County Buys Buses for High-Frequency Cumberland Service

By CHRIS GAUDET (Patch Staff)

Cobb County commissioners voted Tuesday to pay $3.35 million for six buses for a new high-frequency service that will serve Cumberland, including fans going to ballgames at the Atlanta Braves’ new stadium.

The county Board of Commissioners authorized county officials to procure the heavy-duty buses for Cobb Community Transit (CCT), according to a Cobb announcement. The buses, known as Gillig Low Floor Clean Diesel vehicles, are expected to join the CCT in February 2017, said Faye DiMassimo, director of the Cobb County Department of Transportation.

Federal funds will cover 80 percent of the bus purchase, but critics say the deal is a taxpayer subsidy for the Braves, WXIA-TV Channel 11 reported Monday. Cobb officials have responded that the high-frequency bus service, called the Cumberland Circulator, will serve other major destinations in the fast-growing area.

Grants from the Federal Transit Administration will fund 80 percent of the bus purchase, with county funds covering the remainder, expected to be about $670,000. The county’s portion will be replenished by revenues from fares on the Cumberland Circulator, to be operated by CCT.

The Cumberland Circulator will serve fans attending baseball games at SunTrust Park, the new stadium being built for the Braves in Cumberland, next to the interchange between Interstate 75 and Interstate 285. Suntrust Park is scheduled to open in the spring of 2017.

The buses are built by Gillig, a manufacturer based in Hayward, Calif.

Cobb transportation officials are finalizing plans for the Cumberland Circulator, including routes, schedules, stops and fares. The county board will review those plans at a public hearing, but it has yet to be scheduled.

For more information on the Cumberland Circulator, please click here.