Rail Gone Stale

I’ve been hearing about the development of a commuter rail system in North Carolina for years now. But even after moving to Chapel Hill over two months ago, I haven’t been able to answer this question: When will the dirt start turning?

A new series in The Raleigh News & Observer may have the answer: never. Even after a decade in planning, and almost $43 million spent on acquiring land and access to an existing rail corridor, the Triangle Transit Authority is struggling to answer the Feds’ rigorous questions about ridership forecasts. The wrong answers, or insufficient answers mean the rail project might not be recommended for critical federal funds. Additionally, the FTA has set a higher standard for meeting meeting cost-effectiveness criteria.

“U.S. Rep. David Price, a Democrat from Chapel Hill and a leading sponsor of the rail project, said the rules change could be akin to ‘moving the goalposts in the middle of the game.’”

Other states, such as Virginia, Oregon, and California, were exempted to the changes thanks to aggressive support from their senators. Senator Dole has not pushed for an exemption: “Wasteful projects — if they don’t have the ridership necessary to justify the project, then they don’t receive the funding…”

Local rail supporters argue that a Triangle rail system will promote sensible development in areas without much development, provide an alternative to driving as fuel prices rise, and of course, will relieve congestion as the area continues to grow. I’d like to see another reason added to the list: facilitating quick evacuation in the event of a major disaster. Katrina anyone? Speaking of Katrina.. For the past several weeks we’ve seen countless examples of local, state, and federal mismanagement and inertia. Triangle residents may not be as accomodating to large infrastructure projects as they were just a few years back.

October 3rd, 2005