By Donna Wong

We live in a commuter region. We’ve grown accustomed to spending hours on the road each week traveling to work, appointments, even outings with friends. But for the first time in nearly 60 years Cobb voters will have the opportunity to vote for a real transit system in our county.

I’m no stranger to public transportation. I used public buses in Los Angeles and BART in the Bay Area to get around throughout my life.  After I moved to Cobb County, I spent over a decade driving from my Marietta home to my job at Emory University. While sitting in bumper to bumper I-75/I-85 traffic, I yearned for the days of taking a bus on the West Coast. Affordable, reliable public transportation means Cobb residents like me will have a choice when it comes to how we get around.

Unlike past transit ideas, including proposals to expand MARTA (which this is not), the Mobility Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or MSPLOST, is a creative, forward-looking solution built for Cobb County. We can use the lessons learned by our metro neighbors and develop a modern transportation system that is actually reliable and accessible. 

The future is not heavy rail. Cities that embraced transit decades ago have now moved on to innovative solutions like bus rapid transit– buses (often electric) that act like light rail, with dedicated lanes and “train” stations. Innovations like this in the MSPLOST plan are not wild ideas or fantasy, they’re prudent innovations that are being built all over the country that we can have here in Cobb County. 

This creative approach means we’ll start seeing improvements year one. Millions will go towards improving Cobb communities including roadwork, bike trails, and sidewalks. Many of the proposed projects will be completed in the first 10 years. 

But nothing is free. We’ll have to make an investment for a transit plan that actually works. MSPLOST keeps Cobb County below the average county sales tax. Every $1 invested in public transportation generates $5 in economic returns. This plan will also support the elite businesses choosing to locate here in Cobb County. 

You cannot look to the current Cobb transit system as a measure of success for the MSPLOST. It has limited routes and infrequent service– of course ridership is down. A substandard product can’t demonstrate the potential of a reliable transit system.

I have seen how a real transit system works for citizens and the economy of a region. After decades of hesitancy, we have the opportunity to vote for a transit system that makes sense for Cobb and our needs. If you join me in voting yes for the MSPLOST, we can move the broader community of Cobb County forward, and into the future.  

Donna Wong is retired and resides in Cobb County with family, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was an Assistant Dean of Campus Life and Director of Multicultural Programs at Emory University.  She is a Cobb Democrats volunteer and a past poll worker.