Bus Stop

continued

The plan's sharpest critic, councilmember Stephen Kunselman, thinks "misstep" is too polite a word for the demise of a project that's consumed three years and $700,000 in federal planning grants. "It's called incompetence," Kunselman says. "This shows how mismanaged and incompetent the AATA administration was in trying to promote countywide transit. They didn't know what they were doing."

Whatever they're called, though, the confusing communications don't appear to be responsible for the plan's sudden death. Out-county leaders say they rejected the plan because they didn't see enough value in the five-year, $281-million first phase to justify the cost.