Live Coverage of Regional Transportation Forum

8:45 p.m. Forum wraps up. Attendees reminded that they can provide further input at www.atlantaregional.com/plan2040. The online public meeting aspect will be open until the end of April.

8:40 p.m. Mass transit initiatives ... a common theme. Improve Interstate 285 and increase use of smart technologies.

8:35 p.m. A new breakout session: Discuss what should be on the list of transportation projects so they would want to vote for the 2012 regional SPLOST.

8:30 p.m. The Atlanta Regional Roundtable, comprised of county commission chairs and a mayor from each county and Atlanta mayor, determines the projects.

They will have a draft prepared by Aug. 15. A two-month public comment period follows with a final draft ready in October.

8:25 p.m. Act constructed 12 regions in the state. Cobb is part of a 10-county region that includes Atlanta and surrounding counties.Unique aspect of regional SPLOST: All counties in a region will pay if majority of voters pass the sales tax, even if the county itself votes against it.

8: 22 p.m. Hayse presents Transportation Investment Act of 2010 and 2012 vote on one percent sales tax for next 10 years.

8:15 p.m. Tonight’s forum stands as the fifth and final regional forum sponsored by the Civic League. Mayer said the group will prepare a full report based on all of the forums and will make it available online, send to everyone who attended a forum and present it to regional officials.

8:00 p.m. Breakout sessions: What excites you about the plan? What’s missing? What information about the plan needs to be posted and made available?

7:55 p.m. Question: How much funds comes from local, state and federal. Hayse said did not assume any additional funds coming from a regional investment act or regional SPLOST. She said: “That vote is not going to happen for a year or so, but the plan has to go whether vote is up or down.”

Plan 2040 does assume local SPLOSTs and those did go into calculations.

7:50 p.m. In Q&A session, Hayse said about $27 billion of $59 billion would be dedicated to transit, which includes maintenance and new development.

7:42 p.m. Forum returns to breakout sessions. For information about the Plan 2040, visit www.atlantaregional.com/plan2040.

7:35 p.m. Hayse said federal guidelines require transportation plan to be based on actual available dollars, thus must be financially constrained. Available funding about $59 billion available over next 30 years. But officials have found $125 billion in needs (which includes maintanence.)

7:30 p.m.  Among the successes: Ninth largest transit system in Marta and world’s largest airport.

Major challenges in that much of regional infrastructure is aging, congestion costs residents as much as $1,300 person per year and rising and limited options in that most of the region is accessible by car but not by transit or other means.

Hayse said biggest challenge is that the current 2010 numbers of 5.3 million people and 2.7 million jobs will grow to 8.3 million people and 4.5 million jobs by 2040.

7:20 p.m. Jayne Hayse, planning director for Atlanta Regional Commission, explains that Plan 2040 is the culmination of 2.5 years of work and serves as a land use and transportation plan for much of metro Atlanta.

Among the broad goals: Lead global gateway to the South, encourage healthy communities and improve access to community resources.

7:19 p.m. Deane Bonner, president of the Cobb chapter of NAACP, wants to work against efforts to shrink or eliminate Cobb CCT but also interested in efforts to bring light rail to the area.

Be a voice to empower the underserved communities in these discussions.

7:15 p.m. Facilitator Mattice Haynes said forum is designed to gather citizen voices on important topics such as the Atlanta Region’s Plan 2040. Recurrent theme in past forums: Government has to do more with less.

Breakout groups introduce individual members and discuss motivation for attending forum which range from learning more about transportation issues to becoming a part of the decision-making process.

7:05 p.m. Forum begins. Little more than 15 in attendance. Mayer notes that the Civic League is a non-profit, non-partisan group encouraging discourse and ensuring that government efforts such as the Atlanta Region's Plan 2040 get sufficient citizen input.

6:50 p.m. Forum format will start with small breakout sessions for introductions followed by presentations. Attendees will again discuss in small breakout sessions.

6:45 p.m. Few people have arrived for the start of the forum. Those who have are mingling with members of the Civic League and regional officials. Ellen Mayer, managing director for the Civic League, said she expects between 10 to 25 people to eventually arrive.

The Civic League for Regional Atlanta is holding a community forum from 6:45 to 9 p.m. today at the Mansour Center in Marietta about regional transportation issues. Patch will provide live running coverage right here throughout the meeting.

The forum will include presentations by planners from the Atlanta Regional Commission about metro Atlanta's growth over the next 30 years as well as the Transportation Investment Act, which will allow citizens to vote on a regional transportation SPLOST in 2012.