25,000 Participate in Transportation Referendum Wireside Chats

ARC Press Release

ATLANTA — About 25,000 Atlanta region residents participated in a series of 12 Regional Transportation Referendum “Wireside Chats” hosted by the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) over the last two weeks. The telephone townhalls gave participants a chance to learn more about projects that are part of the upcoming transportation referendum by asking questions directly of their local officials. The referendum will be held as part of the July 31 primary election.

Questions covered a broad range of topics, from how long the sales tax would last, to specifics about the 157 projects that would be funded by the referendum. While anyone could join any of the 12 chats, the calls were organized by jurisdiction. Questions ranged from region-wide topics like interchange improvements and public transportation, to details of the law itself and planned projects in their local communities.

Officials answered an average of 23 questions in each hour-long call, and participants stayed on the line an average of 14 minutes. Polls taken during the calls revealed that more than 91 percent of participants found the Wireside Chats helpful in understanding the transportation referendum vote and what is at stake.

If a participant’s question was not answered on the call, they could leave contact information in a voicemail and their question will be answered via a phone call or an email in the coming days. Complete information about the July 31 regional transportation referendum, including fact sheets about the 157 projects on the list and an interactive mapping tool, is available at www.metroatlantatransportationvote.com.

“We are pleased that nearly 25,000 regional residents participated in these Wireside Chats,” said Doug Hooker, ARC Executive Director. “Participant’s questions were thoughtful and diverse.  I believe our local officials did a very thorough job of providing more information about this important regional vote on July 31.”