Private enterprise, please fix Georgia’s awful traffic

Several years ago, I was speaking to a small group of political activists and was bemoaning the government’s many shortcomings. This apparently struck a nerve with one of the attendees who retorted, “How’d you enjoy driving on the roads to get here?” His rhetorical question was transparent. He believed government did many things well and was a necessity for everyday matters like transportation.

I responded with my own rhetorical question: “Did you know that roads predate governments?” That ended the debate as my friend smiled in defeat, and while my statement rang true, government largely has a monopoly on transportation these days. The results have been underwhelming, although some private investment has been slowly but surely improving Georgia’s traffic, which has been sorely needed for years.

Metro Atlanta’s interstate traffic seemed doomed from the start. The Grady Curve inexplicably befuddles drivers—leading to chronic slowdowns—and central planners in their short-sightedness decided it is wise to have I-85, I-75, I-20 and SR-400 all intersect within a few miles of each other in Atlanta. Naturally, traffic is terrible.

US News ranked Atlanta as the nation’s eighth worst city for traffic—causing drivers to lose an average of 65 hours to delays annually and costing them an additional $1,164 a year. According to the American Transportation Research Institute, three of the country’s 10 worst traffic bottlenecks are in Atlanta, and nine of the 100 worst are in the metro area.

The problem is not just in Atlanta. I-285 is often a parking lot, and Macon-Bibb, Henry County and others are notorious for persistent traffic congestion. There’s also the issue of poorly maintained and developed roads and bridges across the state. In fact, Georgia’s infrastructure is nothing to brag about. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the Peach State a middling C+ for its infrastructure.

This is what you get when you put government in charge of transportation, but it isn’t difficult to imagine what can be accomplished when government isn’t the solution. Increasingly, public-private partnerships have been launching successful projects in Georgia with a particular focus on our transportation woes.

Faced with a growing population and at-capacity roads, Georgia has been slowly launching express lanes—also known as Peach Pass lanes. They are “optional priced lanes that run alongside existing interstates in some of the most congested corridors around metro Atlanta,” reports the Georgia Department of Transportation. “These lanes provide a choice for drivers to bypass congestion when desired, offer a clear path for transit operators and add an alternative to the roads that exist today.”

Generally, the up-front cost to construct these Peach Pass lanes doesn’t fall on taxpayers. Thanks to public-private partnerships, companies fund the construction and recoup their investment via variable tolls based on dynamic pricing depending on congestion. This is how the I-75 and I-575 Peach Pass lanes north of Atlanta came to fruition as well as the I-75 express lanes south of Atlanta. Plans are now in place to do the same on portions of SR-400 and I-285, which will be a boon to Georgians.

According to Fox 5 News, “GDOT projects travel times could be reduced by 39% for those using the express lanes and more than 8% in the regular lanes.” This is significant, too. In 2018, traffic congestion cost the U.S. economy nearly $90 billion dollars—a considerable portion of that came at the expense of Georgians—but express lanes ease that pain to a degree.

I have seen how well they can work first hand when driving to and from Atlanta. For a trifling sum, I have the option to bypass traffic and speed through, which also reduces traffic on general purpose lanes. It’s a win-win.

The new express lanes will take years to build and are not a silver bullet to our transportation troubles, but they are tools that help make traffic a little less awful. Best of all, they rely on public-private partnerships that save taxpayer dollars. To my knowledge, there are no current plans to launch them outside of metro Atlanta, but if they continue to alleviate traffic problems, then they might be worth considering. Whatever is decided, we’ve seen what government can do for transportation. Maybe it is time to see if private enterprise can do it better.