Even though the regional rail system planned for the Triangle is all
but screaming to be let to pasture, the Triangle Transit Authority
continues to ride the old mare.  JLF‘s continued message
that the transit system isn’t sustainable, even according to the TTA’s
own studies, seems to be finally making headway.  Vice President
of Research, Roy Cordato stated in the Durham Herald-Sun that the Triangle area just doesn’t have the population density to support a regional line.  Raleigh Councilman Philip Isley told Rick and Donna Martinez,
who were filling in for WPTF’s Bill LuMaye Show, that funds earmarked
for light rail should go towards more pressing matters, like school
construction.  Assistant professor of public policy studies and
economics at Duke University, Jacob L. Vigdor, wrote in the N&O that if only we had the foresight to plan for light rail in the future, then we’d need it.  Dr. Michael Sanera, JLF‘s research director and local government analyst, responded, pointing out how dictatorial and paternalistic were Vigdor’s necessities for light rail utopia in the Triangle.