Across the country it's very common for anti-transit groups to use delay tactics, half-truths, and misinformation to try and stop transit and trail projects from ever happening.
Unfortunately, we are not immune to this anti-transit phenomenon. Two small anti-transit groups, Greenway and Trail Now, often publish very misleading information on social media sites and in their newsletters. Luckily, they are the minority. In fact, 74% of Santa Cruz County residents support our Rail & Trail project. Never-the-less, we often get questions from concerned neighbors who have heard some of the misleading messaging and want to know if it's true - or not. We carefully fact check each of their claims and have included the information below so you can know what's really going on.
Will Aptos Village businesses be forced to close? Short answer - No!
Trail Now has been busy claiming that Aptos Village businesses will be forced to close due to loss of parking. This sounds concerning, so we called the County of Santa Cruz planning department to see if that is true. Although some parking spots will be removed in order to make room for the trail through Aptos Village, the County of Santa Cruz planning department assured us that Aptos Village bussinesses will be able to continue operating and that many new State and county laws will allow them to take advantage of the other parking available in Aptos Village. Further more, the trail and future train service will allow more people to visit the village without needing to park, bringing more customers to these businesses without the need to have a parking space for each one. You can contact the Santa Cruz County Department of Planning here to verify the same: Planning.ZoningInfo@santacruzcountyca.gov
Will the trail be diverted onto busy streets in Live Oak and Capitola? Short answer - No!
Did the RTC spend all of the Rail Trail money in North County, leaving nothing for South County. Short answer - No!
Can the trail be built faster if we take out the tracks? Short Answer - No!
Will we get a train in our life time? Short answer - Yes!
Can we pay for the train? Short answer - Yes!
Do you have other burning questions? Write to us at info@railandtrail.org and we'll do the research for you.
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