$5,000,000 seems like a spectacularly low-ball estimate, as much as I like the idea of more public transportation. I'm guessing there isn't anywhere near the population density west of town to support that. Maybe from north of town, but there's no existing track that would work.

And doesn't Buckingham Branch lease it's road from CSX? That would mean freight would have the right of way, and would wreak havoc on any schedule.

Then you'd have to get a few busses or trolleys to wait to bring most of the (100-200?) people arriving at the train station down to the east end of the mall(kind of a long walk 10x a week), where most of the downtown commuterish jobs seem to be located(I'm assuming one would walk to UVA or UVA hospital).

Great idea. I just think it's a waste of $95,000 for a pipe dream.

You might remember a few years ago when there was a front cover, on one of the publications, of the Barracks Rd area with a commuter train running right through the middle. That was a ten year plan and a true pipe dream.
I would rather us spend 95k this time to study an idea to alleviate traffic from 250 (who wants it widened, which seemed inevitable) then to turn it into a four lane road. 95k seems modest compared to the million we spent to study a more efficient trolley system that never happened and a study that was slapped in the face as we built the South Lawn project. Don't be short minded, thats how 29 happened. There is already track running right through the middle of town.
I congratulate the forward thinking, just act on it instead of wasting all our time on talk. If the city has 7 million for bricks, does the county have a few million for a train?

Hey some kind of tram or real trolley through town would be great. We already have 2 great park and ride lots at Scott Stadium and JPJ. Unfortunately, the city let those condos be built just south of the train station, which roadblock any kind of easy line from Fry Springs to Pantops. I'd even run something down JPA, W. Main, and Water(Dave Norris was quoted in one of the local papers saying(not his exact quote - too lazy to look it up) "of course we can't give up the parking places on W. Main" - why not?, if it allows a real solution to some major transportation problems.

If the county wants to spend the money on a study, God bless 'em but I just don't think there's a real need or demand yet for something like that coming in from the west of town. Commutes into C'Ville from the north and east are far worse and(again, too lazy to look this up, sorry) have way more people using these routes on a daily rush hour basis.

BTW I used to live east of town. I live and work in the city, and I walk/bike/drive around town depending on how much stuff I need to haul around or how miserable the weather is.

Again, I'm all for improved transit. I just think this project is the wrong place to start and, if it ever got built, the lack of ridership on it might make the city/county/state a bit gunshy to fund more useful initiatives.

Thanks for your perspective.

Why are citizens continually forced to pay for other people's causes? We not only would be forced to pay for this consultant's fees but also to pay for the commuter train itself? I like the idea of train myself, but I'd feel selfish and to a certain extent seditious if I thought I should force all citizens to pay for this kind of stuff. Why not simply talk to private industry and individuals about pursuing it as a private project? Where's the sense in spending everybody else's money for your own cause?