Section 11-49B-1
Declaration of purpose and legislative findings.
The Legislature finds that it is estimated that by the year 2040, 40 percent of the economy of this nation, both people and jobs, will be located in a 14-state region between Texas and Virginia. Alabama, and in particular the Class 1 municipality and surrounding counties, will be in the very center of this geographic spread. This center of the growth pattern when combined with our educational facilities, quality of life, abundance of natural and cultural resources, steady economic growth, range of housing options, quality health care, climate, affordability, and accessibility provides this region with an unprecedented opportunity to attract new business both service based and manufacturing. It, therefore, is the intent of this chapter to take advantage of this growth opportunity by providing for a unified, coordinated, centrally orchestrated, genuinely regional system of public transportation embracing services in the county where a Class 1 municipality is located and possibly neighboring counties in the future.
(Acts 1997, No. 97-678, p. 1308, §1.)