Falk and Cieslewicz agree on commuter rail

Thursday, June 28, 2007

From a story by Matthew DeFour in the Wisconsin State Journal:

A proposed Dane County commuter train that would be funded with a new countywide sales tax received a boost from an agreement announced Wednesday between Madison and county leaders.

County Executive Kathleen Falk and Mayor Dave Cieslewicz said the "historic" agreement paved the way for a comprehensive transit system integrating commuter rail, streetcars, enhanced bus service, road maintenance and bike trails.

"We need a way out of this (traffic) congestion and this is the way," Falk said.

The agreement calls for the creation of a Dane County regional transportation authority with the power to raise a half-cent sales tax. That would be on top of an existing half-cent general-purpose county sales tax expected to generate $43 million this year.

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