On Nov. 5, Cobb County residents will vote on whether to add another 1% to the county sales tax to markedly expand Cobb’s transit system, as the county’s population rapidly approaches one million. It’s a proposal they’ve voted down before. Will this time be different?
The MSPLOST, which stands for Mobility Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, would reshape the county’s transit infrastructure over the 30-year duration of the tax. It would raise $10.3 billion in dedicated funding for a series of transit improvements, like local on-demand shuttle service (called microtransit), 108 miles of new bus rapid-transit routes, and six transit centers. The aim is to make it easier for Cobb residents to get where they need to go and ease traffic congestion.
The MSPLOST would increase Cobb’s sales tax from 6% to 7%. Right now, Cobb’s sales tax includes a 4% Georgia tax and another 2% from two existing Cobb SPLOSTs – an ED-SPLOST that voters renewed in 2021 to fund public school construction projects and a SPLOST for capital improvements, like parks, libraries and roads, that voters renewed in 2020. That one is mostly being used for road repaving.
Greg Teague, the chairman of the Cobb Business Alliance, is a proponent of the MSPLOST. He said Cobb County needs to expand its public transit system to handle the influx of new people while sustaining economic growth. “The Atlanta Regional Commission is showing that Cobb County is going to grow by another 200,000 people in the next 30 years,” he said. “We’re almost at 800,000 people now, so that’s pushing 1 million by the end of this [MSPLOST] referendum period. Where are these people going to go?”
Cobb voters rejected a mass-transit SPLOST the last time it was proposed in 2012 as part of a 10-county plan, even though they have continued to approve renewals of the penny sales tax SPLOSTS for public schools and roads.
“The most common misconception is people think we’re going to be doing more of the same thing, Teague said, referring to the current bus system, CobbLinc. The MSPLOST will fund fast bus service that’s more like MARTA trains, he said. “Bus rapid transit doesn’t exist in the [current] system at all — it’s going to provide that kind of train access to the county. And, most people don’t realize microtransit literally will provide service to every household in Cobb County.”
As Cobb’s population grows and the county urbanizes, proponents say, the MSPLOST transit plan is urgently needed to address the historically suburban and car-oriented county’s transportation challenges. Expanding public transit options would reduce traffic congestion, help Cobb residents to access jobs, schools and stores, and create more sustainable, walkable communities.
However, not everyone is on board. Many Cobb homeowners and business owners have voiced strong opposition to mass transit proposals, particularly for heavy rail akin to MARTA. Critics argue that such projects misuse public dollars, lead to unwanted noise, potentially increase crime rates, or are simply ineffective.
MSPLOST opponents also have raised concerns about the 30-year length of the tax, noting that the ED-SPLOST is only for six years and the capital improvement SPLOST is for four years.
“My values are that I do support a SPLOST tax, but I need to learn more about it,” Cobb resident Melissa Martin said at a Cobb School Board candidate forum last week. “We need better transportation and infrastructure. There’s definitely a slight racial undertone in all of the pushback in anything on it.”
HOW THE MSPLOST WILL APPEAR ON YOUR BALLOT:
“Shall a special 1 percent sales and use tax be imposed in the special district consisting of Cobb County for a period of time not to exceed thirty years and for the raising of funds for transit and transit supportive projects? These projects will be as defined in O.C.G.A. § 48-8-269.40, and will be inclusive of the approved project list within the Atlanta-Region Transit Link Authority Regional Transit Plan (ARTP). If imposition of the tax is approved by the voters, such vote shall constitute approval of the issuance of general obligation debt of Cobb County in the principal amount not to exceed $950,000,000 for the above purpose.”
What will Cobb residents get for their penny tax?
Despite its significance for the county’s future, many Cobb residents don’t know what the MSPLOST is or how it could impact them. Let’s break down the core elements of this proposal and why it matters.
