June 4, 2008

Friends,

This week’s Weekly Update is quite lengthy, as  there is a lot of issues regarding transportation.  As you are all probably painfully aware, gas prices at the pump are at an all-time high.  Also, there is a lot of community dialogue about the need for an improved statewide transportation system.  All of this creates quite a bit of news stories and items that you will want to keep abreast.  We will continue to send you these items as they come up.  If you know of other transportation matters that we should alert our readers, please contact us.

Also, the final report on our Friends of Transit Tuesday program is now posted on our website. It gives a summary as well as an updated listing of all the events. A special THANK YOU goes out to all of the “Friends” who made this program such a smashing success.  We hope you continue to shop and dine at businesses along the light rail line.  There are many gems there to be found.  We hope you enjoyed the program as much as we did.  Visit www.friendsoftransit.org to see all the details on this successful program!

In the News:
Rival transportation plans may compete on ballot, The Arizona Republic, May 30, 2008
Group confident voters will OK transit tax, The Arizona Republic, May 31, 2008
Arizona planning roads, transit to ease congestion, The Arizona Republic, June 1, 2008
Ridership on mass transit breaks records, USA Today, June 2, 2008
Public Transit Ridership Continues To Grow In The First Quarter Of 2008, APTA News Release, June 2, 2008
20-year transportation plan price tag: $1.2 billion, The Arizona Republic, June 3, 2008
High gas prices lead to leaps in mass-transit use across U.S., Tribune, June 4, 2008
Cities work to improve transit between Chandler, Tempe, The Arizona Republic, June 3, 2008

Don’t forget to visit Friends of Transit on the web at www.friendsoftransit.org!

 

Rival transportation plans may compete on ballot
Pearce's move would compete with initiative
by Matthew Benson
May. 30, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

One of the Arizona Legislature's most ardent tax foes is authoring a tax increase of his own.

Rep. Russell Pearce's intent: to sponsor a referendum that competes head-to-head on the November ballot with a statewide citizens initiative on transportation, potentially derailing the measure with one that carries a much lower price tag and a shorter time frame.

Supporters of the initiative have already begun collecting some of the more than 153,000 valid signatures they'll need to submit by July 3 to qualify for the ballot.

Pearce, meanwhile, needs just 31 votes in the House and 16 in the Senate to get his referendum on the ballot.

"I'm not advocating a tax increase," said Pearce, a Mesa Republican and chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. "I am advocating that voters have an honest choice."

Pearce's proposal, which is still being drafted, calls for a half-cent (per $1 purchase) increase in the state sales tax over 20 years. He told The Republic Thursday that he's unsure how much the proposal would raise, but it looks to be less than half of the $42 billion the initiative would raise over 30 years. That measure, led by Gov. Janet Napolitano and a group of business and economic interests calling itself the TIME Coalition, would increase the state sales tax by a full cent.

Pearce dubbed his referendum "a more modest plan," noting that it would fund only roads and highways. The TIME Coalition initiative would fund projects ranging from freeways and commuter rail to local street construction and buses.

"Piecemealing this, if that's what this is, is a huge mistake," TIME spokesman Martin Shultz said of the Pearce plan. "It's very narrow in a state that is very large and has substantial infrastructure needs."

The Legislature has a history of referring measures to the ballot to compete with citizens initiatives, most recently with trust-land reform in 2006. In that instance, voters rejected both measures - which, critics alleged, was the Legislature's intent all along.

This time around, Pearce maintained that he merely wants voters to have a choice of transportation proposals. If his referendum makes the ballot, he's not even sure if it'll have his vote: "I don't know yet. That's a decision I'll have to make between now and November."

In the meantime, obstacles remain for Pearce, not the least of which is finding a way to introduce his language at this late date in the legislative session. Shultz, a lobbyist for Pinnacle West Capital Corp., parent of Arizona Public Service Co., sounded unconcerned by the prospect of ballot competition.

"I'm not fearful of it," he said. "Let's let this run its course."

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Group confident voters will OK transit tax
by Glen Creno
May. 31, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Persuading voters to agree to a tax increase when the economy is wobbly and people are losing their homes and jobs may seem futile.

But the group, the Transportation & Infrastructure Moving AZ's Economy, which is trying to put a $42.6 billion transportation-improvement package on the November ballot, says it's up to the task.

