GDOT
GDOT is looking at creating a passenger rail service between the state’s two biggest cities, according to a FOX 5 Atlanta report.
According to the report, state transportation officials say they are now in the public engagement phase of the Atlanta-Savannah Intercity Passenger Rail Project.
Currently, train trips between the two cities require transfers in different states and can take more than 24 hours, according to the report. This new project, GDOT says, “aims at reducing the trip’s time and cost dramatically.”
According to the FOX 5 Atlanta report, in 2022, the federal government gave Georgia $8 million to look into the feasibility of the project. The state added its own $2 million from its rail budget.
GDOT, FOX 5 Atlanta reports, is working to create a Service Development Plan, which would “examine the need for the service and include factors like station locations, service descriptions, a financial plan, and environmental benefits.” Officials are hoping to have the plan completed in early 2028.
According to the report, the broader mission is to connect the Atlanta-Savannah project with other rail projects in the works in other states. These include the Atlanta-Charlotte project from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), and the Atlanta-Chattanooga-Nashville-Memphis project from the City of Chattanooga. Officials are also looking into possible future connections to Florida.
While Amtrak is being considered as an operator for the service, the GDOT says they are “looking at other private operators and public models,” according to the report.
More information on the project is available here.
CATS
When a team of federal employees started digging into problems at CATS, a decision was made to “conduct two separate audits simultaneously,” according to a WBTV report. The final version of the second audit, released by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in the last few months, “validates years of WBTV investigations into problems that eroded public trust in CATS leaders,” according to the report.
The findings, WBTV reports, also raise an important question: “Can CATS bury its problems in the past? Or will the agency’s issues hinder efforts from city and county leaders to push forward an ambitious transit plan and the sales tax to pay for it?”
The issues at CATS uncovered by WBTV and FTA auditors “led to a mass exodus of agency leaders. The FTA specialized maintenance review audit confirmed many of WBTV’s findings and highlighted problems that still need fixing,” according to the report.
The FTA listed eight total findings and corrective actions CATS was taking to come into compliance. Nearly every issue identified by the FTA was previously reported on by WBTV, according to the report. The entire audit can be found here (and downloaded below).
Responses CATS provided to FTA auditors, WBTV, reports, “indicate the outstanding problems that still need fixing are related to processes for managing its fleet, facilities and assets. For example, the light rail cars that need maintenance overhauls were included in the budget for years, but CATS leaders never actually started the required maintenance.”
Charlotte Councilman Ed Driggs and CATS Interim CEO Brent Cagle “have been adamant that no taxpayer dollars were misused, and the FTA report supports their claim,” according to WBTV.
“We are not under the impression that money earmarked for the truck overhaul or preventive maintenance has been misappropriated or used for other purposes,” the FTA audit states. “There was money available for CATS to perform its truck overhaul; it was just a matter of having the resources in place to implement the plan.”
With a change of leadership, direction and marketing, Charlotte and Mecklenburg County leaders are “hoping the problems are part of the past and the agency can be trusted to manage billions of dollars in funding that would be designated for rail and bus projects,” according to the WBTV report.
