What's in rail name? Tougher rules

From statesman, September 22, 2008...

Turns out that what Capital Metro is building is a light-rail line after all. Or so the agency says now.

Back in 2004, when voters were asked to give the agency approval for the line from Leander to downtown Austin, the agency was adamant that it be called "urban commuter rail." They were OK with shortening that to "commuter rail," which the Statesman archive tells me I've done more than 150 times in the paper since then.

But not "light rail," a politically radioactive term around Austin after voters rejected a light-rail plan just four years before. No, we're asking you for something materially different from light rail, Capital Metro said.

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