AJC column puts focus on actual Beltline rail issues

Old Fourth Ward resident Jay Miller put the focus on the actual topic of Beltline rail last week in a column for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The hue and cry about MARTA holding an allegedly secret meeting that led to a halt of planning for Eastside Beltline rail ignores a fundamental question:

Is rail there a bad idea and, if it is, shouldn’t the project be scuttled?

It’s a refreshing take that returns the discussion to the fatally flawed rail scheme — and away from the disputable claim that MARTA secretly nixed the Eastside Beltline.

The answers to Miller’s questions are “yes” and “yes,” of course, and he does a good job of marshalling the reasons.

The bottom line, he notes, is that "modes of public transit are simply means to an end. The end objective is enabling people to get from point A to point B as expeditiously and economically as possible. “

Check out the rest of Miller’s column here. (Note: It’s behind the AJC firewall.)