President Peter Likins, U of A
Submitted by:
Peter Likins, President, University of Arizona
STATEMENT FROM PETER LIKINS SUPPORTING THE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN AND HALF-CENT SALES TAX
We all love this community and want it to be the best it can be. That means a future with less gridlock, cleaner air, and a safer way to get around for everyone.
That’s why I’m voting yes for both Question 1, to approve the Regional Transportation Plan, and Question 2, to approve the sales tax to fund it. I urge you to join me.
Although I’m retiring this July, this is my home and my wife and I plan to spend the rest of our lives here. But we must find the resources needed to make our community a better place to work and live, and to raise our children and grandchildren.
The plan not only will improve roadways and safety, but will include a modern streetcar to enhance our mass transit system and open the door to using other alternative energy sources. By using electricity to run the streetcar system, it offers a quiet, non-polluting and convenient system to everyone.
The streetcars are designed with a low entry for easy access by mothers with strollers, people in wheelchairs or commuters with bicycles. The streetcar system will be for those who want to park and ride, or who live in the city and want to avoid drive time. Nearly 10 percent of our residents live within a mile of the proposed street car.
The street car system is matched with federal funds – tax dollars we already pay will come back to support our community. Other cities that have built streetcar systems have seen a boom in public/private partnerships and a six-fold return on their investment.
The streetcar is only 4 percent of the transportation plan’s estimated cost, an investment that will save not only dollars, but will save energy as well.
