A poll shared with the MDJ earlier this week found that when asked if they’re likely to support a 30-year program to expand transit and build a new rapid bus system in Cobb County, 63% of voters said they likely would.
The same poll, however, found that as voters answered more questions and learned more about the transit tax proposal, support wavered.
Late in the poll, interviewers asked, “knowing what you know now, if the November 2024 general election were held today, would you support or oppose the 30-year M-SPLOST proposal?”
Support then dropped from 63% to 47%, and undecideds grew from 9% to 25%. Opposition, meanwhile, remained static at 28%
The 17-question poll was commissioned by a group of Cobb business leaders to take the temperature of Cobb voters, asking their thoughts on a 30-year, 1% sales tax to fund transit in next November’s election.
The proposed sales tax, officially known as a Mobility Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (M-SPLOST), would fund transit programs over the course of 10 or 30 years. The Cobb County Board of Commissioners is expected to decide soon whether a 10- or 30-year proposal is placed on the countywide ballot.
If approved by voters, the project’s centerpiece would be a bus rapid transit (BRT) network, running on dedicated lanes, as well as more arterial rapid transit (ART), mixing with other traffic.
In the 10-year proposal, there would be 53 miles of high-capacity transit along five BRT routes, and in the 30-year proposal, there would be 108 miles along seven BRT routes and three ART routes.
Democratic Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid has come out in support of the 30-year tax. The two Republicans on the commission, JoAnn Birrell and Keli Gambrill, want a five-year tax, but Cupid has not had staff bring that option before the board for consideration.
The MDJ reported details of the poll…
Read the full article here
