Metro Atlanta has a new agency that’s supposed to make transit smoother.
A new metro Atlanta transit agency is starting work, with the heavy job of networking regional buses and the train into a more reliable and practical system.
Atlanta’s mayor to be Cobb’s final transit board representative
Following caucuses held in Atlanta last week, all 16 board members who will serve on the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority board have now been selected, including the three who will represent transit districts that include Cobb.
The ATL fills out 16-member board
Metro Atlanta’s new regional transit governing agency has filled out its 16-member board from a roster of local elected officials and business leaders.
Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority (ATL) 16 Member Board Elections Complete
Board Members for the 10 Transit Districts Elected
The Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority (The ATL) is pleased to announce that elections for the 10 District ATL Board have been completed. The ATL will be governed by a 16-member board— 10 of the 16 members represent 10 different “Transit Districts” that intentionally cross county boundaries. Caucuses comprised of local elected officials and state legislators representing each transit district gathered to elect their respective transit district’s board member. HB930, legislation that created the ATL, prescribes that the individual elected to serve the ATL board must be a resident of that district who possesses significant experience or expertise in a field that would be beneficial to the accomplishment of the function and purpose of the ATL. The following board members were elected:
- Transit District 1 – Andy Macke, Vice President External Affairs at Comcast Cable, was elected to serve a 2-year term. District 1 includes all Cherokee County, and parts of Forsyth and Fulton Counties. Municipalities included are Alpharetta, Ball Ground, Canton, Cumming, Holly Springs, Milton, Mountain Park, Nelson, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Waleska, and Woodstock.
- Transit District 2 – Marsha Anderson Bomar, Executive Director of the Gateway85 Community Improvement District, was elected to serve a 4-year term. District 2 includes parts of Forsyth, Fulton and Gwinnett Counties. Municipalities included are Alpharetta, Berkeley Lake, Braselton, Buford, Cumming, Duluth, Johns Creek, Norcross, Peachtree Corners, Rest Haven, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Sugar Hill and Suwanee.
- Transit District 3 – Steve Dickerson, Sc.D., entrepreneur and retired professor, was elected to serve a 2-year term. District 3 includes parts of Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett Counties. Municipalities included are Atlanta, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville, Dunwoody, Kennesaw, Marietta, Peachtree Corners, Sandy Springs and Smyrna.
- Transit District 4 – Todd Ver Steeg, Vice President and part owner of Vermeer Southeast Sales & Service, was elected to serve a 4-year term. District 4 includes parts of Cobb and all of Paulding Counties. Municipalities included are Acworth, Austell, Braswell, Dallas, Hiram, Kennesaw, Marietta, Powder Springs and Smyrna
- Transit District 5 – Tom Weyandt, former transportation policy and planning official, was elected to serve a 2-year term. District 5 includes parts of DeKalb and Fulton Counties. Municipalities included are Atlanta, Avondale Estates, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Clarkston, College Park, Decatur, Doraville, East Point, Hapeville and Tucker.
- Transit District 6 – Lawrenceville City Manager Chuck Warbington, P.E., was elected to serve a 4-year term. District 6 includes part of Gwinnett County. Municipalities included are Auburn, Dacula, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Norcross, Loganville, Snellville and Suwanee.
- Transit District 7 – Chief Executive Officer of Dekalb County Michael Thurmond was elected to serve a 2-year term. District 7 includes parts of DeKalb and Gwinnett Counties, and all of Rockdale County. Municipalities included are Clarkston, Conyers, Lithonia, Loganville, Pine Lake, Snellville, Stone Mountain, Stonecrest and Tucker.
- Transit District 8 – Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms was elected to serve a 4-year term. District 8 includes parts of Cobb and Fulton and all of Douglas Counties. Municipalities included are Atlanta, Austell, Chattahoochee Hills, College Park, Douglasville, East Point, Fairburn, Palmetto, Smyrna, South Fulton, Union City and Villa Rica.
