Bob Cook (Q2)
Submitted by:
Robert Cook, urban economist, member of Pima County Planning and Zoning Commission, member of City of Tucson Cost of Growth taskforce, past chair of Metropolitan Energy Commission
A Yes Vote on Question 2 will implement the first regional transportation plan that introduces a new, more cost-effective approach to our mobility problems. Endless studies have shown adding more lane miles to roadways will never solve congestion. This failed method simply draws more traffic to expanded corridors and facilitates outward urban sprawl.
A better way is to provide high capacity express transit linking park and ride facilities located on the urban edge with high capacity circulator transit in the higher density urban center. Reducing the need for single passenger vehicle trips will reduce congestion and save the region many millions of dollars annually in road construction and fuel costs. Currently, Pima County residents spend more than $1.5 billion annually in fuel costs, double the amount spent in 2000 and increasing with no end in sight.
The RTA Plan includes express bus routes that will quickly move passengers from outer regional locations to central places where many thousands of people travel to daily such as UMC, UofA, Campbell and 4th Avenue shopping corridors, Downtown, Rio Nuevo , and three Pima Community College campuses.
Tucson’s first modern electric streetcar line will circulate riders conveniently in this urban center and will become the catalyst for much greater private investment in mixed-use residential and commercial development along the fixed route. While oil costs increase during the coming “Peak Oil” period, the streetcar can be powered by clean, solar electricity from panels mounted on covered park and ride facilities.
This new beginning for Greater Tucson’s transportation future promises to actually save us money and provide an expanded tax base so that other pressing public problems can be tackled. Question 2 is a small tax, fairly distributed among residents and visitors but it also represents an important community investment with real economic returns.