No. 1: Bus rapid transit
Bus rapid transit (BRT) is often misunderstood as just expanding bus service. In reality, it’s a transit system that brings many of the benefits of light rail without the cost of laying down tracks. As with the MARTA rail system, which covers Fulton and DeKalb Counties, BRT is intended to reduce reliance on cars and alleviate traffic on major roads. The BRT system proposed for the Cobb MSPLOST will have:
- Buses arriving every 15-20 minutes
- Dedicated lanes to avoid regular traffic congestion
- Fewer stops and specially designated stations for easier access
- Priority at traffic signals to reduce delays
No. 2: Countywide on-demand rideshare
Not every part of Cobb County has the population density to support enough ridership for fixed bus routes. That’s where microtransit comes in. This shuttle service operates like Uber or Lyft, allowing residents to call for a ride to go anywhere within their designated zone. It uses mini-buses or vans to provide fixed-cost, shared, door-to-door rides.
The shuttle service is designed to cover gaps in the transit system, providing flexibility for people who live in areas with fewer public transportation options.
- 30-minute maximum wait
- Operates seven days per week
No. 3: Multi-use trails and sidewalks
Cobb would also spend $1 billion of the MSPLOST funds on multi-use trails and sidewalks to make the county more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly. These funds would be used to build sidewalks and trails and expand roads within half a mile of transit routes.
The maps below are some of the eligible projects for selection in each city:
Powder Springs’ MSPLOST plan includes the Jackson Way Trail and the Silver Comet Trail Connector, while improving routes along Brownsville Road and Powder Springs Creek Trail. 
Smyrna’s MSPLOST initiative includes significant trail upgrades such as the Chattahoochee River Trail and the South Cobb Drive Trail, Windy Hill Trail and the Cooper Lake Road Bike/Ped improvements. 
Mableton’s MSPLOST plans feature trail expansions, including the Veterans Memorial Trail, Hemlock Trail, and Olley Creek Trail, along with connections like the Heritage Park to Thompson Park Connector and the Nickajack Creek Greenway. 
Marietta’s MSPLOST initiative focuses on projects like the Cemetery Trail, Sope Creek Greenway, and the Mountain to River Gap Trail, complemented by significant sidewalk upgrades in the Renaissance District and along Roswell Road. 
The MSPLOST plan for Kennesaw includes the McCollum Parkway Multi-Use Trail, Kennesaw Trail, and several Proctor Creek Trails, along with key connectors like Moon Station Road and Cherokee Street 
Acworth’s MSPLOST initiative features expansions of Lake Acworth Trail (Parts A and B) and Proctor Creek Trail (Part A), along with upgrades to Nance Road and Lake Acworth Drive sidewalks. 
Austell’s MSPLOST plan includes new trails for Wild Horse Creek and Austell-Powder Springs Road, plus a pedestrian tunnel connecting Veterans Memorial Highway to Joe Jerkins Boulevard.
First 5 years: Laying the groundwork
In the first five years, the county would launch nine new microtransit zones for public rideshare services and improve bus service:
- Buses arriving every 30 minutes or less (compared to up to 60 minutes today).
- New rapid bus routes connecting Kennesaw to MARTA’s Art Center rail station and South Cobb to Marta’s H.E. Holmes rail station.
- Overhaul the Marietta Transit Center and expand rideshare programs
First 10 years: High-capacity transit expansion
As the plan advances over the next 10 years, Cobb County will roll out additional bus rapid transit, as well as what’s called arterial rapid transit. ART is higher speed than regular bus service, but not as speedy as bus rapid transit, because it has less dedicated laneage. In transit-planner lingo, these bus services are known as “high-capacity transit.”
- Four new bus transit centers: The proposed locations are Cumberland, South Cobb (near Wellstar Cobb Hospital), North Cobb (near Town Center/Kennesaw State University), and Riverside South Cobb (near Six Flags).
- New bus rapid transit routes to connect key areas like KSU to Marietta to Cumberland to MARTA’s Art Center rail station, along with Marietta to South Cobb to MARTA’s H.E. Holmes rail station.