Its strategy: a multimedia campaign that focuses on the frustration of increasing congestion and the role transportation plays in the growth of the state and its economy.

The group is already talking up the plan across the state, trying to gather the 153,365 signatures needed to put the plan and its 1-cent sales-tax increase on the ballot.

It expects to meet that goal by the July 3 deadline and plans to more aggressively promote the initiative later in the summer with TV and radio ads and direct mail.

Opponents say it will be tough convincing voters that a tax increase is the best way to attack Arizona's transportation needs.

"This one is asking people to raise the sales tax when the economy is very shaky," said Steve Voeller, president of the Arizona Free Enterprise Club. "It's a pretty steep hill to climb. Voters will be skeptical."

But backers of the proposal point to the state's pressing demand for new roads and transit and what they call a looming funding crisis.

"We're pretty confident people will see the connection between their lives and improved transportation," said Martin Schultz, a lobbyist for Pinnacle West Capital Corp., parent of Arizona Public Service Co., and a spokesman for the TIME coalition, the group pushing the transportation plan and the media campaign.

Pushing the proposal

TIME representatives are traveling the state to explain the proposal to business and government groups and answer questions. Experts say it's crucial to get these groups to buy into the plan so they feel like a part of it and are more likely to vigorously push it.

TIME also expects to launch a Web site sometime next month promoting the plan.

Tom Ziemba of Ziemba Waid Public Affairs, the Phoenix consulting and lobbying firm handling both the signature gathering and the media campaign for the measure, estimated it would be a "multimillion" dollar advertising budget. TIME would pay for the ad blitz with donations.

"This is about people's lives. It's not like a typical bond election where someone wants to raise money for a new sewer line," Ziemba said.

Voeller said his organization is still deciding whether to mount a formal campaign against the proposal, which is called the TIME Act.

He said there should be a thorough debate about how to fund transportation in the state and rejected the idea that TIME's plan is the only way to go. The penny tax would take effect in January 2010 and run for 30 years.

Commuters have mixed opinions. Some oppose the tax increase for reasons varying from higher costs of everyday living to worries about how the money would be spent.

Deanna Olsen, who commutes by bus from Avondale to her downtown Phoenix job as a phone-company dispatcher, said previous tax increases for transportation have failed to deliver on promises. "People are already struggling to make ends meet, but my bottom line is I don't trust government to do what they say they will do," she said.

But others, like Michael Hester, think the extra penny increase is worth it.

Hester, a data-processing consultant who commutes from Wittmann to downtown Phoenix, said he'd like to see rail service to venues like University of Phoenix Stadium, freeway improvements, even a fix-up of Grand Avenue, his commuting route. "I think it's a great idea," he said.

Thus far, opponents have criticized the proposal for the size of the tax increase, too much emphasis on transit and not enough reliance on the growing trend of using public-private partnerships to fund new transportation projects. The proposal suggests creating a fund to jump-start state participation in such partnerships but not as the primary funding source.

State Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said this week that he is trying to put together a competing plan of a half-cent increase in the state sales tax over 20 years to fund only roads, not transit.

Earning voters' trust

The key to earning voters' trust is making sure they understand the package, said Rod Diridon, executive director of California-based Mineta Transportation Institute, which has conducted research on effective transportation campaigns.

Diridon says growing worries about climate change and the outrage over high gas prices may work in TIME's favor. Transit systems are part of their plan.

Also, he said, the presidential election should bring a high voter turnout, which should work in its favor, too. He said direct mail is effective in these campaigns when the mailings carry endorsements from organizations and people "of merit" explaining the situation in a targeted message.

TIME already has a top government official in its corner. Gov. Janet Napolitano supports the TIME Act, but it's too early to say how she would fit into efforts to promote it, spokeswoman Jeanine L'Ecuyer said.

But, L'Ecuyer said, it may be incorrect to assume that concerns about the economy and a tax increase will doom a plan that offers relief to voters tired of traffic.

"I wouldn't go at it assuming it's an uphill battle," she said.

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Arizona planning roads, transit to ease congestion
Jun. 1, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Q: Why are some areas more congested than others?

