After all the money and political capital spent trying to get the TSPLOST passed, it lost by a 2-1 margin.  It failed in nine of the 12 districts where it appeared on the ballot.

So where do we go from here?

WSB talk show host Erick Erickson thinks Georgia Governor Nathan Deal could step up and fill the leadership void on transportation.

“The governor has a real chance to lead here unlike any governor in the last decade or so to really set a major legacy for the state.  He could actually do this and restore some trust,” said Erickson, Wednesday morning with Scott Slade on Atlanta’s Morning News.  “The TSPLOST lost because of trust and perceived arrogance by the people who pushed the TSPLOST.”

Erickson also says he thinks the governor's recent announcement that the tolls on Georgia 400 will be phased out late next year may have struck some voters as an 11th-hour political ploy.

AJC political insider Jim Galloway says Deal will not support bringing the referendum up again.  Instead, he says he'll take a central role in transportation planning for the region.    

Chris Riley, the governor’s chief of staff, told Galloway that traffic planners in regions across the state will be quickly asked to resubmit lists of road and rail proposals that require state and federal funding – figuring in an 8 percent decrease in federal funding. The governor has veto power over each list.

Riley said that Deal intends to use that authority to direct cash to absolutely essential projects in metro Atlanta and elsewhere.

“The state’s top transportation priority is the Ga. 400 and I-285 interchange,” Riley said.