Box 21, Folder 4, Document 9

Box 21, Folder 4, Document 9

“MARTA REPORTS TO THE PEOPLE IT SERVES...”

RAPID TRANSIT

PROGRESS

METROPOLITAN ATLANTA RAPID TRANSIT AUTHORITY

NOVEMBER 1966



VOL. 1, NO. 2

**SPECIAL ELECTION ISSUE ’”’

VOTERS APPROVE
AMENDMENT 14

Georgia voters approved the proposed Constitutional
Amendment 14 by a 55 per cent vote in the November 8
General Election. The final votes, tabulated on November
22, showed that 241,654 voted “YES,” while 196,501 voted
“NO,” giving the Amendment a margin of 45,153 votes. The
largest majorities were in Fulton and DeKalb Counties,
which voted nearly 70 per cent for the amendment; Clayton
County approved it with a 50.2 per cent vote. The amend-
ment missed approval in Gwinnett County, receiving a 44.7
per cent vote, while Cobb County again rejected Rapid
Transit with a 39.6 per cent vote.

The amendment, as approved by the majority of Georgia
voters, will allow, but not require, the state to participate in
building a rapid transit system in Metropolitan Atlanta. The
wording of the amendment specifically limits the state’s par-
ticipation to “10 per cent of the total cost.” The total cost
of building the system will be $437 million over the next
15 to 20 years.

The successful vote on the amendment can be attributed
in a large part to the efforts of former Governor Ernest
Vandiver. On October 19, Vandiver announced the reacti-
vation of the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit COM-
MITTEE OF 100, in an enlarged, statewide scope. The
former governor, Chairman of the COMMITTEE OF 100
since its formation in 1963, stated, ‘I feel that the approval
of Amendment 14 is essential, and that approval will de-
pend on an intensive, statewide effort.”

“It is my opinion,” he continued, “that the COMMIT-
TEE OF 100, enlarged to include members from 13 larger
cities across the state, is the best means of informing Geor-
gia voters of what this Amendment will do.”

Vandiver further announced his selection of M. C. Bishop
of College Park to serve as Executive Director of the COM-
MITTEE OF 100 during the informational effort. Bishop,
member of the MARTA Board of Directors, has been en-
gaged in business enterprises for a number of years, reach-
ing into many Georgia cities.

Under the direction of Bishop, business, civic, and gov-
ernmental leaders were invited to attend meetings at which
the proposed amendment would be discussed. A total of
610 persons attended the 12 luncheon, dinner, or breakfast

meetings across the state. Presentations were made in
Augusta, Savannah, Brunswick, Waycross, Albany, and Val-
dosta by M. C. Bishop; in Gainesville and Athens by King
Elliott, MARTA Public Information Director, and by Rob-
ert Coultas, Rapid Transit representative of the General
Electric Company; in Columbus by Elliott and Tom Watson
Brown, Atlanta attorney; in Carrollton and Rome by Curtis
Driskell, Director of Metropolitan Affairs for the Atlanta
Chamber of Commerce and by Coultas; and in Macon by
William P. Corley, Vice President of Infoplan. All meetings
were well-reported by local news media.

“By approving this amendment, Georgians have shown
their awareness of the problems facing urban areas in the
field of transportation, and their willingness to allow the
state to provide financial assistance where possible,” Van-
diver noted. “I am optimistic,” he concluded, “that the next
General Assembly will include an allocation for the Rapid
Transit system now being developed in Atlanta.”



Former Governor Ernest Vandiver, Chairman of COMMITTEE OF
100, explains Amendment 14 at Athens luncheon meeting; King
Elliott, MARTA Public Information Director, is seated at his left.

FLECTION ISSUE
— =
METROPOLITAN ATLANTA
RAPID TRANSIT AUTHORITY

808 GLENN BLDG,*120 MARIETTA ST... N.W.
} ATLANTA, GA. 30303*PHONE 524-5711

| “DIRECTED BY THE GEORGIA STATE
LEGISLATURE TO DEVELOP A RAPID
TRANSIT SYSTEM FORTHE 5-COUNTY
METROPOLITAN ATLANTA AREA.”



