basically, the story is that one of the clean air campaign’s carpool groups was riding to work one morning and heard a rap song. basically all the carpoolers thought the lyrics were ridiculous, so one of the carpoolers decided to write a song about carpooling, since he said “you could right a rap song about anything.”

the folks at the clean air campaign loved it and decided to produce a video for it, and here it is.

pretty clever. and makes you ask yourself, what are you doing to ride smart these days?

Seriously?

We were just musing this weekend what a PITA it is to escape Midtown Promenade (Midtown Landmark Cinema, Apres Diem, The Highlander) and how they should really put a short, steep cut through to WF/Home Depot in – you know – just an alternate escape route.

Because the universe heard me and hates me, it decided to help make things worse instead of better.

Traffic in that area will be an even bigger treat than it is today in 3…2…1…

it’s finally here. the consequences of the state legislature’s failure to act to secure additional funding from marta are finally here. i do very much hope this is not the beginning of a death-spiral where decreased service leads to decreased ridership leading to decreased revenue and repeat.

also, i dream of a day when our leaders realize vibrant public transportation is a key component of a truly world class city, and by extension a prosperous georgia, and that is should exist as a public good not a money-making endeavor and fund it appropriately.

sigh, okay /soapbox.

anyway, marta service cuts are scheduled to begin this saturday, tomorrow, including the elmination of a the #23 and #182 bus routes and cuts in frequency to many bus routes and train service. especially hit will be off-peak train service.

you can check here to see what routes are affected and how.

fortunately for me at least, both of my main bus routes have survived intact for now.

The Man Friend/Partner for Life/Love Monkey and I just finished a 994mile (one way) jaunt to the wiles of Omaha, Nebraska for reasons I won’t bore you with. What’s relevant here is that in order to get from A-Town to O-Town in his adorable, shiny, nimble Mini, we had to pass through the following states: Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri and lastly – Nebraska.

First, I’ll point out that we have more potty stops than any other state. This rules. This especially rules when you’re finally starting to consume your RDA of H2O. Yeah. Hello, gerbil bladder! I didn’t know you were coming with us!

Second, I’ll say (and my body can corroborate what my mind is churning out) that our highways are smoooooooove compared to other states. Especially St. Louis, MO where we thought we’d hit a musk ox but it turned out to be a gap between cement segments. Our smoooooveness rules when you’re in a tiny car with tight suspension, have bewbs and didn’t wear a jog bra for the trip.

Lastly, I’ll point out that we have better signage and indicators that there’s a COFFEE SHOP, BY GOD I’M ON A ROAD TRIP HERE, PEOPLE.

So that’s it. We pretty much rule. Our highways are superior. Get out there, let your butt feel for itself.

I’ll give you this: it’s not green, and it’s certainly not good for tiny – and not so tiny -pedestrians wandering around downtown Atlanta with no clue where they’re going who are obliviously huffing the invisible clouds of emissions into their otherwise pink lungs. While I have my own opinions about how this applies to a trucker trying to get a good nights rest in 30 or 90 degree temperatures, that’s not the point of my post.

My point is this: the dozens of buses that line up along Centennial Olympic Park in various shapes, sizes, colors and with a veritable cornucopia of passive-agressive propaganda and marketing dripping from their sides: sitting there for hours on end, oozing emissions while their inhabitants frolic in the spray of the dancing rings or ambush the CNN Center food court or are pressing their dirty little hands up against the glass of the whale tank at the aquarium.

There’s an exemption for weather as well as for passenger loading and unloading, and I ask you: at what point does Atlanta not have “weather”?

With all of the Segway-riffic ambassadors, suck-it-up machine drivers, lawn watering monitors and are we left without funds in the coffers for enforcement officers visit these drivers and enforce the law?

Once again I’m scratching my wee noggin and asking: what’s the point of establishing a law if you (seemingly) have no means or plans to enforce them?

I’m tempted to ask if this is just me being old and crotchety, but I’m fairly certain I already know the answer.

it’s really easy to participate. you just ride marta. that’s it. nothing more.

seriously, just plan one trip on marta that you might have normally taken in a car. a strong turnout will show out “leaders” that we atlantans care about having a vital public transportation system.

this issue is of course deeply personal to me as someone who rides on marta every day and loves the system, the people that operate it and ride on it. so i am personally asking for you to support ride marta day.

and one other thought – try riding a bus if you never have. i know many people really dislike the idea of riding a bus, but give it a whirl. you might be surprised.

you can find more information on the ride marta day web site including a list of supporting organizations.

also the citizens for progressive transit’s a-train trip planner is a great resource for planning your marta trip tomorrow.

happy riding. if you see me on the #9, the north-south line, or the #140 say hello.

