The Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation, encompassing the Triad area of North Carolina, is preparing to spend $625,000 of taxpayer money on a study to determine whether taxpayers ought to be compelled to spend three-quarters of a billion dollars building a choo-choo train system linking Burlington and Greensboro to Winston-Salem or only about $400 million on an enhanced regional bus system.

In the interest of saving time and the 12 to 15 months allotted for the study, I’ll be happy to supply the correct answer to PART’s question:

No.