My name is Niran Babalola. I'm member of AURA, and I have a deep desire for better public transit in Austin. Better public transit requires that we use the limited transit dollars we have wisely. Rail is a tool that cities like houston have used to save money and expand their transit system. Houston's line has saved money compared to buses since it's second year. Project Connect predicts that the Highland/Grove line will be more expensive per ride than improving buses on that route.
In any other city, that'd be a clear sign that this is a bad plan. Spending more per ride on rail means we have to take that extra money from other bus routes. This line will improve transit in a small area, but it will actually hurt transit in the rest of the city by sucking up too much of our limited funds. Hurting the rest of the city's transit system means putting more cars on the road and making traffic worse.
I'll support any rail line that saves money. This rail line doesn't, so we should put better buses there instead.