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ATTLEBORO - The state could do more for the economies of Fall River and New Bedford by increasing redevelopment aid than spending more than $1 billion connecting those cities to Boston with commuter rail, speakers at a forum said Monday.

The speakers - area residents and public officials - said the state has enough fiscal problems without spending huge sums of money to expand an already-overburdened rail system.

The comments came at an MBTA hearing on several alternative routes for bringing rail to the South Coast region.

One of those alternatives would extend tracks from Attleboro through Norton and Taunton, a plan those in the audience said was the worse of many bad ideas.

The Attleboro alternative would bring a rail line near homes in the Richardson Avenue and Pike Avenue area in the city, cut through the Chartley Pond area in Norton and cross 15 busy roads in Taunton. "It would cut our city in half and emergency response," Taunton Mayor Charles Crowley said.

But, many critics focused on the economics of the project. Most of the alternative routes have preliminary pricetags of between $1 billion and $1.5 billion. Officials acknowledged the state has not identified a source of revenue for the project.

Norton Selectman Robert Kimball said the state would be better off giving New Bedford and Fall River more aid so they can rebuild and create jobs locally rather than have residents of those cities travel to Boston for work.

Jack Lank of the Attleboro Area Chamber of Commerce said his members want to know where the state is going to come up with the kind of money an extended rail line would cost.

He said New Bedford and Fall River could be redeveloped for a "fraction of that money."

Attleboro City Councilor Brian Kirby objected to the state spending $17 million on an environmental impact study on the alternatives when a similar study was done several years ago.

Kristina Egan of the state Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works said the previous study is now outdated and conditions have changed. She said the federal law requires that a new study be done.

She said the people of New Bedford and Fall River have been promised rail service for years by a number of governors, and fulfilling that promise is a priority for the current administration.

She said 8,000 to 9,000 people from the New Bedford area already commute to Boston.

Some of the speakers said the rail system from Attleboro to Boston is already overburdened and cannot support more trains from New Bedford. "We do not have the capacity" to handle more trains, Attleboro City Councilor Walter Thibodeau said.

State Rep. Betty Poirier, R-North Attleboro, said she gets constant complaints from commuters that Attleboro trains are overcrowded and lack heat or air conditioning.

"Let's fix what we have" before building new rail systems, she said.

The opposition said if one of the rail options has to be built, it should be a rail line through Stoughton, which the previous environmental report recommended.

State Rep. John Lepper, R-Attleboro, said that report found Stoughton to be the most cost effective and the alternative that would attract the most riders.

Transportation officials said they had come up with another alternative that had not been considered before.

Rather than train service, the MBTA could improve bus transportation. One idea would be to dedicate a highway lane just for vehicles with multiple occupants like buses to speed the trip to Boston.

State Rep. Jay Barrows, R-Mansfield, said he favored the bus idea.

The planners also said the trains could cut their travel time and attract more riders if the lines were electrified, but that would also increase costs.

Lisa Stanley of the MBTA said there are 10 alternatives being considered now, and that will be narrowed to four to six plans by next month.

JIM HAND can be reached at 508-236-0399 or at jhand@thesunchronicle.com.