A Greener City: Is San Antonio ready for light rail?
By Patrick Driscoll and John Tedesco- Express-News
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“It's so much easier,” said Duncan, an office manager who commutes on the MAX light-rail system that runs through Portland, Ore., and its suburbs. “I concentrate on the day, rather than sit in traffic.”
About 1,700 miles away, in San Antonio, Adam Reyes has a very different commute.
He starts his days getting dressed in the glow of TV traffic reports and stays tuned to radio updates in the car. His 23-mile ride to Day One Physical Therapy & Wellness is a 45-minute slog during the school year and includes stop-and-go traffic on U.S. 281 and Interstate 35.
For Reyes, who recently got rid of his Toyota 4Runner because his gas bill was “just too much,” light rail is a vague notion.
“I would consider it,” he mused one morning. “It would probably be experimental at first. I guess we just need to know more about it.”
San Antonio voters rejected a light-rail plan eight years ago, and activists blocked an earlier effort 15 years ago.
But after gas prices veered near a benchmark of $4 a gallon this summer, and with many experts saying the price of oil will remain volatile, has the equation changed for car-centric cities such as San Antonio? Could Portland's light-rail cars be a good fit here?
Many local leaders, infused with urgency, say it's time to find out.
County Judge Nelson Wolff and Mayor Phil Hardberger formed a committee in June to chart the city's transportation future and told the group to study public transit. Soon after, Wolff dusted off a 1993 idea to put passenger trains on old freight tracks from Southtown to The Rim shopping center.
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