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Tigard senior transportation planner Judith Gray is not a proponent of light rail. That doesn’t necessarily mean she wouldn’t be one in the future, however.

鈥淚’m a proponent of better service in whatever form it takes,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut if you have an initiative that won’t allow you to spend any money on (light rail), then how do we know? It would be a loss if we were prohibited from even participating in planning.鈥�

Gray referred to a group’s effort this past summer to create a ballot measure that would have prohibited Tigard from spending money on a new light-rail line. Although the initiative failed to garner enough signatures, it led to creation of Measure 34-203, which will go before Washington County voters next month.

The measure, which would prohibit Tigard from imposing any taxes or fees to help pay for a light-rail line without a public vote, represents a compromise, Gray said.

鈥�(City) Council really wants to respect the views of the citizens, but they don’t want to tie our hands in terms of the regional discussion,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think it’s a good balance.鈥�

Talks of bringing light rail to Tigard have grown since the Metro Southwest Corridor Plan was created in 2009. The plan’s steering committee 鈥� including representatives of Tigard, Tualatin, Beaverton and Lake Oswego 鈥� is contemplating ways to improve transit service.

In accordance with that plan, Tigard recently established its High Capacity Transit Land Use Plan, which will develop land-use concepts to support transit investments over the next 20 years. A light-rail line could present many benefits to Tigard, Gray said. It could help reduce traffic along Route 99W and Interstate 5, and provide an alternative to the TriMet bus system, which Gray said is expensive and moves too slowly.

However, the steering committee also is considering other transit forms as well as improvements for existing ones. For example, the committee is looking into establishing dedicated rights-of-way for buses, so they could complete their routes faster.

鈥淔or a lot of folks, taking transit isn’t really even a viable option,鈥� Gray said. 鈥淲e know we want to do a better job with the available resources if we can. We’ll explore light rail, but we’re looking elsewhere as well.鈥�

For Arthur Crino, the creator of the citizen initiative that inspired the measure, the city’s actions are not entirely genuine. He believes that if the steering committee were to recommend construction of a new light-rail line, the money would come from sources other than city taxes and fees.

He said it does not matter whether voters pass Measure 34-203.

鈥�(The measure) is to kind of pacify the voters; it gives them a feeling that they have a vote,鈥� Crino said. 鈥淚’m sure it’s being facetious in some sense, because I believe (city officials feel) confident they are going to have their way.鈥�

Crino is against light rail for one reason: money. A new system wouldn’t be worth its cost 鈥� millions of dollars 鈥� even if it could alleviate traffic congestion, he said.

Instead, Crino said, the city should devote all of its transportation dollars to existing system improvements or exploration of alternatives, such as rapid bus transit.

He believes that Tigard citizens need to continue to push City Council to promise that it won’t spend any public money toward light-rail transit. He is collecting signatures for another initiative.

鈥�(Prohibiting money being spent on light rail entirely) would be an accomplishment,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ustification for light rail economically is very difficult to do. To me, it’s impractical.鈥�

Voters in Washington County will be able to decide a ballot measure with wording like Crino’s initiative 鈥� but for King City, southwest of Tigard. If it were approved, voters’ approval would be required for King City to use any public resources on a public rail transit system.

Tigard officials realize Measure 34-203 would not be as binding, but they do believe it holds weight.

鈥淲hat (the council) put forward was a promise, an assurance and an opportunity for citizens to say so that taxes won’t be raised to build a light-rail line,鈥� Gray said. 鈥淲e wanted to say this is for construction. We don’t want to go to a vote to just talk about things and have meetings.鈥