Tucsonans for Sensible Transportation
Submitted by:
Steve Farley, President
Bob Cook Treasurer
Greater Tucson needs a multi-modal transportation system NOW. Unlike most other western urban regions, we have yet to provide a full range of mobility choices for all of our nearly one million local residents.
Over-reliance on the single-passenger vehicle is the Achilles heel of our transportation future. Fuel costs are already the largest drain on our local economy — currently more than $1.5 billion wasted annually in the region. With road construction costs and energy costs significantly and irreversibly increasing, can we afford NOT to diversify our system of mobility?
Voting YES on Questions 1 and 2 — the RTA Plan — is a rare opportunity for us to balance our roadway network by investing in an efficient and effective regional system of bus routes, bike paths, sidewalks, park and ride lots, wildlife linkages, and safety improvements.
New express buses will whoosh people in comfort from outlying areas to the central city and back. Local bus routes are dramatically expanded in area, frequency, and hours of operation. A modern streetcar line in the Downtown and UofA area will demonstrate the popularity and benefits of this new form of mobility in redeveloping our urban center.
Forty percent of this plan’s funding is allocated to multi-modal improvements. Spending on a sustainable future will begin this summer.
If we don’t make this major investment with the only local funding source available for transit, we will price increasing numbers of people off the road without any accessible alternatives.
A no vote will also discourage economic development investment in Greater Tucson compared to most other cities that are investing more of their transportation funding in sprawl-reducing transit-oriented development.
Let’s prevent our community from sinking further down the socio-economic scale by approving this small tax that will be fairly shared by residents and visitors alike.
