Light-rail lovers may be disappointed, but fiscal realists seem more likely to approve of a simple decision by Wake County Manager David Cooke to separate the region's ambitious bus-and-train plan into two packages: "core transit" and "extended transit" (see today's Road Worrier column, with reader discussion).
Wake commissioners had a good chat about this at a meeting in Raleigh Monday. Tonight in Chapel Hill, the Orange County commissioners will follow suit. Both counties are considering whether to hold a half-cent sales tax referendum in November 2012, like the one approved by Durham voters last week.
Wake can afford to promise voters that a proposed half-cent sales tax would make possible a big "core transit" package, Cooke said. Bus service would nearly double in five years, and Wake and Durham could get new rush-hour commuter trains rolling within eight years.
Light rail? Not so much. It's expensive, and current plans assume that local taxpayers would cover only 25 percent of the capital cost. Let's face it, Cooke said: Nobody expects the federal government to cover 50 percent and state government to cover 25 percent in the near future.
So let's call light rail "extended transit" -- something we're still hoping for, someday, when economic and political conditions are more favorable.
It's not something we can promise voters anytime soon. Sorry, light rail lovers.
Bruce Siceloff reports on traffic and transportation. A News & Observer reporter, editor and blogger since 1976, he took over the
Comments
Comments are amazing proof
Tue, 11/15/2011 - 18:25 — justmaybeComments are amazing proof of just how "dumbed down" our population has become. I wonder who writes and does the spelling for them? -- sodapop said
I won't argue that some of us are better educated than others, but spelling isn't as essential as logic, and even logic must listen to the emotion of those who comment. We can all have opinions and express them freely on here in a civil manner, right? We welcome that, don't we?
No one comes on here to comment to have their writing or spelling graded or to be referred to as the 'dumbed down.' Let's respect one another. I reserve the right to say something stupid now and then.
regressive sales tax
Tue, 11/15/2011 - 18:19 — justmaybeWhy use the regressive sales tax on everyone for something that benefits some more than others? The poor, lower classes will pay disproportionately under a sales tax.
Number one, stop building new roads or widening roads and bridges and let traffic choke itself out. The concept, which light rail supports, of living far from jobs is bogus and must end. Another is the segregation of the wealthy 'haves' from the 'pooer' have nots via zoning laws that protect property values at the expense of diversity in housing. Schools could be with walking distance and diverse if communities were made to be developed the same.
Commuter rail, using existing rails.
Tue, 11/15/2011 - 17:18 — SodapopCommuter rail, if programed well, can fill many of the gaps left by not developing light rail, so why is this not to priority? It also taps riders further out of center city who eventually become the needed ridership for a more complex systems (light rail and bus). It is inevitable as meto areas continue to absorb rural population (worldwide).
Comments are amazing proof
Tue, 11/15/2011 - 17:01 — SodapopComments are amazing proof of just how "dumbed down" our population has become. I wonder who writes and does the spelling for them?