"the “general populace,” need a genuine alternative to spending several hours of their day going (very slowly) to and from work."

Guess what?  RAIL ain't it....
Rail: Let's run through this again.<p>

10 minutes to GET to a bus that will TAKE you to a rail stop<p>

10 minutes wait FOR that bus (cause you can't just get there the minute it arrives)<p>

15 minutes for bus to DRIVE you to a rail stop<p>

20 plus minutes for the 20 plus STOPS <p>

20 minutes for the actual TRAVEL(THAT'S at 60 mph - mile a minute- of which it will NOT be due to stops and starts)<p>

10 minutes wait for the bus to PICK YOU UP from the rail stop<p>

15 minutes for the bus to take you where you're REALLY going<p>

OVER ONE AND A HALF HOURS!! And HOW many BILLIONS to pay for the OCCASIONAL day when it MAY take 2 hours?<p>

And the sheeple voted on this without even know how much it would cost to ride.  STILL don't know and they're STILL yapping about how good it's going to be.  Ignorance IS bliss, I guess.