BUILDING CONSENSUS FOR LIGHT RAIL: A TALE OF TWO CITIES

This paper summarizes the experiences of San Diego and Sacramento with light rail transit projects from inception to implementation. Differences and similarities in building a consensus for light rail in the communities and among official, decisionmaking bodies are described and contrasted. Public officials in San Diego became dissatisfied with the rail development approaches taken by planners and established a new agency and provided special funding for transit system development. The new agency accelerated the planning process and, at the same time, worked to build consensus for light rail among local officials and the public at large. Interest in light rail transit for Sacramento began with a group of citizens who wanted to improve transportation facilities and reduce the negative environmental impacts of automobile use and freeway construction. For 8 years they used a grass roots approach to arouse public interest and to build a pro-LRT consensus among the region's public decisionmaking bodies. No professional staff was committed to light rail during the first 5 years of this effort.