Any savvy Atlanta driver knows

that the secret to driving is to find the route less traveled, and it

may make all the difference in the world. The problem is that the "secret"

is quickly discovered and you are once again back in gridlock.

Well, pardon me if I do not

choose to ramble on about a subject that has been and may continue to

be talked about for years and years. It is merely my intent to offer a

few short timeframe suggestions to alleviate some vehicular traffic along

Interstate 20, I-75 and the west side of I-285 in metropolitan Atlanta.

While they may not be the most

innovative ideas on the planet, some of them might just help us out in

a portion of Atlanta as we work on future solutions. Additionally, the

pattern to these "simply seven" suggestions is that they tie

together like building blocks, revolving around the unscientifically designated

"center of metro Atlanta" Fulton County Airport. They are as

follows:

Initially, steps should be

taken to encourage the Cobb County Transit (CCT) system to formulate an

agreement with MARTA to deliver to and depart from the Fulton County Airport.

MARTA should then commence

two routes of bus service from Fulton County Airport to the Hamilton Holmes

Station and along Fulton Industrial Boulevard to the Campbellton Road

Park-and-Ride Lot. This would allow the I-20 and I-285 westside patrons

from the city of Atlanta and the counties of Cobb, Douglas and Fulton

to have an alternative to driving by riding CCT and MARTA and avoid the

often massive delays driving north or south on I-285.

Secondly, the CCT buses, MARTA

buses, and Douglas County should be encouraged to provide express service

from the six major employment centers of Town Center Mall, Cumberland

Mall, the Fulton Industrial Business District, Greenbrier Mall, Shannon

Mall, and Arbor Place Mall and establish or utilize existing park-and-ride

lots along the route(s) to tie into the express service.

The third suggestion is that

Douglas County should establish an agreement with MARTA, GRTA, or Clayton

County to establish express bus service to and from Hartsfield International

Airport from the Camp Creek Parkway­Thornton Road hotel area.

The fourth suggestion is that

Douglas County should work out an agreement with MARTA to establish express

bus service from the Fulton County Airport or Hamilton Holmes Station

to Arbor Place Mall.

The fifth suggestion is that

MARTA should establish daily local service from Fulton County Airport

along Fulton Industrial Boulevard to Westgate Parkway from 7 a.m. to 7

p.m. The current ridership along portions of that route is 4,600 per day,

placing it among MARTA's top three routes.

The sixth suggestion is that

public, private and quasi-private operations such as the state of Georgia,

Fulton County, Six Flags and the Georgia World Congress Center should

run buses from Fulton County Airport to their designated destinations

to alleviate some traffic congestion caused by their employees and patrons.

The final suggestion is that

counties, chambers of commerce, and planning authorities need to work

more diligently to seek agreement and arrangements across county lines

in order to protect and perfect their citizens' quality of life for the

betterment of the entire metro Atlanta area. We can do no less for our

future.

[Patrick Stafford is a writer.

He has written for a number of years on trends and intergovernmental issues

of concern to various communities.]

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