construction cost of $878 million), an elevated light rail system (213,400 daily passengers; $1.297 billion), a light rail subway (226,800 daily; $1.572 billion), or a grade-separated heavy rail system with subway through the central business district (223,700 daily, $1.366 billion). At the time, it was estimated that 9.5 million person-trips were made per day in Harris County; of those, 98.7% were taken using private vehicles. METRO updated its 1980 Southwest/Westpark corridor proposal and extended the eastern terminus north by , combining it with the proposed North corridor as the "Houston Rail Rapid Transit Project"; the extended line now ran north past I-10 and the North Inner Loop to Crosstimbers. The design called for of elevated tracks, of subway, and at-grade. The system would have 17 passenger stations (eight aerial, six at-grade, and three subway), and included a new railyard/maintenance facility at Cavalcade. The 1983 proposal was rejected by Houston voters via referendum. Light voter turnout was blamed for the defeat of the $2.35 billion proposal, which included the purchase of approximately 400 new buses and construction of a heavy rail system. The capital cost of the rail system alone was estimated at $1.436 billion, including 130 new rail vehicles. In the wake of the 1983 defeat, METRO began work on a regional transit plan, integrating inputs from city, county, and state governments and developing three options for implementation: A (bus routes only), B (light rail loop and radial bus routes), or C (light rail with supplemental bus routes); after approximately 250 meetings were held in 1984 and 1985, citizens overwhelmingly supported Option C, with planned light rail service to operate along Main Street within the inner loop (I-610). Longtime Houston Mayor Kathryn Whitmire appointed Bob Lanier to chair METRO in 1988; Lanier shepherded a voter referendum that year which passed, approving the Phase 2 Regional Mobility Plan which included of fixed guideway transit. Under the 1988 referendum, METRO would devote of its sales tax revenue on roads, on improving bus service, and the remaining on developing the fixed guideway plans, but Lanier showed reluctance to follow through on developing plans for a fixed guideway, questioning the projected ridership numbers, and Whitmire fired him in late December 1989. Incensed, Lanier released a memorandum attacking the mayor's rail transit plans, and Whitmire responded by holding a press conference on Lanier's front lawn during his annual Christmas party. Houston was the largest city