- Transit District 9 – Howard Mosby, CPA, Vice President of Faculty Contracts Administration in Medical Affairs at Grady Health System, was elected to serve a 2-year term. Mosby will step down from the Georgia House of Representatives before assuming his role on the board. District 9 includes parts of Clayton, DeKalb and Henry Counties. Municipalities included are Atlanta, Decatur, Forest Park, Jonesboro, Lake City, Locust Grove, McDonough, Morrow, Riverdale, Stockbridge and Stonecrest.
- Transit District 10 – Clayton County Commissioner Felicia Franklin Warner was elected to serve a 4-year term. District 10 includes parts of Clayton, Fulton and Henry and all of Coweta and Fayette Counties. Municipalities included are Atlanta, Brooks, Chattahoochee Hills, College Park, Fairburn, Fayetteville, Forest Park, Grantville, Hampton, Hampton, Haralson, Jonesboro, Locust Grove, Lovejoy, McDonough, Moreland, Newnan, Palmetto, Peachtree City, Riverdale, Senoia, Sharpsburg, South Fulton, Stockbridge, Turin, Tyrone, Union City and Woolsey.
All of the elected Board members will join Board Chair Charlie Sutlive (appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal), Teddy Russell and Mark Toro (appointed by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle), and Gwinnett County Commission Chair Charlotte J. Nash (appointed by House Speaker David Ralston) and Earl Ehrhart (appointment effective January 14, 2019, by House Speaker David Ralston), and Georgia
Department of Transportation Commissioner Russell McMurry (ex-officio, non-voting member) on The ATL Board.
About the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority
The ATL was established by HB 930 to provide coordinated transit planning and funding for the metro Atlanta region. The ATL is responsible for developing a Regional Transit Plan, as well as identifying and prioritizing the projects and initiatives required to develop region-wide transit. The ATL is also charged with creating a unified regional transit system brand. The population of metro Atlanta is growing rapidly—projected to add an additional 2.5 million residents by 2040. The ATL is a critical step towards more efficient and effective transit and mobility in the region.
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Going Places
Metro Atlanta transit is now rapidly evolving. You could call it the Amazon Effect, but it’s more accurate to dub it the Mercedes Movement. Or the State Farm Solution. Or the Pulte Homes Preference.
First Two Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority (ATL) Board Elections Held This Week
Georgia State Representative Howard Mosby and Dr. Steve Dickerson elected to represent Districts 9 and 3 Respectively
The Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority (The ATL) is pleased to announce that two of the 10 elections for the ATL Board were held this week electing members to represent Transit Districts 9 and 3. The ATL will be governed by a 16-member board—10 of the 16 members represent 10 different “Transit Districts” that intentionally cross county boundaries. Caucuses comprised of local elected officials and State legislators representing each transit district gathered to elect their respective transit district’s board member. HB930 prescribes that the individual elected to serve the ATL board must be a resident of that district who possesses significant experience or expertise in a field that would be beneficial to the accomplishment of the function and purpose of the ATL.
The first election held was for Transit District 9 and took place on Tuesday, October 23rd. State Representative Howard Mosby was elected to serve a 2-year term. Mosby will step down from the Georgia House of Representatives before assuming his role on the board. District 9 includes parts of Clayton, DeKalb and Henry Counties. Municipalities included are Atlanta, Decatur, Forest Park, Jonesboro, Lake City, Locust Grove, McDonough, Morrow, Riverdale, Stockbridge, and Stonecrest. Transit Operators servicing District 9 are MARTA and Xpress.
The second election held was for Transit District 3 on Wednesday, October 24th. Steve Dickerson, Sc.D. was elected to serve a 2-year term. District 3 includes parts of Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett Counties. Municipalities included are Atlanta, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville, Dunwoody, Kennesaw, Marietta, Peachtree Corners, Sandy Springs, Smyrna. Transit Operators servicing District 3 are CobbLinc, MARTA, and Xpress.