A: Phoenix is no different from any other big, growing city. Population increases put more vehicles on the road. Some of those roads opened a half-century ago and can't handle the volume. Those highways have been widened over the years, but the onslaught of more cars and budget limitations contribute to traffic backups.

Q: What is being done to prevent traffic chokepoints?

A: Traffic planners are studying undeveloped or developing areas, creating detailed roadway plans before corridors are restricted and pinpointing such things as major freeway-to-freeway interchanges. There is also more emphasis on adding rail and other transit to the transportation mix. More coordinated land-use planning that connects jobs and housing also would help, said Ram Pendyala, a professor of transportation systems at Arizona State University. That would reduce long commutes "so people can live, work and shop in their own little communities and not get piled up on these interchanges," he said.

Q: Are there plans to get money to fix the roads?

A: A statewide transportation proposal is pitching a collection of new roadways and transit as well as improvements to the existing system. It promotes private-public partnerships for transportation projects such as new roadways and rail systems. Its main financing method is a 30-year, one-cent increase in the state's sales tax. The proposal would augment the current system of gas taxes and driver fees that pay for transportation in Arizona.

Q: Wouldn't bus and rail systems ease traffic?

A: Planners say transit systems won't solve highway congestion. Many planners advocate mixed systems of roadways and transit to give commuters options. Greg Cohen, president and chief executive of the American Highway Users Alliance, based in Washington, D.C., says roadways are the best way to move commuters and advocates more road construction and repair.

Curtis Lueck, a Tucson transportation consultant, said transit does chip away at congestion, though fixed routes and schedules make it hard to combine trips.

"There's no single solution to eliminating freeway congestion," he said.

Planners say it's impossible to plan roadways that don't have some places that back up.

"There are always going to be some clogs in the system," said Eric Anderson, transportation director of the Maricopa Association of Governments. "If you tried to build a system where there's no congestion - you couldn't do it. You would run out of money and land pretty quickly."

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Ridership on mass transit breaks records
By Marisol Bello
USA TODAY
June 2, 2008

More people are riding the nation's buses and trains, breaking records for the first quarter of the year. Transit operators expect the increase to be greater in the second quarter as gasoline prices soar.

A report set for release today by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) shows trips on public transit January-March rose 3% over the same period last year to 2.6 billion rides. Light rails saw the biggest jump: 10% to 110 million trips.

Early figures for April show ridership going even higher as gas hovers near $4 a gallon, says APTA president William Millar.

In 2007, he says, "we had higher numbers than we've seen in 50 years, and the trend is continuing in 2008."

Still, only 5% of workers commute by public transit, according to a U.S. Census survey in 2006. Millar says no more than 20% of households have easy access to buses or trains.

Rising gas prices present an opportunity for the transit industry to beef up service, says Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, chairwoman of the Urban Planning Department at UCLA. She says cities have not provided an alternative for people to leave their cars at home: safe, reliable, convenient service.

"In many places, they are not reaching capacity," she says. "But if gas prices keep rising, we'll see it more and more."

Transit managers say systems are underfunded.

The South Florida rail system, which runs from Miami to Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach, had a 13% increase in riders during the first quarter. In April, travel jumped 28%, says Joe Giulietti of the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority.

Yet his agency faces an $18 million budget hole that may mean cutting train service by more than half, he says. The system is funded mainly through grants from the state and the three counties it serves, and he says Palm Beach County is considering reducing its funding.

"So at a time that ridership is at an all-time high and people are desperate to use mass transit," he says, "we are in a terrible spot."

The APTA ridership report covers 262 transit systems. It shows the biggest increase in rail travel in Oceanside, Calif., Seattle and Harrisburg, Pa. Gainesville, Ga., and Pompano Beach, Fla., saw some of the biggest gains in bus ridership.

"There are a number of factors. … An obvious one is high gas prices," says Linda Robson of Seattle's Sound Transit. She says the system has added trains.

"We're hearing from riders that gas prices got them to consider riding the system," she says. "But what keeps them coming back is service and convenience."

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Public Transit Ridership Continues To Grow In The First Quarter Of 2008
Almost 85 Million More Trips Taken Than In The First Quarter of 2007
News Release
June 2, 2008

APTA contact:
Virginia Miller
(202) 496-4816
vmiller@apta.com

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) announced today that Americans took 2.6 billion trips on public transportation in the first three months of 2008.  This is almost 85 million more trips than last year for the same time period. 

