Cobb lawmaker wants 8-year freeze on transit tax votes
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A Cobb County state lawmaker wants metro Atlanta counties to wait eight years before asking voters to approve another transit sales tax after a failed referendum.
Why it matters: The bill from state Rep. John Carson (R-Marietta) could dash local governments' transit dreams and delay meaningful investment in bus and rail service for nearly a decade.
Zoom in: Carson told the Georgia House of Representatives Transportation Committee this week that his constituents have "fatigue" when it comes to transit-specific SPLOSTs (special purpose local option sales tax measures).
- He said they resent being asked to reconsider long-term taxes that they recently rejected and don't have the resources to mobilize every few years to oppose the transit tax.
Context: In 2024, referendums that would have raised tens of billions of dollars over 30 years for express buses and "microtransit" failed with 38% support in Cobb and 47% in Gwinnett.
- The Cobb referendum to expand transit was the first binding vote since the 1960s (Gwinnett has held three since 2019). There are no current plans to ask voters in the counties to reconsider.
Caveat: The proposed law applies only to referendums to expand transit — think adding buses or building rail. The measure would not bar counties from joining MARTA or affect county transportation SPLOSTs.
- "We're not talking about roads, bridges, intersections, airports," Carson said. "We're not talking about any of that."
The other side: Sam Foster, who nearly unseated longtime Marietta Mayor Steve "Thunder" Tumlin in the 2025 municipal election running on a pro-transit message, told Axios the measure aims to muffle a growing call for options other than cars.
- "The introduction of this legislation tells me that anti-transit politicians, especially in Cobb, see momentum building for more transit and are scared of any future referendums passing," Foster, who founded the mobility nonprofit A Better Cobb, said.
He argues the bill would prevent transit supporters from refining proposals and project lists and "learning from mistakes," even if a majority of voters might eventually support a revised plan.
State of play: On Saturday, MARTA will launch an on-demand, flexible transit service that offers point-to-point shared rides in 12 metro zones.
- The program called Reach is designed as a "first-mile, last-mile" link to MARTA's bus and rail network.
Zoom out: Transit has always been a tough sell in metro Atlanta, where transportation planners, elected officials and developers have spent decades designing communities around cars and roads.
- Under Carson's legislation, referendums on whether to build alternatives could become rarities.
What's next: Carson's legislation passed out of committee and now heads to the full House of Representatives.