It has been a tough fiscal year, but the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority ought to think hard about selling a railroad right-of-way it purchased 21 years ago. Putting the land back on the tax rolls could be a community gain—but it could also make future commuter rail expansion far more complex and costly than it needs to be.

Just coming out of a year in which it considered increasing bus fares, the NFTA has sought creative solutions with the railroad right-of-way. The authority’s budget for next year anticipates $1.2 million in revenue from any such land transaction.

When the authority’s revised budget was put together in March, officials trying to avoid a second fare increase looked to see if the NFTA was holding any surplus property. Railroad rights-of-way seemed a good option, especially the unused one that runs through the city toward the Southtowns.

At stake is a 1.6-mile stretch of former Delaware, Lackawanna& Western trackage purchased for $216,000 in 1988 from Conrail. Why wouldn’t the authority take a look at this, plus any other property, as possible revenue sources?

The issue currently is being studied. The authority is awaiting an update of the 2001 study of real extension possibilities, a study that ranked the Southtowns option as the least likely to be funded. Several years later, the situation may be different and an updated review is both warranted and prudent—but the commissioners must match that knowledge with vision.

Town of Hamburg officials already have made their views known. They argue that selling the right-of-way would be shortsighted and, despite expected increases in gas costs, eliminate the possibility of light rail reaching that area and offering commuters an energy-efficient alternative. Light rail could, one day, need expanding and the Southtowns could emerge as a key component.

The NFTA, a public authority, has to go through a long process before selling anything—including public notice, notifying both the city and county and sending out requests for proposals. That has been on hold pending the consultants’ updated analysis of different possible extension corridors such as the Southtowns, the University at Buffalo and the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

The NFTA would have been remiss simply to ignore the fact that it has surplus property that could be better used by the community and could bring in added funds. But the future could hold real options for expansion that would require a Southtowns right-of-way. It would be better to have that right-of-way in a land bank, than have to negotiate a complex and costly land purchase to reopen a prematurely-closed possibility.