Community groups, including Santa Cruz County Business Council, Campaign for Sustainable Transportation, Santa Cruz Works, Santa Cruz New Tech Meetup and Santa Cruz County Greenway announced today they are supporting METRO’s request for a detailed Alternatives Analysis of the two public transit options for the rail corridor in Santa Cruz County: rail & trail and electric bus & trail.
The Alternatives Analysis was requested by METRO and approved unanimously by its Board of Directors on November 16, 2018. The Alternatives Analysis would also fully comply with the requirements of Measure D to analyze the “best use” of the corridor. The request is timely as the RTC could vote as early as January 17th, 2019 on a plan that would re-establish rail freight for 10 years north of Watsonville and eliminate the option of running electric buses on the corridor.
Moreover, METRO’S staff expressed concern that passenger rail could jeopardize the bus system’s already lean budget.