Edited by Kinc E.LLiotr





BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS:

Ricuarp H. Ricu, Chairman Roy A. Buount, Vice Chairman
Ropert F, ADAMSON, T'reaaurer GLENN E. BENNETT, Secretary

CITY OF ATLANTA:

Mitts B. Lang, JR. L. D. Mitton
Richarp H, Ricu RAWSON HAVERTY

CLAYTON COUNTY:
Epcar BLALOCK
DEKALB COUNTY:
Roy A. Blount Dr. SANFoRD ATWooD
FULTON COUNTY:
W. A. PULVER MirTcHELL C. BisHop
GWINNETT COUNTY:
K. A. McMILLon
COBB COUNTY (Observer)
Otis A. Brumsy, JR
MARTA STAFF:

Hewry L. Stuart, General Manager
Kine Etutott, Director of Public Information
H. N. Jounson, Secretary to General Manager











“RAPID TRANSIT IS A ‘MUST’”

“The great additions to Atlanta, such as major league
baseball and football, new auditorium, cultural centers, and
other metropolitan improvements will soon lose their
glamour if something isn’t done to make more pleasant the
trips to and from,” says Roy A. Blount, MARTA Vice
Chairman. Blount, President of the
Decatur Federal Savings and Loan
Association adds, “The excitement of
a game or opera or play soon gives
way to the exasperation of getting
home.”

“Rapid Transit for Metropolitan
Atlanta will not answer all our traffic
problems, but will go a long way
toward the solution of moving local
traffic, allowing expressways to in-
deed be express ways,” he continues.

The erection and completion of the
system will benefit every Georgian. New industry and
distribution facilities will be attracted, when it is found that
their employees can get back and forth to work with greater
ease and less expense.”

Experiences in other areas reveal improvement in prop-
erty values, upgrading of “business slums,” and general im-
provement of appearance of areas not only adjacent to the
lines, but in wide sections of outlying metropolitan areas.”

Blount concludes, “Rapid Transit is a MUST for At-
lanta, now!”



Roy A. Blount

c ——S==> SS —— ee —————

Gov. Vandiver named the following to the expanded
COMMITTEE OF 100: Griffin R. Smith, Cartersville;
Julian H. Cox, Athens; Robert C. Norman, Augusta; An-
ton F. Solms, Jr., Savannah; Judge Harold Ward, Dublin;
John Langdale, Valdosta; Howell Hollis, Columbus; Thomas
E. Greene, Jr., Macon; James C. Owen, Jr., Griffin; James
Dunlap, Gainesville; William Huffman, Rome; J. Ebb Dun-
can, Carrollton; and Asa D. Kelley, Albany.






= | i, fag
=a’ tL igs De
350,000 SEE

An estimated 350,000 persons visited the Rapid Transit
display in the Metro Atlanta area during October and early
November. The New “SCOT”—Steel Car of Tomorrow—
drew its biggest crowds while on exhibit at the Southeastern
Fair Oct. 1-8. An estimated 250,000 of the total Fair at-
tendance of over 387,000 visited the prototype of the Rapid
Transit car.

The exhibit was officially opened by Atlanta Vice Mayor
Sam Massell, Jr., with Richard H. Rich, Chairman of the
MARTA Board of Directors, cutting the ribbon. R. C.
Rhodes, Manager of Sales, represented United States Steel
Corporation, developer of the New SCOT.

Among the visitors to the exhibit was Mrs. Muriel
Humphrey, wife of Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey.
Mrs. Humphrey expressed great interest in the display, re-
marking that similar vehicles may be in service in Washing-

ton in a few years. A $431 million subway program has
been approved for the nation’s capital.



Vice Mayor Sam Massell, Jr., (L); R. C. Rhodes, United States Steel
Corporation, and Richard H. Rich, MARTA Chairman


“SCOT” CAR

Atlanta Mayor Emeritus William B. Hartsfield escorted
Mrs. Humphrey to the SCOT car exhibit, where J. J. Lyons,
representative of the United States Steel Corporation, ex-
plained the concept of the vehicle.

After the Fair closed, the New SCOT was on display for
one week each at Rich’s downtown, North DeKalb Center,
and Cobb Center. The final showing of the prototype of the
rapid transit car was at the Georgia Exposition of Com-
merce and Industry November 1-6 at the Marriott Motor
Hotel.

Those viewing the exhibit had many favorable comments
and sincere questions; the one recurring question was “When
will I be able to ride a car like this in Atlanta?” When the
answer of “1972 or 1973” was given, the uniform comment
was “I sure wish we had this running in Atlanta NOW!”

The display was a joint project of United States Steel
Corporation and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit
Authority.

EE

Mayor Emeritus William B. Hartsfield (L); Mrs. Muriel Humphrey;
and J. J. Lyons, U.S. Steel Corp., Atlanta



STUART REPORTS ON
TRANSIT CONVENTION

Henry L. Stuart, MARTA General Manager, attended
the Annual Convention of the American Transit Associa-
tion, which met in San Francisco in October. In addition to
attending the sessions of the convention, Stuart also sur-
veyed the progress being made in the billion-dollar San Fran-
cisco Bay Area Rapid Transit System, now under construc-
tion. He was accompanied by John Coil, resident manager
in Atlanta for Parsons-Brinckerhoff Tudor-Bechtel, engi-
neering consultants for MARTA; and by Robert L. Som-
merville, President of the Atlanta Transit System.

