Sierra Club Applauds Findings of Commuter Rail Study

Major study determines that “commuter rail is deemed feasible on all seven prospective commuter rail corridors"

Georgians will ride commuter trains, and they need to get that chance.

That according to the Georgia Chapter of the Sierra Club, which cites a new study released by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

The study, prepared by R.L. Banks & Associates, covered seven possible commuter rail routes linking Atlanta with Macon, Senoia, Bremen, Canton, Gainesville, Athens and Madison, and concluded that "the ridership is there" to support all seven routes.

The business community and environmental community are in synch that Atlanta can not be a world class city without a strong transit system. There is a growing consensus that simply building more roads is damaging to our economy as well as our environment.

"Rail passenger service is an important key to fighting pollution, congestion and urban sprawl in Georgia," said chapter director Patty Durand. "This latest study confirms that commuter rail not only makes sense from an environmental perspective, but from a business perspective too."

The study concluded that thousands of Georgians will use commuter rail service every day, and that each individual train will attract about 300 passengers.

The report's authors said those numbers compare favorably with other successful commuter rail systems that have begun service in recent years, in Los Angeles, Miami, Northern Virginia and Dallas-Ft. Worth. New commuter rail service in Charlotte, NC has already experienced ridership levels much higher than projected.

The Sierra Club's Regional Action to Improve Livability (R.A.I.L.) Committee is pressing state leaders to fund commuter rail service between Griffin, Atlanta and Athens as the first part of a broader regional rail passenger network.

"Georgia has been discussing commuter rail for more than a decade," said RAIL Committee Co-chair Jim Dexter. "It's time to get some trains rolling."