But which city streets?

That's one of the tough transit questions posed in a series of free public workshops across the region, which started last week and will conclude Thursday.

Some Triangle residents have anguished for the past 20 years over how - and whether - to build a regional transit network with trains and better bus schedules.

The last regional plan crashed in 2006 because it was weak on local political and fiscal support, and federal transit officials concluded that it would not serve enough riders to justify the expense.

Local political leaders have been more closely involved this time in developing detailed transit plans for Wake, Durham and Orange counties.

Even after they find consensus on the technical issues, they'll face a tougher political test on the question of whether better transit is worth higher taxes.

Planning boards and county commissioners will consider whether to adopt the plans and whether to schedule a referendum on a half-cent sales tax to help pay for trains and buses.

This week's workshops will give Wake, Durham and Orange residents a chance to catch up with evolving plans for:

Commuter trains between Garner and West Durham.

A light rail line between northwest Cary and northeast Raleigh.

A route involving either light rail or bus rapid transit between downtown Durham and UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill.

Beefed up buses and downtown circulators or trolleys to augment current routes and serve future rail stops.

Commuter trains, using existing Amtrak-freight tracks, could be up and running in as little as six years, say officials with Triangle Transit, the three-county bus agency that is overseeing the effort to develop a new bus-and-train plan.

On workday mornings, these rush-hour trains would take workers and students from west Durham to Research Triangle Park and downtown Raleigh, and from the east side of Garner through RTP to west Durham and Duke University.