Representative Mosby and Dr. Dickerson will join Board Chairman Charlie Sutlive (appointed by Gov. Nathan Deal), Teddy Russell and Mark Toro (appointed by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle), and Chairwoman Charlotte J. Nash and Rep. Earl Ehrhart (appointed by House Speaker David Ralston) on the ATL Board.
The next scheduled election is Transit District 4 which will be held October 30th at the Cobb County Civic Center located at 548 S. Marietta Parkway, Marietta, Georgia at 4:00 p.m. District 4 includes parts of Cobb and all of Paulding County. Municipalities included are Acworth, Austell, Braswell, Dallas, Hiram, Kennesaw, Marietta, Powder Springs, and Smyrna. Transit Operators servicing District 4 are CobbLinc, MARTA, and Xpress.
For more information on ATL Board elections, please visit https://atltransit.wpengine.com/. Elections dates and locations are posted as they are scheduled on the ATL website under “upcoming events” and are open to the public.
About Representative Howard Mosby
Mosby is the Vice President of Faculty Contracts Administration in Medical Affairs at Grady Health System. He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 2002 and will conclude his service as a member of the General Assembly in December 2018. As a member of the House, Mosby served on the House Ways and Means Committee, the House Health of Human Services Committee, and the House Governmental Affairs Committee. Mosby’s legislative initiatives include legislation to increase access to healthcare by the underserved and uninsured populations of Georgia, child endangerment legislation, property tax reductions, predatory lending legislation, and strengthening code enforcement laws. He is the Chairman of the Dekalb House Delegation to the General Assembly. Mosby serves as Chair of the 1st Choice Credit Union Board of Directors. He received an Associate Degree in Business Administration from Georgia Perimeter College, formerly Dekalb College and received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from Georgia State University. Mosby is a Georgia licensed Certified Public Accountant.
About Steve Dickerson, Sc.D.
Dr. Dickerson served as Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech until his retirement in 1996. In 2005 he became an Honorary Alumnus of Georgia Tech. His primary areas of expertise include Urban transportation, automation, and advanced manufacturing. Dr. Dickerson’s specific research projects have led to the founding of various companies. Examples include: DVT
Corporation which revolutionized machine vision and was sold for over $100 M in 2005; CAMotion, Inc. made breakthroughs in light-weight, high performance robotics and sold to PaR Automation in 2014 where sales are now approximately $15M/year; RideCell uses advanced communications and computing to support urban transportation, is growing rapidly, and now based in San Francisco; and SoftWear Automation Inc. should enable the return of garment cutting and sewing to the USA. He holds several patents concerning these technologies. Dr. Dickerson received his Doctor of Science degree from MIT, Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree from Berkeley, and Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from IIT.
About the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority
The ATL was established by HB 930 to provide coordinated transit planning and funding for the metro Atlanta region. The ATL is responsible for developing a Regional Transit Plan, as well as identifying and prioritizing the projects and initiatives required to develop region-wide transit. The ATL is also charged with creating a unified regional transit system brand. The population of metro Atlanta is growing rapidly — projected to add an additional 2.5 million residents by 2040. The ATL is a critical step towards more efficient and effective transit and mobility in the region. For more information on The ATL, visit https://atltransit.wpengine.com/ and follow us Twitter and Facebook.
Mass transit gets a boost, but local officials seek options, control
Mass transit has had a banner year in Georgia after decades of resistance. The state legislature approved a new regional transit authority encouraging possible MARTA expansion in such longtime holdouts as Gwinnett County, and Gov. Nathan Deal announced $100 million in bond funding for bus rapid transit on Ga. 400.
Gwinnett’s Charlotte Nash on MARTA: ‘We are ready to roll’
By any measure, Charlotte Nash is a poster child of Gwinnett County.
She has lived her entire 65 years in Gwinnett, one of the few among the county’s 920,260 residents as of a year ago. When she was born, Gwinnett had fewer than 40,000 residents.
“The ATL” transit board members are elected.
The new Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority, or “The ATL,” has a full board ready to start work next month following the election of 10 members.
