From GDOT's perspective, this is a good development for reducing traffic. Miller said the work-from-home precedent brought on by COVID-19 is expected to leave a lasting impact on the future of work. The state has received a federal grant for 10 new electric buses for the Xpress fleet and an app that can be used to pay transit fares across the metro region. To encourage people to start using commuter buses again, the state has tried to make them more pandemic-friendly by adding contactless payment options, upgrades to air systems and plexiglass barriers. "Local bus systems maintained at least half or more of their ridership throughout the course of the pandemic, which I think is an indication of how important those local fixed routes or circulator systems are to folks who have no other option," Williamson said. Nevertheless, local buses such as CobbLinc remained a "lifeline" for car-less residents, Williamson said. But commuter buses saw the most dramatic drops in ridership during the pandemic.
The Xpress commuter buses provided more than 1.4 million trips in 2020. And one day, Williamson said, the state hopes Peach Pass can be used to pay for a car wash, gasoline and electric vehicle recharging. The state has partnered with other states, such as Florida and North Carolina, so the pass can be used there, and plans to partner with E-Z Pass, used by many Northeastern and Midwestern states. Wheels on the busThe agencies Williamson works for also facilitate the Xpress commuter buses which take people from suburban lots to inner Atlanta, or vice versa.īringing new uses for the Peach Pass are in the pipeline - the state has already allowed them to be used to pay for parking at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. The MDJ previously reported that the lanes are split into four projects and will be constructed throughout the 2020s, with the last portion slated for 2032 completion. GDOT is doubling down on express lanes, then, planning to add them to the northern half of I-285, above I-10. are flowing 20 miles an hour faster, and you have one fewer (hour of) rush hour a day," Miller said. "From 2018 to 2019, the general purpose lanes. Officials also tout the lanes for removing cars from the regular lanes, which reduces congestion for the non-paying drivers, too. Use of the lanes is back to 60-70% of the pre-pandemic norm, and Williamson expects it to continue to rise. Revenue produced by the lanes were 30% lower in 2020, Williamson said. The northwest corridor (I-75 and I-575) express lanes have resulted in a 12% improvement in on-time performance, Williamson added.ĭuring the early stages of the pandemic, use of express lanes dropped 82% as traffic nosedived. Interstate 85 remains the most popular group of lanes, but I-75 is just behind it in usage. Motorists took more than 20 million express lane trips in 2020. There are more than 1 million vehicles with Peach passes, Williamson said. Paying for life in the fast laneOne of the main state initiatives is the highway express lanes, where cars equipped with a Peach Pass pay a variable fee - based on the level of congestion - to use the faster lane. In his role with the state, Williamson works with the alphabet soup of state agencies that oversee transit - the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA), the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority (The ATL) and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA). Bus rapid transit systems often include lanes reserved for buses, give priority to buses and employ other tactics to achieve the speed and capacity of rail systems.
Those solutions include express lanes and bus rapid transit using managed lanes. Much of that new investment came from manufacturing, automotive, logistics and agriculture sectors. Of the $11 billion of new private investment that Georgia gained in fiscal 2021, $6.3 billion was from companies that require "inbound and outbound freight service" - in other words, they ship things and therefore need robust transportation infrastructure, per Miller. Miller framed the need to invest in transportation infrastructure as a way to ensure continued economic development and accommodate a growing population. On the topic of transit and traffic in Cobb and Georgia, attendees of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce's Transportation & Mobility Summit heard from Jannine Miller, director of planning for the Georgia Department of Transportation, and Cain Williamson, also a transportation planner for the state. 14-Georgia transportation officials plan to continue investing in optional-priced express lanes, commuter buses and bus rapid transit to address metro Atlanta's famously bad congestion, they said this week.
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