AVs aren’t a solution for the Beltline
An attorney for autonomous vehicle interests argued recently in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for a version of the Beltline that differs from both the “wheels-and-heels” approach backed by Better Atlanta Transit and the transit loop being pushed by rail interests. Color us surprised that an AV industry attorney endorsed building AV lanes around the Beltline instead of rail.
We agree that a rail boondoggle makes no sense along a corridor packed with thousands of people traveling by foot, bike and other forms of micromobility. But large, self-driving vehicles present many of the same issues that the rail loop does, along with some of its own. Either would obliterate the elongated, town-square vibe that’s been achieved along the Beltline.
Better Atlanta Transit’s Board of Directors wants to be crystal clear on the topic. The following is a resolution that was passed unanimously with one abstention at the BAT Board September meeting:
Better Atlanta Transit (BAT) hereby opposes the use of autonomous vehicles (AVs) for passengers on the Atlanta Beltline. This includes the existing Beltline path and adjacent right-of-way.
BAT does not oppose the use of passenger AVs on streets in the vicinity of the Atlanta Beltline, provided that due care is taken to ensure that their use does not jeopardize public safety or conflict with the use and operation of the Atlanta Beltline.
BAT reiterates its support for a parallel path to separate bikes and other micromobility from those on foot to relieve dangerous levels of congestion.
As the media has reported, AVs are far from error-free. Here in Atlanta, we have seen robotaxis pass stopped schoolbuses, freeze up at traffic lights stuck in flash mode and mysteriously stack up in cul-de-sacs. Allowing such vehicles in a crowded environment where families are often in abundance would mandate the building of a fence to keep people, particularly small children, out of their path — just as the streetcar would necessitate.
We’ve pointed out before that a fence would squelch the vibrancy of the Beltline. One need only look at the eerily-quiet Charlotte Rail-Trail with its fenced-off Lynx track to see what that would be like. It would ruin one of the city’s best attractions and would be an absolute disaster for scores of businesses that rely for their livelihoods on free-flowing foot traffic.
We urge the City of Atlanta and Atlanta Beltline Inc. to refrain from supporting a streetcar alternative that is nearly as bad as the streetcar itself. Let’s focus on putting the empty right-of-way to use by making it easier for people on the Beltline today to keep doing what they already are doing: walking, biking, and using other micromobility.
