Do you love sharing your opinion?

Do you love sharing your opinion? I do.

While I dislike long email surveys or answering telephone polling questions, I do love the thrill of answering questions to help companies make and market better products and services.

Enter 1Q. 1Q stands for 'one question' and it's a local Atlanta start up firm looking to change the game of market research. The concept is simple - 1Q sends a question to your phone, via text message OR through their mobile app (your choice), you respond and get paid $.50 per answer per question, instantly and directly into your PayPal account. Pretty cool! Here's a handy graphic I snagged off of their website:

I'm a member of 1Q, and have already made $38.25 (see my screenshot within the iPhone app). You can see I've missed 9 questions - since 1Q pays people for their answers, the responses come in quick! Sometimes I'm too slow on the draw (aka don't have my phone on me...). I also choose to get $.25 per question to get the chance to get more questions through their system. And since $.25 isn't bank breaking to me, I donate my responses directly to charity, which I love. They have a number of local Atlanta charities (and some national ones too), including:

• The Drake House: A Roswell-based non-profit supporting homeless women and children [where I donate my payments to]
• Atlanta Bicycle Coalition: Non-profit advocating for safer and better biking in Metro Atlanta
• CAPN: Atlanta Clinic for the homeless and medically underserved
• Georgia Organics: Connecting organic food from Georgia farms to Georgia families
• Children's Restoration Network: A non-profit agency serving homeless children and mothers in Atlanta, Georgia since 1993
• Lost N Found Youth: Atlanta’s only non-profit organization dedicated to taking homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth off the street and into more permanent housing
• And Many Others...

Start up firms have always fascinated me, and I think it's incredible what 1Q is doing right here in Atlanta- what a neat, simple concept! The icing on the cake is being able to donate my response payments to the charity of my choice - answering questions and helping others at the same time. Below is a snapshot of my answering an image based question about an advertisement. 

You can sign up for a free 1Q account on their website or you can download their free mobile app for iPhone and Android users. I've enjoyed answering questions and getting paid - hope you will too! 

HOV to HOT Conversion Project

Traffic. It's everywhere in Atlanta- pretty much any time, any day- it flows through our city like a living river. At it's widest, the Downtown Connector (I-75/I-85) gets up to 16 lanes (8 per direction-one of the widest in the world) and can carry over 270,000 cars per day.

In 1994 the federal government financed 18 miles of HOV (High Occupancy Vehicle) lanes for part of the busiest section of the highway. In 1996, and then again in 2001, 83 additional miles were opened to make the HOV lanes what they are today. HOV lanes (in Atlanta) are only for carpool, van-pool, bus, low emissions vehicle, and motorcycle use, and the purpose is to keep vehicles traveling at speeds no less than 40mph during rush hour (what a joke!). If you've ever ridden in the HOV lane anytime near rush hour, you are pretty much guaranteed to travel pretty much the exact same speed as the rest of traffic. This is a huge problem for the City, not only for just traffic, but for the environment, maintenance, and your sanity/road rage. The government gives the state of Georgia funds for the maintenance and future development of interstates, and the fact that Atlanta cannot maintain the "required" 40mph at all times in the HOV lanes, some serious measures need to be taken. 

This issue has been looked at for many years as the traffic in Atlanta only continues to get worse. A few of the major reasons for this issue are enforcement of classified users and just the general amount of cars traveling on the interstate. With everything considered, the USDOT granted 110 million dollars to implement in Atlanta a new concept called HOT (High Occupancy Toll) for the Atlanta Congestion Reduction Demonstration (CRD) Grant project. HOT lanes have only recently come on the scene, the majority of which are in Maryland and Virginia. The idea is that a vehicle will pay a toll for using what was the HOV lane, and that vehicle will pay some rate per mile driven in that lane, by how many people are riding in the car (3+ is free), and the number of cars currently using the lane (higher rates for rush hour). 

The goal of this project is to provide commuters with a "reliable" travel option in the I-85 corridor, including peak hour speeds averaging greater than 45 mph in the I-85 Express Lanes. The estimated average trip length is 6 – 7 miles, with typical toll prices ranging from $0.60 to $6.00 (!) depending on congestion. It is estimated that over 90 percent of customers will pay less than $5.00 for their trip, including 25 percent of customers who will not pay any toll. 

