You're getting caught up in the terminology.How many BRT lines in this country have been converted to rail? It would take decades, if ever, for a Riverview (a)BRT to be converted to rail. It's not like the stations that are built for (a)BRT can easily be used by trains as well.I made a mental health decision to stop caring about this project years ago because I had said my piece and it was clear how this effort would ultimately end up. Still, plenty of people have good reason to be frustrated about the years that were wasted on an obviously infeasible plan.
However, people should not make the same mistake that this project's political backers made of seeing a rapid bus line as something that would preclude later rail investment. In fact, the reverse is true; a successful rapid bus line would strengthen the case for a rail line in the future by demonstrating and growing ridership in the corridor, which would then be reflected by stronger scores in the federal capital investment grand process.
Had the original B Line aBRT opened in this corridor years ago, Ramsey County would be closer to realizing its dream of Riverview rail than they are today. Unfortunately key decision makers were both poorly advised and poor advocates, doubling down on this insane plan to spend $3 billion dollars on a project that would've decreased service resilience and increased transit travel times, and never ever was going to get funding from the FTA.
Just about every successful rail investment in the US was first served by a successful high-frequency bus line, whether or not it had any fancy branding attached to it. It's true that, should they build aBRT Stations along West 7th, then Ramsey County/Metro Transit may have to eat some cost ($10 million, say) when a rail line is built. But were that the case, nobody would cry about it because they'll have just won a $1.5 billion dollar grant from the federal government in large part because that aBRT investment was what made Riverview competitive in the first place.
Ramsey County saved millions in order to lose billions, a classic penny-wise and pound-foolish strategy.
(Moreover, you're probably only going to waste half of your station curbs because you could easily then move your Riverview aBRT route onto Randolph when your Riverview rail starts operating.)