Well, Gov. Perdue, there you go again.

Perdue proposed his own state transportation plan on Thursday as the 2010 Georgia Legislative session opened during a press conference with reporters.

Problem is, he didn’t bother to engage, invite or even inform the Ga. Department of Transportation (DOT) until after he unveiled it to the press. In fact, the Commissioner of Transportation, Vance Smith, wasn’t even invited to the press conference.

So much for teamwork, Governor.

Perdue said he would propose $300 million in borrowing for road projects next year, and he wants all Georgians to vote in 2012 on whether they are willing to boost the sales tax by one cent to fund more transportation projects.

Under Perdue’s program, which must be approved by the state Legislature, the entire state would vote on his sales tax hike at the same time. Then the money would be allocated in individual regions, based on which voters approved it.  Regions whose voters approve the tax increase would then have money to spend on local projects. Those that reject the increase would be left out in the cold.

The General Assembly must also approve the $300 million bond package for road projects, which was part of the state budget blueprint Perdue put forth on Friday.

Perdue coined his new tax scheme “the ultimate democratic referendum on investing in transportation,‘’ saying that voters would be able to review a list of road or transit projects the tax dollars would fund before they went to the polls.

Now we all know that Atlanta and its surrounding suburbs, most notably North Fulton, suffers from some of the most horrific traffic congestion this side of Tokyo. Worse, we know that our transit woes, now nationally notorious, are crippling new business expansion in the region and killing the creation of much needed new jobs.

Investment in transportation has lagged well behind the state’s massive population growth. Currently we spend the second lowest per capita in the country on transportation, ahead of only Tennessee. Most of our road projects now are funded from the state’s gas excise tax. Naturally, that revenue has plummeted in the last year — another casualty of our recession.

Perdue claimed he planned to cajole state legislators to commit to spending $300 million a year for transportation projects for the next 10 years — for a total investment of $3 billion. He also maintained the money spent would work like a stimulus package for Georgia, providing jobs.

“It puts people to work while it helps to get people to work,’’ Perdue said.

But why wait until 2012? Perdue says he wants to give the economy “time to heal.’’

As we work together to find viable transportations solutions in the coming months, the DOT is committed to bringing forth some very promising plans for the legislature to review and debate.

OK, so we’re glad Perdue has one idea. It’s not the panacea, and it’s not the only one to consider.

The transit challenges we have in this state will take more to solve than just one entity with a political agenda in desperate search of legacy.  

Email Brandon Beach at brandonlbeach@aol.com