WOODBURY — Residents offered feedback on a proposed effort to bring a passenger light rail line connecting Glassboro and Camden Monday, weighing the benefits of expanded public transportation with the potential costs.

The project, which would build 17 miles of new tracks connecting 15 new stations throughout Gloucester and Camden counties, is currently in the midst of an environmental study, slated to be completed and published by next spring, according to Joseph North, vice president of STV, Inc., a consulting firm tasked with carrying out the study.

“By next spring there will be a draft statement, followed by a public review phase,” said North at Monday’s information session inside the gymnasium at Woodbury Junior-Senior High School. “This today is a refresher meeting because we didn’t want a large gap in time between the last public scoping meeting and next spring.”

The last public session occurred in the spring of 2010, in which 176 residents attended, according to STV.

The new South Jersey light rail line would connect passengers from Glassboro to the Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden, where riders can catch a PATCO train or transfer to the River Line.

Stops along the way include Rowan University, Pitman, Sewell, Mantua Boulevard, Wenonah, Woodbury Heights, two stops in Woodbury, and Crown Point Road in Westville.

Additional stations in Gloucester City and Camden — including one at Cooper University Hospital — will also be built, according to proposals.

From there, passengers would be able to board a PATCO train to Philadelphia, or the NJTransit River Line to Trenton.

Officials have estimated the travel time from Glassboro to the Walter Rand Transportation Center would be 35 to 40 minutes.

North said the $1.6 billion transportation project could be up and running by 2019.

“I like the idea of it,” said Giovanni Cavone, a Malaga resident who described himself as an investor in the Glassboro area. “I’m favorable toward it because I think it’ll bring in money to the area — people are going to be driving into Glassboro to take the train up to Camden and then Philadelphia.

“It would also relieve traffic congestion on Route 55, I think.”

Wenonah resident Jeff Penuel was also bullish about the proposal.

“I think it’s a good idea, given the advances in public transportation in South Jersey,” he said, before adding “It’s about progressive thinking.”

However, not all in attendance were sold.

“I go to Philly every single day for work, and I’m not about to take light rail that will add an hour and a half to my commute,” said Cheryl Carroll, from West Deptford. “And it’s going to tie up the intersections in Woodbury even more — it took me 20 minutes to get from one end of Broad Street to the other with the way it is now.”

Annual operating costs for the proposed transit line are currently estimated at $29 million. While the DRPA has been pushing for a Glassboro-Philadelphia rail connection since 2003 — and specifically a Glassboro-Camden light rail line since 2009 — the authority has no interest in owning or operating the system.

Instead, the DRPA is taking on the role of “project manager,” according to the authority.

NJTransit is currently paying for the environmental study, which the DRPA awarded to STV Incorporated with an $8.3 million contract in February 2012.

Officials have previously stated ownership of the rail line, once completed, could fall under a public-private partnership.

The River Line falls under one such partnership, operated for NJTransit by Bombardier Transportation, a private company based in Germany, under the name Southern New Jersey Rail Group.

Contact Jason Laday at 856-686-3628 or jladay@southjerseymedia.com.