Vehicles will be monitored by sensors called a Peach Pass (think GA 400 cruise card) for when they enter the HOT lane and then exit. The HOT lane will have restricted access and egress points along with cameras, sensors, and enforcers. You will not be able to cross the "solid double white line" whenever you want, which is also a major cause of HOV lane traffic delay. Designated entry points will still be marked with a dashed white line, but fines will be given to those who exit at undesignated points. 

I've been to a couple of discussions/presentations on this HOV to HOT conversion project- mainly as it pertains to Gwinnett County, since that's the first section of HOT lanes that will open. The first section will be 15 miles on I-85 from Chamblee Tucker Road north to Old Peachtree Road. This section is already under construction (see new signs below) and is planned to open on July 31, 2011 (weather permitting). 

I know this is a lot of information, especially if you're not familiar with this project, but it's important for the future of Atlanta traffic. This is a big, expensive undertaking that seems very complicated, especially from the driver's perspective. You'll have to "figure" out how much it will cost you, how far you will go, where you can enter/exit, and either pre-pay or load your Peach Pass with enough funds. I know that congestion has been researched quite a lot in Atlanta, and one of the ideas that I was supporting was the HOV3 concept which would increase the HOV lane to 3+ people only. The research "showed" that the usage would decrease by 70% and then the HOV lane would be vastly under utilized. My thought, which I think is the direction we should be trying to go, is that the attitude and behavior of the users would change with the HOV3, and more people would carpool, and put less drivers and vehicles out on the road, which would decrease traffic everywhere. Anyway, I guess we will find out how this all will work out pretty soon! Were excited that this will alleviate some traffic especially for those of us in Brookhaven that might commute up and down the I-85 corridor.  Let us know your thoughts.

Atlanta Underground Market- Update!

Just received an email from Atlanta Underground Market with some important information if you're interested in attending.

To recap- The Atlanta Underground Market will be held on Saturday, February 25. The location is secret, and you must sign-up to receive instructions (will be emailed out 24 hours prior to the event)

Almost 1500 people and 40 vendors have signed up to participate in this event! The event will be held indoors, and it is a completely private event- each individual must sign up to attend. If you plan to bring a guest, please make sure they sign up beforehand. Each name and corresponding email address will be checked at the door.

There will be a $2 entrance fee, along with a $1 - $5 per plate cost from each vendor. So make sure to bring some cash!

There will be two remaining emails- one a week before the event (this weekend) and another a day before the event.

See you there!

Taste of Atlanta!

This coming weekend (October 23rd & 24th) is the Taste of Atlanta event at Tech Square (Spring & 5th Street area) in Midtown.

Not only will there be delicious tastes from more than 80 of Atlanta's favorite restaurants, including 4th & Swift, Morelli's and Holeman & Finch Public House (world's BEST burger), a Farm to Festival Market and Family Zone, but this year the festival is adding some special events. You can check out all this and more at their website HERE.

Tickets are $25 dollars before and $30 day-of. Purchase tickets HERE and use coupon code: TOAPC for an additional $5 off (offer valid only for tickets purchased online). One adult ticket will give you 15 taste coupons- so use them wisely!

This event is described as Atlanta's premier food+wine+beer+cocktail festival so it sounds like fun! Lets just hope we have more fun than we did at the Taste of Brookhaven...

First Post!

Cory and I decided to try our hand at blogging... we are focusing on our new home base: Brookhaven, Georgia. We feel that there is such a lack of consolidated information about Brookhaven. Since its not a City, just an area, there is no single source of information. We hope that this blog can be a reference, guide, and review (of course) of this area we now call home!

Brookhaven is a small area north of Buckhead. Once known as North Atlanta, Brookhaven has started to spread from the wealthy suburbs north of Peachtree Street, to the areas of Ashford Park, Brookhaven Heights, and Brookhaven Fields.

Cory and I just bought a house in the Brookhaven Heights neighborhood, and so far we absolutely LOVE the area- it's like our own little gem. We feel a part of the big city, but also a part of a small community.

Please check back for our Brookhaven Review posts about local restaurants, shops, festivals, activities, and organizations. We welcome any comments or suggestions! Hope to be back blogging soon.

Thanks!

Malory and Cory