for his part the governor just seems torqued that nobody asked for his help, which makes sense seeing as he and his staff are so effective at getting legislation passed (sarcasm intended.) he then said, “It’s always unfortunate when people who depend on MARTA have their service cut, and I hope they (MARTA) can find a way …. to make it through the end of the year.”

translation – sorry, losers without cars. hope someone figures this out, but don’t ask me. not my gig.

thanks sonny. we appreciate your concern.

the lite governor, well he is a little more concerned.

cagle, pressed about marta cutting a day of service apparently said, “that could be hurtful.”

really?

he went on to add, “MARTA is a vital part of what gets done in metro Atlanta, particularly with tourism and the convention business.”

no word on whether the lieutenant governor thinks the 100,000 plus people that ride marta to work every day are a vital part of what gets done in metro atlanta or not.

still no word from the dunce from dallas.

clowns. all of you.

keep up the phone calls.

governor perdue – 404-656-1776
lieutenant governor cagle – 404-656-5030
speaker richardson – 404-don’t-waste-your-breath.

according to the marta release:

MARTA Board of Directors today urged Governor Sonny Perdue, Lt. Governor Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson to call a special session to deal with transportation and MARTA funding issues. During their 2009 General Assembly, state legislators failed to pass critical legislation providing regional or state transportation funding and lifting restrictions on the use of MARTA’s capital reserve funds. The Georgia General Assembly ended last Friday, April 3. During the 2009 legislative session, MARTA petitioned state lawmakers to grant the authority access to $65 million in its capital reserve account to fund a significant gap in its operating budget.

“I can’t emphasize enough how critical it is that MARTA be allowed flexibility to use its reserve account to fund operation of the system. I commit to you that the MARTA Board is looking for all ways to cut expenses and run this system as efficiently and effectively as possible,” said MARTA Board Chairman Michael Walls. “We implore the state to please reconsider this issue so that during this difficult economic time we can keep this essential transportation service running, which acts as a lifeline for so many people.”

(full press release here)

please help with this. please.

take 30 seconds and call the governor at 404-656-1776 and ask him to convene a special session of the legislature.

then take 30 seconds and call the lieutenant governor at 404-656-5030.

by the way, i just did this. the governor’s office told me to call my legislator, so i am not expecting a ton of leadership from him on this.

at casey cagle’s office they did discuss the issue with me and get my contact information. then again casey wants to be governor so he has some incentive.

please flood our elected leaders. let them know that you want to see some leadership on this.

I’ve never been able to keep a car nice, new and dent free in this town.  That hasn’t been my fault. Once while parked at The Stacks visiting a friend, I walked to my car and noticed the hood of my Dodge Stratus was dented and scratched with white paint. It looked as if a white truck backed up and ran over the top of the hood. I asked around and no one saw anything.

The next incident happened right in front of my house. I sold the Stratus to Carmax and drive a Toyota now. I have a driveway at the house but one day I had to park in the street. I walked to my car to leave and couldn’t get the door to open. I looked down and saw that a car had backed into the door leaving a football sized dent. I yanked and got the door open. There was no note, nothing.

One day while driving the connector north, I was behind a cement truck. I was a safe distance from the truck. A small rock fell from out of the truck and cracked my windshield. I was unable to get the plates of the truck. The crack started small but eventually spread costing me $260 for a new windshield.

So I ask you readers, have you had similar experiences driving in Atlanta? Am I alone in meeting bad parkers and flying rocks? Is it possible to keep your car dent free in this city?

• MARTA is running out of money and may raise fares, close restrooms, eliminate weekend service, or eliminate service on one rail line to try and close the gap.  MARTA also wants the legislature to change regulations to let them spend more money on operations instead of capital projects.
• The Chamber of Commerce crowd is still trying to pass a local-option sales tax to fund transportation spending.  Lt. Governor Casey Cagle is on board with this after getting flack from the business crowd for stalling on it last year.
• House Speaker Glenn Richardson wants to pass a state-wide sales tax for infrastructure spending instead of the local tax.  The Governor is tentatively on board with this idea, but hasn’t actually declared support for either plan yet.
• State Rep. Jerry Keen wants to change the way that DOT board members are elected.  Currently board members are elected by state legislature, and Keen’s proposal would let the Speaker, the Lt. Gov, and the Gov pick the board.
• Gov. Perdue is going to try and reorganize the state’s hodge-podge of transportation agencies, and might wrap Keen’s proposal into his.
• No new developments regarding the BeltLine, streetcar, or commuter rail.  Both the BeltLine and Streetcar have applied for Obama-bucks, and Perdue expressed some support for commuter rail over the summer.
• The City of Atlanta has adopted a new long-term transportation plan, the Connect Atlanta plan.

I think that covers all the big stuff going on, but please add what I’ve missed in the comments section.