EDITOR’S NOTE: Below is a selection of the responses from readers of MDJOnline.com in reaction to recent MDJ stories.

Forum crowd given breakdown on TSPLOST project list …

SG68 — The lip service given the BRT project is simply a poorly conceived diversion being used as a stepping stone to hopefully get the TIA passed in Cobb. Nothing was mentioned about the downside of the transit projects which is the exorbitant ongoing operation and maintenance costs. That’s where the real burden on the taxpayers resides. The rigged Alternatives Analysis will force light rail down the throats of Cobb County taxpayers whether we like it or not.

Johncd — What is never revealed are the millions to be given to cities and counties to be spent like a slush fund for beautification, bike paths, sidewalks and other non-transit issues. Let’s start over, reduce the budget, and target real projects that help travel immediately. The present project is just too large to control.

Concerned Citizen — The problem is, you can’t help travel immediately. It takes years of planning and construction before relief comes. Voting down TIA simply means it’s going to be at least another two years before they go back to the drawing board. If we don’t have some sort of funding for projects, I’m afraid none of us will be here by the time they do anything to help!

TIC — Most people I know who oppose the TIA don’t oppose it because they are against addressing our traffic problems. They are not against it because it is an additional tax. What they are opposed to and find unacceptable is that most of projects on the list do not represent a solution. It is a poorly conceived list that wastes billions of dollars that could otherwise be spent on meaningful transportation projects.

Frogbreath — It seems people like (Cobb DOT head) Faye Di Massimo and our fine leaders of Kennesaw and Acworth are itching to build a Bronx-like area here in the beautiful suburbs of Cobb. Should there be an economic recovery in the near future for real estate and should there be a rail line anywhere near where I live, I shall sell and move to the suburbs. Strange, I thought I did live in the suburbs.

Ron Sifen guest column: DOT giving lip service to express-bus option

Dave3200 — If Cobb were to conduct its own 1 percent SPLOST, over 10 years we would collect far more money than will be provided via the TIA. If the TIA referendum passes, are Cobb taxpayers likely to vote for additional SPLOSTs in the near future? Remember, we are unable to maintain our roads without SPLOST funds. What will happen to the Cobb school system if there are no SPLOST funds? The TIA is a bad idea for Cobb. There are much smarter ways for us to manage our monies.

TIC — The main thing that I gleaned from his column is that the AA is being unabashedly manipulated by Cobb DOT and consultants to come up with a predetermined outcome.

Kennesaw speeder — Ron Sifen, another winner! Why hasn’t DOT hired you in as a consultant? That would make sense and is something DOT would not know how to handle.

MK — Now THIS is an education. Real numbers & scenarios! I’m afraid this info could cause Faye to blow a fuse!

Sifen makes sense — The numbers in this article are compelling, the alternative is reasonable and this plan keeps traffic blocking busses off of US 41. Cobb deserves to see a fair evaluation of this option, and not another hatchet job like was done on Maglev. Let’s go DOT, it’s your move.