From Carolina Journal’s David Bass:
An expanded transit plan for Wake County that would grow bus service and create commuter and light rail lines “is not technically or financially feasible,” according to a report authored by two transit experts.
The report, by the John Locke Foundation (publisher of Carolina Journal), concludes that expanded transit is inappropriate for the Triangle region and that few commuters would take advantage of the new system.
“The basis for our finding is that the plan contains numerous optimistic assumptions, errors of fact or omission, and calculations that are at variance with standard practice in the transit industry,” wrote David Hartgen, emeritus professor of transportation studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and Thomas Rubin, an Oakland, Calif.-based consultant specializing in public-sector accounting in projects involving transit, highways, and schools.
The authors criticized Wake County officials for failing to factor in cost of the current transit system, which they said would raise the bill by $2.1 billion. They also concluded that, under the proposal, the average time it would take a commuter to travel by train was “well over double” the time required to travel by car.
You’ll find the report here.
