A good news/bad news story brought to you by the Raleigh News & Observer.
Good news, paragraphs one and two.
The Triangle Transit Authority on Friday dropped its bid for federal approval to build a 28-mile, $810 million commuter train line through Durham, Research Triangle Park and Raleigh, sidetracking an 11-year push to build a mass transit system for the region.
TTA said it would not press its quest for federal money to pay 60 percent of the tab because it could not allay concerns in Washington that project costs were too high and train riders would be too few to meet federal standards.
Bad news, paragraph eight.
TTA leaders were not ready Friday to give up on their basic plan for a rail transit line with 12 stops in Durham, RTP, Cary and Raleigh -- or on the possibility of a future quest for federal help.
Check back here in ten years. The Door predicts that the TTA still won't be ready "to give up on their basic plan".
Why do you feel trains are a bad idea here? NJ Transit makes it super-convenient to commute into Manhattan, and has surely has a positive impact on property values in New Jersey (because the New York bankers, lawyers, and marketers have moved out to the 'burbs).
I understand that transit is context specific, so maybe there's something that would make this the "wrong" choice for the Raleigh-Durham area?
Posted by: Brock | August 21, 2006 at 11:50 AM
Sunk costs anyone?
Posted by: Chris | August 21, 2006 at 08:12 PM
Brock: If Raleigh had a massive overcrowding problem leading to sky-high rents and the non-availability of "suburban-style" housing, some sort of mass transit might be desirable. As it is, though, anyone who wants to live in Raleigh can afford to live there and find property to their liking--it's the suburbs that are expensive.
Posted by: Chris Lawrence | August 23, 2006 at 09:53 PM