EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of an ongoing series to educate Cobb voters prior to the transit tax referendum that will be on the Nov. 5 ballot.
As Cobb County’s bus system saw a 73% drop in ridership from 2013 to 2022, the agency has seen a similar drop in fare revenue.
Annual fare revenue for CobbLinc, the county’s bus system, totaled $5.9 million in 2013. In 2022, it had fallen to $1.9 million.
CobbLinc cost the county $27.6 million to operate in 2022. Of that, $13.2 million came from federal dollars, $11.5 million came from the county government and $2.9 million was generated by fares and other direct revenue.
On Nov. 5, 2024, Cobb will vote on approving a 30-year, 1% sales tax to fund public transit projects. Cobb’s sales tax would increase from 6% to 7%. The Mobility Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (M-SPLOST) would collect $11 billion to construct 108 miles of rapid bus routes, three new transit centers and a countywide system of on-demand “microtransit” service.
Opponents of the M-SPLOST have charged that Cobb’s existing bus system doesn’t get enough use to justify its cost to the county. They also argue that low ridership demonstrates there is little appetite for a greatly enhanced transit system.
“It always has to be subsidized,” said Cobb Commissioner Keli Gambrill, a Republican. “So to me, this (the transit tax) is just a way to always have a tax on the citizens for something that a majority of them do not use.”
Supporters, meanwhile, say transit is an important service for people without cars. They point to the high costs of subsidizing car travel, and argue a new transit system in Cobb would inevitably boost ridership.
“We spend the majority of our transportation budget on more roads, more lanes, all of that,” said Matt Stigall, a pro-transit activist. “We need to make transit a competitive…
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