Nothing that's publicly funded can get a straight writeup from the Bee, so of course [www.sacbee.com] has to rag on the Elk Grove people demanding to keep their separate buses. Oh well. Same thing happened when the Folsom line opened, but Folsom did kill their downtown buses; El Dorado County kept them. And the train was and is much slower.

In fact, the extension is coming in early and substantially under budget. That's noted very briefly at the end of the article after trolling through all the stuff about perceived (and actual - LR is city transit in a not-so-safe area) safety etc.

As for speed, of course it's faster to drive or take an express bus! It doesn't have to make all those stops, and the bus can use the carpool lane on the freeway. The model for EG might be El Dorado County - they kept most of the commuter expresses, but also added basic service connecting with light rail.

You want BART, you gotta pay for BART. Light Rail is el cheapo (by modern standards) rail transit. It's what a smaller city like Sacramento can afford (with some help). And BART is hardly immune from crime problems.

Oh well ... editorial rather than article ... you expect what from the Bee? Can't have actual good news if a public agency is involved.

RT releases about the opening festivities (which were NOT mentioned in the article) can be found at: [www.sacrt.com]