“There’s no doubt that the high gas prices are motivating people to change their travel behavior,” said APTA president William W. Millar.  “More and more people have decided that taking public transportation is the quickest way to beat the high gas prices.”

Last year 10.3 billion trips were taken on U.S. public transportation – the highest number of trips taken in fifty years.  In the first quarter of 2008, public transportation continued to climb and rose by 3.3 percent.  In contrast, the Federal Highway Administration has reported that the vehicle miles traveled on our nation’s roads declined by 2.3 percent in the first quarter.

Light rail (modern streetcars, trolleys, and heritage trolleys) had the highest percentage of ridership increase among all modes, with a double digit 10.3 percent increase for the first quarter.  Light rail systems showed double digit increases in the following areas:  Baltimore (16.8%); Minneapolis (16.4%); St. Louis (15.6%); and San Francisco (12.2%).  New Orleans’ light rail system is recovering from Hurricane Katrina with a 476% increase in ridership.

Commuter rail posted the second largest ridership increase at 5.7 percent.  The six commuter rail systems with double digit ridership growth rate in the first three months of 2008 were located in the following areas: Seattle (27.9%); Harrisburg, PA (17%); Oakland, CA (15.8%); Stockton, CA (13.9%); Pompano Beach, FL (12.9%); and Philadelphia (10.4%).

Heavy rail (subways and elevated trains) ridership increased by 4.4 percent.  The heavy rail systems with the highest increases in ridership for the 2008 first quarter were in the following cities: Staten Island, NY (12.3%); Boston (8.8%); Jersey City, NJ (6.5%); Los Angeles (5.4%); New York City (5%); Baltimore (4.9%); and San Francisco (4.5%).

Bus ridership saw an increase of 2 percent nationwide.  Bus travel in all size communities saw ridership increases; communities with a population of less than 100,000 had a 7.8% increase.  The highest increases at the largest bus agencies occurred in the following cities:  San Antonio (10.6%); Denver (9.4%); San Diego (6.8%); Minneapolis (6.7%); Seattle (6.2%), and Phoenix (5.4%).

To see the complete APTA ridership report go to http://www.apta.com/research/stats/ridership.

APTA is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,500 member organizations including public transportation systems; planning, design, construction and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; and state associations and departments of transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical public transportation services and products. APTA members serve more than 90 percent of persons using public transportation in the United States and Canada.

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20-year transportation plan price tag: $1.2 billion
by Jane Larson
Jun. 3, 2008 06:32 AM
The Arizona Republic

Bus riders and motorists in central Scottsdale and the Scottsdale Airpark would be the first to see the tangible results of Scottsdale's Transportation Master Plan.

But the city still has to figure out where more than half the money would come from and exactly when to start implementing the master plan.

A rising economy that would boost sales tax revenue, falling prices for construction projects, or a combination of the two also would play into the budget and timing.

"Our program is set and ready to go," said Dave Meinhart, transit and transportation planning director. "If there is no new funding, we're looking at five years until we can advance it."

The 20-year master plan, approved by the City Council in January, produced a long list of improvements to Scottsdale streets, transit, traffic programs and bicycle/pedestrian facilities. Planners and the city Transportation Commission then prioritized projects according to how well they met goals, such as giving residents a choice of transportation modes and improving safety, principal transportation planner Teresa Huish said.

"We're going to build a system so people can choose to drive, ride a bus or bike," Huish said. "It's nice to have options."

The master plan first calls for improvements to local and express bus service. Local buses would run more frequently on McDowell Road and other major east-west routes between 44th Street and Scottsdale Road.

Express buses would add more trips to downtown Phoenix and a new route to the Scottsdale Airpark.

Frequency is important because people are more likely to ride a bus if they don't have to worry about missing one bus and waiting long stretches until the next one, Huish said.

Some bus routes also would get extended hours. The Camelback Road, Granite Reef Road and Shea Boulevard routes, which now make their last stops in Scottsdale between about 7:30 and 9 p.m., are targeted to better serve night-class students at Scottsdale Community College and night-shift workers along the routes.

