Fayette residents

could be tapped for MARTA dues if the Georgia Regional Transportation

Authority sets up express bus routes here.

That's how

County Commission Chairman Greg Dunn is reading GRTA's proposal anyway.

Dunn has invited

representatives of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority to explain

their proposal.

The item will

probably be on the agenda for the commission's March 6 work session, 3:30

p.m. at the County Administrative Complex, said Dunn.

Local officials

are skeptical of the proposal, but GRTA is dangling the promise of extra

road improvement funds as an enticement.

GRTA proposes

to run express buses up Ga. highways 85 and 74, connecting to the MARTA

system at Hartsfield Airport.

But with no

expressways or express lanes, there won't be anything "express"

about the buses, Dunn predicts. "How is an express bus going to get

out of Fayette County any faster than a car," he said, adding he

doesn't think many local residents would use the system.

"I told

them we just had a private bus company go out of business on those two

routes," he said.

But GRTA officials

are adamant in pushing all metro Atlanta counties to accept bus routes.

The agency would provide the buses using federal money, but would not

subsidize their operation, which might cost Fayette a million dollars

a year or more, Dunn said.

In addition,

because the buses would connect to MARTA, which is in financial trouble,

the transit authority would then be justified in demanding that Fayette

and other counties begin contributing to the system's operation, Dunn

said.

As for the

road funds being offered as part of the bus deal, Dunn said the money

won't help Fayette finish projects that are not yet approved by the Atlanta

Regional Commission. With right-of-way purchases and engineering not yet

begun, the county probably won't be able to take advantage of the funding,

he said.

"But I

have not yet been able to make any progress in making them see that Fayette

County should not have to take these buses in order to have access to

our own tax dollars," he said.

The Atlanta

region's rush toward more bus and rail service doesn't make sense in the

long run either, Dunn argued. "Every other large city has already

done all this and they all have grid-lock," he said.