Old Pueblo Trolley (Q1)
Submitted by:
W. Eugene Caywood, CEO
Richard G. Guthrie, President
Old Pueblo Trolley (OPT) supports Question 1, the sales tax for transportation that includes a modern streetcar. We are 20 years behind the Phoenix area where the voters approved a half cent sales tax for roads in 1986, followed by additional sales taxes for transit, including light rail, in many of the individual cities.
But why include a modern streetcar? Because the permanent nature of rail transit improvements attracts development that is made possible only because of the reduced parking requirements when a rail transit line serves the development.
Some have argued that the proposed modern streetcar line will fair because there is no parking for commuters. But studies of Portland’s modern streetcar line show that in a similar situation connecting downtown, retail shopping close in residential, a university and a major hospital, only 4% of the riders drove and parked to ride the streetcar.
Others have argued that the same thing could be accomplished with buses at a much cheaper cost. This simply isn’t true. Many people will get on a rail vehicle when they won’t use a bus. In Portland, the streetcar carries EIGHT TIMES the number of riders that previous bus line did. Here, Sun Tran used to have a route where OPT’s small weekend line runs that was 2-1/2 times longer, 25 cents cheaper, ran twice as often, and ran 6 days a week instead of 2-1/2. At the time, OPT’s trolleys carried FOUR TIMES the riders! That’s the inherent attractiveness of rail transit! If we want people to use an alternative to their car, we must build transit, despite its costs.
Please vote yes to provide Tucson with the resources to provide improved transit service and a modern streetcar line in the university – downtown area.
