Let’s use Technology to Address Metro Atlanta’s Traffic Ills

For anyone who lives in metro Atlanta, there isn’t a day that goes by that their greatest nemesis – traffic congestion – isn’t a topic of conversation.

For far too many of us, just figuring out how we get from Point A to Point B has become the greatest challenge of living and working in this region. INRIX, the transportation analytics firm, ranked Atlanta’s congestion the fourth worst in the nation last year and eighth worst in the world.

With the region expected to grow to 7.9 million residents by 2040, Atlanta – and Georgia residents – are demanding solutions to our escalating traffic crisis. With that type of growth, it’s time to admit to an uncomfortable reality; we cannot build our way out of congestion. We cannot levy enough taxpayer money to build enough trains, highways and neighborhood streets to accommodate the influx of new residents.

Instead we have to set new goals that are centered around “mobility” not just infrastructure.

When heavy rail costs $250 million a mile and Bus Rapid Transit is $20 to $40 million a mile, it’s hard to justify so much taxpayer investment when ridership is less than 10 percent. Atlanta is one of the least dense cities in the country. Jobs in metro Atlanta are spread out from Cumming to Newnan, from Lawrenceville to Smyrna to Downtown. This makes it very difficult for transit to improve mobility.

Instead we must embrace technology and other cost-effective ideas when it comes to addressing 21st Century traffic congestion.

For example:

• Create incentives that encourage large trucks carrying commercial freight to move through the Atlanta metro area during off-peak hours between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., freeing up our interstates and highways during daytime hours for our commuters. The development and use of autonomous vehicles to move freight will help with this process over the coming decade and allow for the rapid growth we are expecting at the Port of Savannah.
• Embrace telecommuting by offering tax incentives to companies and individuals so they can work from home several days a week. Employees are far more productive when they don’t have to sit in traffic and are stressed out from battling congestion. The Legislature should start with an expired telecommuting tax credit that offered up to $20,000 per employee annually and prompted many employers to allow workers to do their jobs from home.
• Turn to the state budget to pay for critical highway needs, resurfacing and widening congested highways. With more than $2.5 billion in surplus in the state budget, Georgia has cash on hand to begin looking at making highway improvements based on what we can afford without raising taxes.
• Continue to support the state Department of Transportation and its public-private-partnerships (P3) to widen major interstate projects that the state cannot afford on its own.
• Encourage staggered work hours. In the 19th and 20th Centuries, all employees clocked in at 8 a.m. and were monitored by a supervisor as they began their work day. Computer technology now makes it possible for companies to create flexible work schedules so employees can schedule their hours around family life and traffic patterns.
• Explore enhanced rideshare programs. Like Uber X, vans that commuters can access on their smart phones can pool riders who at one location to manage to get more drivers off the road.

We need to think outside the box. This is the 21st Century, and commuters want innovative and cost-effective solutions to keep mobility from getting worse. It’s time to think bold if we are to change our reputation as having some of the worst traffic congestion in the world.

Duncan, a former Florida Marlins AAA baseball player and small business owner, represented Forsyth County in the Georgia Legislature for five years. He is a GOP candidate for Lieutenant Governor.