A 29 mile, $1.1B bus service plan was presented to the Cobb County Board of Commissioners last night, and not surprisingly the term "pipe dream" has already made an appearance. The county's department of transportation is proposing a system of express buses on I-75 and bus rapid transit along Hwy. 41, along with feeder routes, that would hit Acworth, Kennesaw, Marietta, and Smyrna before ultimately terminating at Midtown's Arts Center MARTA Station.
The price tag is pretty hefty, but it's small potatoes compared to the $4B that a similar light rail configuration would cost. Don't expect construction to start tomorrow; the environmental study won't be complete for another 18 to 24 months. And seeing as how $689M in funds disappeared with the T-SPLOST defeat, funding will probably be the biggest conundrum. Ideas being floated around include federal funding, a local SPLOST, "partner" contributions (from educational institutions and public/private partnerships), and cost sharing with Atlanta. Wonder how well that last one will go over with ITP residents...
· $1.1B bus system service between Midtown and Cobb proposed [Midtown Patch]
· $1.1B bus proposal called 'pipe dream' [MDJ]
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