of today's Metro Transit) proposed a $1.3 billion 37- or 57-mile (sources differ) heavy-rail rapid transit system, but the then-separate Metropolitan Council disagreed with that idea – refusing to even look at the plan – and continuing political battles meant that it was never implemented. The Met Council had its own plans for bus rapid transit in the metropolitan region. Another system using smaller people movers was proposed in the 1975 Small Vehicle Fixed Guideway Study and gained the most traction with the Saint Paul city council, but was eventually dropped in 1980. In the 1980s, light rail was proposed as an alternative and several possible corridors were identified, including the Central Corridor line which had a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) drawn up in 1982. It took another two decades before the Blue Line light rail line began operation. It began service on June 26, 2004, just over 50 years since the last regular-service streetcar ran on June 19, 1954. Central Corridor Coordinating Committee The Central Corridor Coordinating Committee was a workgroup in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area set up to explore transit options for the Central Corridor, the interurban corridor roughly following University Avenue in the Twin Cities area. After a long period of examination, this committee narrowed transit options for the corridor from a broad universe of choices to just three: a no-build option where services are only incrementally improved, a bus rapid transit (BRT) option, wherein buses run on semi-dedicated transitway, and a light rail transit (LRT) option using light rail vehicles (LRVs). In May 2006 the CCCC concluded its study by publishing a Draft Environmental Impact Study, which concluded that LRT was the best option for the corridor. After a period of public meetings and public comment, the CCCC recommended on June 6, 2006, that the Metropolitan Council select LRT as the locally preferred alternative for the corridor and apply for preliminary engineering to begin. On June 28, 2006, the Metropolitan Council concurred with the CCCC's decision and officially selected LRT as the locally preferred alternative. Metropolitan Council manages all transit, waterway, and other public resources for the seven-county area surrounding the Twin Cities, and as such, the Central Corridor project will now transition to Metropolitan Council. The work of the Central Corridor Coordinating Committee is now complete. Funding A 2003 study commissioned by the Central Corridor Coordinating Committee placed the cost at US$840 million. Cost