I am glad to hear that the San Antonio-to-Austin commuter rail idea has some life in it, as reported by the Express-News today. It seems a no-brainer to me, and I've always been perplexed at the past (and no doubt present) vociferous opposition by some. I have no doubt that something of the sort will be built eventually, with the huge recent and projected population growth in the San Antonio-Austin corridor. (After all, even Dallas has commuter rail.) But it would be nice to get it done sooner rather than later.
A decade ago, people might have thrown rocks at anybody suggesting there should be commuter rail running from San Antonio to Austin, local advocates of the idea say.
But now, with a steady stream of cars and trucks on Interstate 35 that just keeps getting worse, people seem to be warming up to the possibility, said Tullos Wells, vice chairman of the Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Commuter Rail District.
Wells marveled at the interest shown at nine public meetings held by the rail district this month to get input on the concept. More than 60 people showed up at the last meeting, which was Thursday at Live Oak Civic Center.
It's gone from not in my back yard to put it in my back yard," Wells said. "That's what really surprised me — how much support there's been from Joe Average Citizen."
Some people are willing to fight to get a commuter rail station in their community.
East Side activist Charles English said he's not happy that conceptual maps show the commuter route running west of downtown, with a potential station near the University of Texas at San Antonio Downtown Campus. He's believes it should go to the east, through Sunset Station where Amtrak's stop is.
The current plan involves existing rail lines that currently are used by Union Pacific for freight trains, so, assuming those lines can be acquired, it is plausible that this could become a reality in the not-too-distant future.
If you want to do some further reading about this, here is a recent article from the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, here is a recent discussion (at a website that describes itself as an "urban planning portal") about the current proposal, including the proposed map, and here is the website of the Austin-San Antonio Inter-municipal Commuter Rail District itself. Finally, here is a 2002 article from the Austin Chronicle that discusses some of the history of the Austin-San Antonio commuter rail proposals. That article pins much of the blame for delays on us in the San Antonio area, where traffic just isn't nearly as horrific as it is in Austin.
UPDATE (3-28): Cincinnatus at The Jeffersonian has some thoughts of his own on the commuter rail issue.
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