The Transportation for America blog notes that "It took three tries in the Georgia legislature for metro Atlanta to win the right to vote itself a regional sales tax to fix its transportation woes, and another two years of a grinding political process to come up with a list of 157 highway and transit projects that just might do the trick. Now comes the really hard part: Convincing the voters likely to show up for the July 31 primary election to vote for it."

A piece in the New York Times explained what's at stake: "For more than a decade, Atlanta has been among the fastest-growing regions in the country, but the road and rail system in a state that ranks 49th in per capita transportation spending just could not keep up. Hourlong commutes are common, and more than 80 percent of commuters drive alone. … The approach is also an attempt to thread the political needle in an era when the recession and smaller-government sentiment have made any effort at new public spending, especially one with the word “tax” attached, a Sisyphean task."

And the Atlanta Journal Constitution noted that "without the sales tax revenue, the region is likely to be so strapped for transportation cash that tolls are the only real option. As one voter told her: ”I guess you pay it one way or another.”

Read the T4America blog HERE, NYT story HERE, and Atlanta Journal Constitution story HERE.