peachtree Streetcar project.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday night I went to a PEDS meeting to discuss the Peachtree Streetcar. Glen Kurtz of Lanier Parking Systems was the featured speaker on the topic. As it turns out, the streetcar concept has grown in scope since it was first proposed. In addition to an eight mile route along Peachtree, an additional loop has been added to service the various attractions around downtown, including all the attractions around Centennial Park and the MLK memorial.

Currently, ridership for the streetcar is estimated at 21,500 passengers per day. In addition, the project is expected to attract 16,000 new transit users. Many other cool statistics and stuff like that went flying about. What I found most remarkable was that market studies have shown that many metro Atlantans want to live in areas that are well-served by transit and where they can walk to local places of business. There is a market out there, folks, and it’s currently underserved.

Kurtz handed out copies of the Streetcar’s feasibility study. Seeing that I haven’t been able to find an electronic copy of it, I took the paper copy I was given and scanned it to PDF. Here is a copy for all who would like to take a peek.

In perusing the 1943 Gateway, Georgia State’s yearbook before it was called Rampway, I found a picture on the faculty page that was kind of suspicious. Does Atlanta’s own Willie B. have a connection with Georgia State? Is this the same guy? What was he doing at Georgia State? What could he have been teaching?

Friends of the Beltline will be hosting a fundraiser event to, well, raise funds. Of course, you’ll also be able to enjoy food, drinks, live music and maybe even some good company while helping the cause of making Atlanta a little more mobile.

Here’s the invitation for all interested: