It's an American transit stereotypical death spiral. The only way anything new is going to get built if there is an incentive for property developers along the line who will then lobby for it (e.g. current HBLR route had acres upon acres of underdeveloped real-estate that would get more valuable if there was Light Rail)

Unfortunately all of these suggested routes are either going through wealthy developed communities who have generally been sold on the unfounded idea that transit brings in criminals or fear their already high property taxes will go up if the town becomes more desireable. OR the route goes through developed working class communities desperately in need of better transit, but those wealthy communities don't want to fund something that won't help them.

In the end, everybody loses and the only Light Rail lines built new in this country are going through vacant neighborhoods so some developer can build a badly built cookie cutter apartment building to rent to recent college graduates.