Since the completion of MARTA's North Springs station in 2000, communities in north Fulton County have undergone immense growth in both population and employment. Unfortunately, residents and workers in these vibrant and economically-vital areas have up to now been starved of sufficient public transportation options, served only by a handful of overstretched bus routes which lack the capacity or reach to properly address the area's transit needs. In order to ensure continued growth and investment in the cities of north Fulton, quality, high-capacity MARTA service must be extended into the region.

Fortunately, over the last several years, MARTA has developed a series of meticulously-researched plans designed to enhance its service offerings throughout its current service area. Among these plans is the Connect 400 project, a blueprint for expanding high-capacity rapid transit along the GA-400 corridor into north Fulton County. Over the past several years, the Connect 400 project team has conducted numerous public events to gauge community interest, and has engaged Kennesaw State University to conduct a statistically-valid survey of north Fulton public opinion. As a result, in April 2015 the Connect 400 team announced that the locally-preferred option for enhanced MARTA service in North Fulton is to extend the Red Line heavy-rail transit (HRT) line northward from its current northern terminus at North Springs station. The extended line would see new MARTA rail stations constructed at Northridge Road, Holcomb Bridge Road, North Point Mall, Old Milton Parkway, and Windward Parkway.

To fund the the suite of expansions including the Connect 400 project, MARTA has requested that the Georgia legislature grant Fulton and Dekalb counties the authority to levy an additional 0.5% (half-penny) sales tax to fund MARTA expansion, and that Fulton and Dekalb counties give their citizens the chance to make the decision at the ballot box this coming November. Sadly, certain established political interests in north Fulton are seeking to cut this figure down to half of the amount needed to fully fund the locally-preferred expansion option -- or to eliminate it entirely. Such a move would deny their constituents their right as citizens of Fulton County to chart the future course of public transportation in the county.

We strongly urge the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to give Fulton County residents the chance to vote to give MARTA the full half-penny sales tax it needs in order to extend the existing Red Line northward to Windward Parkway. The transit-expansion decisions we make now will support development and growth in northern Atlanta for decades to come; we must not hamstring the future of North Fulton by half-measures or "penny-wise, pound-foolish" myopia. Extension of MARTA rail into north Fulton is the most effective, most logical, and most beneficial solution to north Fulton's public transportation deficiencies, and as MARTA's public opinion survey shows, it is the solution that the people of north Fulton favor.

Fulton County residents deserve the chance to make an up-or-down decision on MARTA's recommended expansion approach at the ballot box. Put the full half-penny sales tax -- and the promise of the extension of MARTA's Red Line -- on the November 2016 ballot.