From the calm, almost peaceful public reactions of the Metropolitan Transit Commission, you'd have thought it was virtually pain-free to chop 20 percent from the $1.1 billion budget for a proposed light rail line to northeast Charlotte.

The MTC, the governing body for the Charlotte Area Transit System, heard staff recommendations Wednesday for trimming some $210 million from the estimated $1.1 billion construction project. The recession-battered half-cent sales tax for transit has been bringing in less money than projected, forcing the cuts. CATS staff has had to take chainsaws to earlier estimates of what it can afford to spend in coming decades.

Almost half the proposed savings, or $92 million, comes from ending the route at UNC Charlotte, eliminating two stops that had been planned at Mallard Creek Church Road and at Interstate 485. Another big chunk, $38 million, would come from lengthening the time between cars, which would allow CATS to buy eight fewer cars.

Other cuts include eliminating a parking deck at the Sugar Creek station, spending less on maintenance and storage facilities because of fewer rail cars and using already-approved city bond money instead of CATS money for right-of-way improvements along North Tryon Street.

Indeed, reaction by MTC members was so muted that some might wonder why CATS didn't plan all along to build this smaller, cheaper version of a Blue Line Extension. So it's important to point out that just because MTC members weren't moaning in anguish doesn't mean the cuts are painless.

Stopping short of I-485 will reduce ridership. That's an unavoidable conclusion. Since the Lynx Blue Line opened in 2007, the park and ride lot at its southern terminus near I-485 is often filled, even though other lots aren't. Losing an incentive to get I-485 motorists out of cars and onto light rail will mean less ridership - plus more traffic on I-485.

But unlike the south corridor, a 25,000-student, major state university is perched on the northeast corridor. Shortening the route would mean an estimated daily ridership drop of about 2,700 trips a day, CATS projected.

Having trains run less frequently also can discourage ridership. Previous plans were for trains every six minutes during peak hours. Now CATS projects trains every 7.5 minutes when the line opens, and eventually every 10 minutes.

CATS will hold public hearings during January, and the MTC will vote on the proposed cuts on Jan. 26.

It appears the MTC and CATS have little choice but to trim the Blue Line extension. No, it's not an ideal scenario. But expanding transit options into another part of Charlotte remains an important goal. With congestion sure to increase, and with many Charlotteans hoping to reduce their household transportation costs, building a shorter line is much preferable to building no line.