Starting in the late 19th century, an extensive series of electric interurban railways served the Syracuse region, but by the 1930s local rail service ceased, and was replaced by buses and automobiles. In the 1990s, Syracuse University graduate Robert Colucci proposed converting for passenger service a roughly segment of the old Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad's Syracuse–Binghamton line between Carousel Center (now Destiny USA) in the north and Jamesville in the south. At the time, the little-used right of way was owned by Conrail which considered it a financial burden, so it was sold for $1 to the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency (IDA). The Onondaga IDA leased the track to the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway (NYSW) at a bargain rate, and allowed the NYSW to use it for freight service on the condition that a passenger rail service be run at least 250 days per year with 1,250 round trips. In addition, the NYSW received a $400,000 tax break from the state of New York in order to cover operating costs.