Atlanta Regional Commission

Last updated
Atlanta Regional Commission
AbbreviationARC
Formation1971;54 years ago (1971)
Founder Georgia State Assembly
Merger ofAtlanta Regional Metropolitan Planning Commission
Metropolitan Atlanta Council for Health
Atlanta Area Transportation Study
Type Metropolitan planning organization
Headquarters Atlanta, United States
Coordinates 33°45′37″N84°23′12″W / 33.76021678934752°N 84.38664140682828°W / 33.76021678934752; -84.38664140682828
Region served
metro Atlanta
Membership11 counties, 75 municipalities (2024)
Board Chairman
 Andre Dickens
Executive Director and CEO
Anna Roach
Affiliations MARTA
Revenue$90.4 million [1] (2023)
Expenses$85.1 million (2023)
Website www.atlantaregional.org

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency for the metro Atlanta, Georgia, United States, spanning the 11-county area of Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties. As of July 2024, ARC's jurisdiction represented 5.2 million people. [2] ARC also serves as the metropolitan planning organization for those and nine more counties in the region: Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Coweta, Hall, Newton, Paulding, Spalding, and Walton counties. [3] [4] The ARC is one of 12 regional commissions throughout Georgia. The ARC is funded through a number of sources: local, state and federal government entities and private funds. ARC oversees metro Atlanta's water and transportation planning. [5] [6]

Contents

History

ARC's earliest predecessor, the Atlanta Metropolitan Planning Commission was founded in 1947 by Dekalb and Fulton counties, and the city of Atlanta, which spans both counties. [7] In 1960, the commission expanded as the Atlanta Regional Metropolitan Planning Commission, to represent the five-county Atlanta region. [7] In 1971, the Georgia General Assembly created the Atlanta Regional Commission, by vesting and consolidating its immediate predecessor's functions, along with the functions of other regional bodies such as the Metropolitan Atlanta Council for Health, Atlanta Area Transportation Study in ARC. Since then, ARC's jurisdiction has grown to its current size of 11 counties and 75 municipalities.

In February 2020, ARC approved $173 billion over the next 30 years on traffic and public transit projects in its jurisdiction, including highway expansions, new transit lines, and bus rapid transit lines. [8] In August 2024, ARC approved $265 million in transportation projects. [9]

Membership

The Board membership of the commission includes:

  1. each county commission chairman in the 11-county region;
  2. one mayor from each county (except Fulton County);
  3. one mayor from the northern half of Fulton County and one mayor from the southern half of Fulton County;
  4. the mayor of the City of Atlanta;
  5. one member of the Atlanta City Council;
  6. fifteen private citizens, one from each of the 15 multi-jurisdictional districts of roughly equal population, elected by the 23 public officials; and
  7. one member appointed by the Board of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

Agency structure and functions

The ARC is divided into numerous department covering a broad range of issues, from the region's growing senior population to region-wide transit issues to geographic information system data. The agency's structure and functions can be outlined as follows:

Awards

Each fall, the ARC gives awards for noteworthy new projects. The categories are:

Criticisms

In 2018, a Georgia state audit found a pattern of poor financial recordkeeping, questionable spending practices, and misuse of purchasing cards at ARC, including misuse by Doug Hooker, the commission's executive director. [10]

References

  1. ↑ "Annual Comprehensive Financial Report Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2023" (PDF). Atlanta Regional Commission.
  2. ↑ Donsky, Paul (2024-07-10). "ARC 2024 Population Estimates Show Atlanta Region Adds 62,700 Residents in Past Year". ARC. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  3. ↑ "The Atlanta Region". Atlanta Regional Commission. Atlanta Regional Commission. 2016. Archived from the original on 19 January 2016. Retrieved 11 Feb 2016. The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency for the 10-county Atlanta area, including Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties, as well as the City of Atlanta. ARC also produces and collects data for a larger, 20-county area for air quality purposes. These include the 10 counties above, plus Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Coweta, Forsyth, Hall, Newton, Paulding, Spalding and Walton counties.
  4. ↑ "Forsyth Becomes 11th County in ARC". Atlanta Regional Commission. Atlanta Regional Commission. 1 Jul 2021. Archived from the original on 19 January 2016. Retrieved 7 Jul 2021. With the addition of Forsyth, ARC now includes the following counties: Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, and Rockdale. […] Forsyth County will remain a part of the Atlanta Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is administered by ARC and is responsible for coordinating transportation planning for 21 counties in the greater Atlanta region.
  5. ↑ Hallerman, Tamar. "Georgia is nowhere near last battle in tri-state water wars". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN   1539-7459 . Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  6. ↑ Wickert, David. "How would you fix metro Atlanta's traffic mess?". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN   1539-7459 . Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  7. 1 2 Relations, United States Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental (1973). Substate Regionalism and the Federal System: Regional governance: promise and performance; case studies. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 35–42.
  8. ↑ Wickert, David. "Board approves $173 billion metro Atlanta road and transit plan". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN   1539-7459 . Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  9. ↑ "Atlanta Regional Commission approves $265 million for transport projects across metro area". Yahoo News. 2024-08-31. Retrieved 2025-04-16.
  10. ↑ Estep, Tyler. "State audit finds questionable spending at Atlanta Regional Commission". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN   1539-7459 . Retrieved 2025-04-16.
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