Did you know that MARTA has to spend $60 million on an IT upgrade amidst all its other challenges?  Did you know the $300 million transportation bond proposed by the governor for the short term already has a list of defined projects dedicated to roads and freight with no real transit investment?  I learned these details and much more at the Sustainable Atlanta Roundtable breakfast, which occurs the first Friday of each month and is hosted by Southface at All Saints Episcopal Church.  I learned a great deal from the presenters, and I also learned a great deal from the networking before and after the event. 

The session was titled Georgia General Assumbly Update and was moderated by Will Wingate, the Land Conservation and Legislative Director of the Georgia Conservancy, and Jill Johnson, Program Director of the Georgia Conservation Voters.  The had a panel of Four:

• State Sen. Steve Henson (D-DeKalb)
• State Sen. Ross Tolleson (R-Perry),
• State Rep. Debbie Buckner (D-Columbus)
• State Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-DeKalb)

The conversation was focused around water issues and transit, and the good news is that the two republicans and two democrats were mostly on the same page!

Jill Johnson started off by describing how Georgia Conservation Voters is focusing on four areas for Water conservation this year: 

          1) New multi-family housing units installing meters for each unit.
          2) Reducing leaks in pipes. 16% of water is lost due to leaks in metro Atlanta.
          3) Scheduling daytime outdoor watering to minimize evaporation waste.
          4) Higher water efficiency standards for new development.

Representative Mike Jacobs first recapped the reasons for the transportation planning stalemate in the last legislative session - basically the house & senate disagreed on a regional approach versus a statewide approach.  He went on to describe parts of the governor's transportation plan and how it has a regional focus.  He indicated that the funding request will not be presented to voters until 2012, which means no funding generated until 2014. 

In addition to discussing the transportation planning challenges, Jacobs also explained that MARTA is in a world of hurt.  They are using the same train scheduling software that is used for the Metro in Washington D.C. ; the same software that failed and has led to fatalities in D.C.  The federal government has mandated the MARTA change this software at a cost of $60 million, according to Rep. Jacobs. 

There was a great deal more shared during the meeting.  The audio will be podcast on-line.  If you care about these issues, it's worth getting up at 7:00 a.m. until we get these events posted on-line.