Stuart reports, “The construction in Oakland is moving
in an orderly manner. Subway openings are being con-
structed, but stations for the subways have not yet begun.
The surface and aerial lines in East Bay are also progress-
ing. All of this construction is bigger in sheer size and im-
pact than anything seen in Atlanta, with the possible excep-
tion of the downtown connectors.”

r-



Robert L. Sommerville (L), John Coil, and Henry Stuart look over
subway construction work in San Francisco. Overhead is a gas pipeline
which has been re-routed during subway construction.

“The more difficult projects are started first,” he notes,
“because they take so much longer to complete. The easier
projects begin later, so that the several projects are com-
pleted at approximately the same time. We expect to fol-
low a similar pattern in Atlanta, beginning construction of
the very complex North-South line first, then the shorter
and more simple East-West line, and completing both at
about the same time.

“San Francisco is working on two major projects which
will not have counterparts in Atlanta. These are the twin
tubes underneath the Bay, and the tunnel through Mt.
Diablo. The Trans-Bay Tubes will be the major engineer-
ing marvel of our time when the project is completed. The
other projects will be quite similar to the planned system
here in Atlanta,” Stuart concluded, “and we intend to ob-
serve closely the San Francisco system, to benefit from
their experience in building a modern Rapid Transit
System.”
ENGINEERS REPORT PROGRESS

Revision of the 1962 plan for a Rapid Transit System in
Metropolitan Atlanta continues to make satisfactory prog-
ress, according to John Coil, Resident Manager for Parsons-
Brinckerhoff Tudor-Bechtel. Engineers have completed the
location of the lines running to the east and to the west
from Transit Center, and have completed a detailed study
for the line running north from Transit Center to the Persh-
ing Point area.

Alternate routes from Pershing Point to the northeast are
being studied. These routes include direct service to the
Buckhead area as well as the route shown in the 1962 re-
port along the Southern Railway to Lenox Square and on
to the northeast.



Walter S. Douglas, Senior Partner of Parsons-Brinckerhoff-Quade-

Douglas (L) and Henry L. Stuart, General Manager MARTA, are

brought up to date on engineering changes by Ray O'Neil, deputy
Resident Manager, and by John Coil, Resident Manager.

Preliminary engineering on the section between Transit
Center and Pershing Point, including studies of the rock for-
mations, utilities, and detailed alignment of the subway
north from Transit Center is being prepared.

Development of several alternate routes to provide serv-
ice to the south of the city represents the major current
effort by the engineers. This should be completed in about
six weeks,



MARTA ACTION

In the October meeting, the MARTA Board of Di-
rectors approved an application for federal funds from
the U, S. Department of Housing and Urban Develop-
ment. The request was for $369,333 under Section 9
of the Urban Mass Transit Act of 1966, The funds
would be spent largely for preliminary engineering on
the East-West line.

The Board also unanimously passed a resolution
endorsing Amendment 14 and urging its approval.

In the November meeting, the Board approved the
appointment of a financial advisory group to the Au-
thority. The group is composed of Robinson-Humph-
rey Company, Inc., and Courts and Company, both of
Atlanta; and White, Weld and Company of New York
City.







RAPID TRANSIT BRIEFS

FULTON SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE Stonewall Dyer
Nov. 2 dismissed a suit seeking to declare Amendment 14
unconstitutional. The suit was brought by Wayne Gossett,
a Republican candidate for Cobb County District 33 post
in the State Senate. Judge Dyer ruled that there was no
legal basis for the suit.

“RAPID TRANSIT PROGRESS” is reaching its read-
ers late in the month this issue. This “Election Issue” was
planner to center on the voting on Amendment 14; in this
year’s election, the Amendments were not completely tabu-
lated until November 23, which delayed publication.

A COLOR SLIDE presentation of Atlanta Rapid Tran-
sit is being developed, and is almost completed. In addition
to slides on Atlanta’s plans, the pictures include work being
done in Toronto, Cleveland, and scene from the San Fran-
cisco System now under construction. For further informa-
tion, call MARTA, 524-5711.

SOME VERY PROMINENT Georgians endorsed the
passage of Amendment 14; Gov. Carl Sanders, former Gov.
Ernest Vandiver, Lt. Gov.-elect George T. Smith, and High-
way Director James L. Gillis, Sr., and Congressman James
A. Mackay all strongly urged its approval.



608 GLENN BLDG. -
PHONE 524-5711 (AREA CODE 404)



120 MARIETTA ST.. N.W. *

NOVEMBER 1966 * VOL. 1, NO. 2

RAPID TRANSIT
PROGRESS

METROPOLITAN ATLANTA RAPID TRANSIT AUTHORITY

ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303