The second annual Transportation Roundtable by Propel ATL brought together advocates and Atlanta City Council members to discuss key issues in the transportation landscape at the Downtown Switchyards location on Feb 20. 

Dozens of cyclists, pedestrians and public transit enthusiasts participated in the presentations and Q & A session with submitted questions. Council members Amir Farokhi, Jason Winston, Alex Wan, Jason Dozier and Byron Amos attended. 

Each council member discussed their transportation priorities before answering questions from Propel ATL Executive Director Rebecca Serna on topics including maintenance, staffing, safety and public transit.

Founded in 1991, Propel ATL was formerly known as the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition (ABC) and Pedestrians Educating Drivers on Safety (PEDS). The Bicycle Coalition merged with PEDS in 2021 and rebranded in 2022 as Propel ATL, working to “transform Atlanta’s streets into safe, inclusive, and thriving spaces for people to ride, walk, and roll.”

Propel ATL’s biggest policy push is increased funding for the Atlanta Department of Transportation, the city department created in 2019. Last year the department’s funding was cut by 12 percent to about $50 million. 

According to Serna, that budget is about three times less than the funding for similar-sized cities that are also members of the National Association of City Transportation Officials. During budget hearings city officials said ADOT funding is only one part of the “arsenal” of transit funding, with $350 million in TSPLOST funds and $400 million from two bond issues. 

Wan said the city cut funding because the transportation department “didn’t have the capacity” to take on more projects with high vacancy rates. Still, the council members agreed the ADOT needs to hire more people for a robust department.

“We have to look outside, we’ve got to bring other project managers from the private sector in our contract…