Time to consider light rail

While transit systems across the country lost riders and even bus routes during 2009, CARTA's ridership grew. That affirms the need for area public transportation, and it also suggests that the Lowcountry is ready to expand mass transit into rail.

Buses move people where they need to go and reduce the number of vehicles necessary to do that. But buses still must contend with traffic and congestion on streets and highways. So city planners, businesses, environmentalists and ordinary citizens are pointing out that rail is the next appropriate step for healthy communities.

Charleston is no exception. CARTA executive director Howard Chapman tells us he hopes that the state Infrastructure Bank, when it has money to dole out, will help pay for commuter rail for the Lowcountry.

One route would go from Summerville to downtown Charleston. Another would go from Moncks Corner to Goose Creek to downtown. (See his letter on the opposite page.)

The idea of commuter rail has won local officials over because it uses existing train tracks and train cars -- and it's cheaper. But it would be a mistake to commit to commuter rail without reconsidering light rail as an alternative.

Commuter rail makes only a few stops on its routes and is fueled by deisel. Light rail, powered by electricity, uses independent tracks and makes more frequent stops while still maintaining an overall high speed.

Mr. Chapman tells us that, at this time, light rail is simply too expensive for the Charleston area and would take even longer to get up and running than commuter rail (which he estimates would take seven to 10 years).

But business people and environmentalists who are advocating light rail contend its advantages are worth the cost. Where commuter rail is good for taking people from Summerville to Charleston, for example, light rail can better serve residents' daily needs.

Because light rail makes multiple stops, more people can use it to go to the grocery store, gym or doctor's office. Light rail takes more internal traffic off streets and encourages growth around rail stops instead of encouraging regional sprawl, as commuter rail could.

Dana Beach, executive director of the Coastal Conservation League, says he has met with business interests who agree that light rail is worth exploring. The cost is higher than commuter rail, but not so extreme when you look at how much is spent widening and repairing highways. Light rail would do more to relieve those roads of traffic, and its wear and tear.

Additionally, light rail is eligible for a 90 percent federal match, so the local costs are less daunting than they first appear.

The Obama administration has made passenger rail a priority and recently allocated $8 billion to support high-speed rail projects. It's a good time to search for the money it takes to study light rail and be ready to advance the project should federal funding become available.

Charleston is one of the country's most lovely areas and people have tried over the centuries to keep it that way. Light rail would contribute to that goal. If it is preferable to commuter rail, the area shouldn't prematurely settle for second best.