I’m looking forward to all the new congestion on the roads and empty buses. This is the best idea I have ever seen in years, and it’s only going to cost us a $1,000,000,000 yes $Billion a year for the next 30 years. Glad to know I’ll probably be dead by then so won’t get to see the finished mess.
Even if you’re not alive to see the benefits, the future generations will see the benefits. Don’t vote only for yourself, also vote for your kids, your grandchildren, and everybody else. Research has shown that reliable public transit almost always increases ridership, so the buses will actually not be empty if the service is improved.
That’s right, take away a traffic lane to give to busses so you can slow traffic even more. No way I can support this mess.
Better buses leads to more riders, and buses fit way more people. Better transit means more people will ride it. It means more room on the roads for people that can’t ride transit and improved mobility for those who rely on transit.
Matt,
You agree bus ridership has decreased but that it will INCREASE if we make it better???
In 30 years, all cars will be self driving and population in Cobb will be decreasing as our birth rate is declining. Why not just give people Ride Share coupons – service right to their door, way less money, plus it helps entrepreneurs?
Projects like these are just big government boondoggles. Once hired, no one can be fired – guaranteed job at the tax payers expense.
No new taxes for no real solutions. Vote no.
If residents are scared of a train and what they THINK it brings, let them suffer with bad traffic. Connect to MARTA, duh. You should be able to ride a train from Kennesaw to the airport and pay like $5.
The south will forever be behind everywhere else because its residents are mostly s-l-o-w, but complain about e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. JUST BUILD! A bus with a dedicated lane does NOTHING. If I were a billionaire like Elon I would pay everyone off and build a real network with a vision towards the future.
You can’t work with anyone these days, you have to move them out of the way and let progress happen forcefully. Sad but true. Only in the south though. Why else does Atlanta COPY everywhere else?
I really hope this passes, dedicated trails, better buses, and new stops? What more could a person ask for. I would gladly sell my soul for a MARTA line connecting to the Braves stadium, but I know that won’t happen unless we make these small changes first.
It’s proven that public transit does not increase crime rates like these NIMBY think they do, and really it’s just a front they put up because what they’re afraid of is more black folk and poor folk coming into their areas. I mean, there’s an almost 30 year study on it by Greg Ridgeway and John MacDonald, and within that 30 years no correlation was found.
I wish they could have saved it for next year though, because times are tougher due to inflation, higher unemployment, and just general economic instability, I feel like the common middle-ground person won’t vote for this out of fear that their pockets will hurt more because of it.
Cobb County government = corruption
Cobb County government created a 30 year plan and this government really thinks we (the tax payer) don’t know that the plan will change in a few years. Cobb County government government is incompetent. Like the Brave’s scam, this plan screams bad from the start. In the end, tax payers always get burned.
My question is this: it is property owners who are paying for this already. Will the passage of this mean a shuffle from a property tax payment to a sales tax payment for this project? Or is it a property tax plus sales tax that will bankroll it? If it is the latter, then my vote is NO. It would be a NO vote on my behalf because I feel that MSPLOST should do more with less with what property taxes are already coming in.
I voted yes for the MSPLOST. I like the new bus routes that are planned. However, I really want a MARTA rail station in Cumberland at the least. Cumberland is urban enough and very similar to the Perimeter Mall area, which has two MARTA stations, Dunwoody and Sandy Springs. With a MARTA rail station in Cumberland, I would only need to take the route 15 bus and not the route 10 bus to get to Arts Center Station.
This woman isn’t even from here. PLEASE! VOTE HER OUT! We don’t want this shit, it’s just a pet project for an out of town democrat!
I voted yes. Most of what I’ve seen with proponents of voting no have been “hurr durr, I don’t like tax increases” without understanding what they are giving up. Local traffic in Cobb county is garbage (can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen traffic backed up on Cobb Parkway and the source is too many people trying to get on the interstate).