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Cities to vote on transit system
TUCSON, Arizona (AP) -- In a city where choked streets are the norm from early morning through the evening rush hour, many believe a light rail system could be the answer for frustrated commuters. Voters here will decide November 4 whether to approve two propositions that would put in place a new city transit plan to include a new 13-mile light rail system. Tucson isn't alone in asking voters next month to pave the way to a better transit system. Voters in Houston and Kansas City, Missouri, will decide whether to approve funding for plans that include bolstering or building a light rail system. Currently, 19 U.S. cities operate light rail systems. Another 13 cities, including Phoenix, Arizona, are in some stage of developing light rail. In Tucson, one proposition seeks to raise the city's sales tax to 2.3 percent from 2 percent and increase a construction sales tax to 6 percent from 2 percent. Estimates say the increases would raise $1 billion over 20 years. The other proposition outlines how the money would be spent. Besides rail, money would go toward an express bus feeder network tying into light-rail stations. In Houston, voters are being asked to authorize $640 million in revenue bonds to add 22 miles of track to a new 7.5-mile light rail system that will debut in January. In Kansas City, one measure seeks a three-eighths of a cent hike to the half-cent transportation sales tax, which would generate about $22 million a year for five years, to preserve more than a third of the city's bus routes. It also would improve other routes and add a dozen new ones. A second measure calls for a half-cent transportation sales tax hike, producing an estimated $360 million over 12 years, to build a light rail line, add 50 new electric and hybrid-electric buses, an electric streetcar line and a bus rapid transit system. In Tucson, transit plan proponents say light rail is the only way to entice commuters and gets cars off congested streets. With few exceptions to arterial streets as the main thoroughfares, traffic has long been a major headache. The two interstates that run through the area are helpful only for commuters going to certain parts of the city, and hardly at all for anyone traveling east to west. The only mass transit available now is the bus system. Stephen Farley, a spokesman for Citizens for a Sensible Transportation Solution, which brought the plan to the ballot, said varied modes of transportation are needed in this city of some 503,000 people, which has been growing at a rate of 3 percent a year. "I don't think any reasonable person could imagine that we could continue to grow at that pace without offering any reasonable operations besides the car," Farley said. Opponents say the package will be too burdensome for residents and too costly. John Dougherty, governmental affairs director for the Tucson Chamber of Commerce, said that few people use city buses now. "If you look at how the (ballot initiative) money is to be spent, a full 68 percent of the money will go to only 2.5 percent of the citizens" -- those who use public transportation, Dougherty said. The light rail system does seem to appeal to people who already use the city's bus service. "One, the transportation is better. Two, it's more economical," said Ronald Drumbore, a maintenance worker. Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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