PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — An online community in South Jersey is working to stop the proposed Glassboro-Camden light rail project in its tracks.
Members of the "Say No to GCL" Facebook group believe the project is nothing more than an expensive waste of time. They said if past performance is an indicator of future success, look no further than the sparsely-used RiverLine which runs from Camden to Trenton. The route is almost twice as long as the 18-mile Glassboro-Camden Line and only averages about 8,000 trips a day.
"We disagree with the claims regarding GCL ridership," said Charles Hughes of Woodbury, who maintains the ridership data from the RiverLine was oversold when it was built.
Based on the RiverLine data, Hughes said the GCL will have little to no impact on traffic on Route 42, which it is meant to relieve. The group also worries the constant horns from mostly empty trains will be a nuisance in every town along the route.
"And we look at it as an unsolvable issue," he said.
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There's also the price tag.
"The original cost to build was projected to be $1.6 billion in 2009, and we believe it's going to be more like $6 billion," speculated Hughes. He said tax payers are footing the bill for the RiverLine and would end up on the hook for the GCL as well.
"The reaction to RiverLines is they're really nice, they look nice, but nobody ever rides them."
If the goal is to move more people more efficiently, Hughes suggested expanding the bus network with electric buses is the solution that makes more sense.
Camden County Commissioner Jeff Nash previously told KYW Newsradio one of the project's chief goals was to lessen traffic on Route 42, which he called "the third-most congested highway in all of New Jersey, and that includes North Jersey."
The project website has said the proposed rail's use of existing rail infrastructure would cut down on development sprawl and take advantage of an underused transportation corridor.