Ready for rail?

Lowcountry commuters need more transportation options, as rush-hour traffic congeals and gas prices continue to rise. There's no better time to undertake a public discussion of establishing commuter rail service in the Charleston metropolitan area.

Consultants already are reviewing plans for commuter rail linking Summerville and Moncks Corner with downtown Charleston. As envisioned, rail lines also would serve North Charleston and Goose Creek.

A preliminary study for the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments has determined that a Summerville-to-Charleston commuter rail line is feasible. There should be no question that the increase in gas prices has made it more so since the study's 2006 release.

Today, The Post and Courier begins an extended examination of how rail might connect the metropolitan area, primarily along the I-26 corridor. The series will look at the experience of — and expense to — other cities where light rail and commuter rail service have been established.

The series will detail ongoing mass transit improvements by the Charleston Area Regional Transportation Authority, too. Rail plans may also be bolstered by the sharp increase of ridership on express buses operated by CARTA between Charleston and North Charleston, more or less parallel to where rail would run.

The increase in CARTA express riders shows a willingness by the public to use commuting options. So did the recent demand by residents of Summerville for express bus service linking that town with CARTA routes.

CARTA's rise in ridership is directly related to the rising cost of commuting by auto and the increasing level of congestion along major thoroughfares, such as I-26. CARTA's revival confirms the importance of the public referendum in 2004 that provided the sales tax revenue necessary to keep the buses on the road.

In a column on our Commentary page today, Neil Peirce looks at how two cities in Holland are handling transportation challenges, while acknowledging "the heavy hand of government" required for their solutions — rail and land-use — to growth. In large part, those solutions have been a response to the auto- mobile.

In the words of Arnhem planner Gert Zwaal: "There's never a way to accommodate — or build the roads — for everyone in private cars."

Considering our report on I-26 today, those words ring true for the Charleston area as well.