In the streets category, planning and design for half-a-dozen top projects in central Scottsdale and the Scottsdale Airpark would begin the same year that the improved bus service does. Construction on the top street projects would start the following year.

Top street improvements

Street projects are specific, one-time items designed to make traffic flow faster, Huish said. The top-priority projects would make improvements to Hayden Road between Chaparral and Camelback roads; Highland Avenue near Scottsdale Fashion Square; and roads into and around the Scottsdale Airpark.

A third category, bike/pedestrian/streetscape projects, would install landscaping, sidewalks and street furniture to encourage walking and to maximize shade along the streets.

"We get more capacity by making the streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians and making some intersection improvements," Huish said. "It pretty much covers all the modes."

A fourth category, street/traffic programs, covers ongoing efforts on streets citywide. These programs improve signal timing and add turn arrows and other features that make traffic flow more smoothly, Huish said.

The Transportation Commission approved the priorities this spring as a first step in implementing the 20-year plan. The projects are separate from the city's five-year capital improvement plan, which is financing the current construction on Indian School Road, Indian Bend Road and streets in other parts of town.

$1.2 billion total price tag

Completing all the master plan's projects would cost $1.2 billion in 2007 dollars, consulting firm HDR Engineering Inc. estimated. But HDR projected that Scottsdale's current mix of transportation funding from city and regional sales taxes, bonds and grants would pay for barely half that, leaving a shortfall of some $643 million.

The regional funding in place includes more than $60 million in Proposition 400 money that can be reallocated from plans for a tunnel under Scottsdale Airport. The master plan dumped the tunnel idea as too expensive a fix for the problem of east-west travel in the Airpark.

HDR and city transportation staffers say Scottsdale has two options if it wants to complete all the master plan projects. Raising the share of city sales tax devoted to transportation, to 0.5 percent from the current 0.2 percent, starting in fiscal 2010 would bring in some $648 million. The other alternative, a series of bond elections beginning in fiscal 2010, could raise $645 million.

The wild card is a statewide transportation tax being proposed by the business coalition Transportation and Infrastructure Moving AZ's Economy. Scottsdale transportation officials say they are waiting to see whether the tax initiative makes the November ballot.

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Cities work to improve transit between Chandler, Tempe
by Edythe Jensen
Jun. 3, 2008 01:07 PM
The Arizona Republic

Taking the bus between Chandler and Tempe could get easier in a few weeks.

Chandler's latest move to improve mass transit would extend Tempe's Route 65 south to the Chandler Aquatic Center near Pecos Road. The route on Kyrene Road and Mill Avenue serves Arizona State University and downtown Tempe; it currently ends at Warner Road.

If it's approved by the City Council, the expanded route will start in July, said Mike Normand, the city's transportation services manager.

The move comes ahead of a decision whether to extend light rail from Tempe into Chandler around the same north-south corridor.

According to a transportation study released earlier this year, more than 60,000 people travel between central Chandler and Tempe every day for school, business, shopping or dining. Normand said the numbers were higher than he expected and reason to consider more immediate transportation options.

With new commercial centers under construction in west Chandler along Kyrene Road, demand for mass transit between the cities will increase, he said.

Route 72 on Rural Road and Route 81 on Dobson Road and McClintock Drive are currently the only Chandler-to-Tempe bus options.

Chandler also is in early talks with representatives of the Gila River Indian Community to extend Route 65 about a mile farther south to the new Lone Butte Casino under construction on Kyrene Road south of the Santan Freeway, Normand said.

The casino is scheduled to open before the end of the year. Valley Metro spokeswoman Susan Tierney said three bus routes go into the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Reservation near Scottsdale but this would be the first to cross into the Gila River Indian Community.

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High gas prices lead to leaps in mass-transit use across U.S.
Some systems struggle to deal with surge of riders
By SARAH KARUSH
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
6.4.2008
Tribune

It’s standing room only on many commuter buses from Washington’s suburbs. Rail systems from Boston to Los Angeles are begging passengers to shift their travel to nonpeak hours. And some seats have been removed from San Francisco’s subway cars to allow more people to cram in.

Around the country, high gas prices are pushing more people to leave their cars at home and crowd onto trains, buses and subways. And while that’s usually good news for transit agencies, some are struggling to accommodate new riders at a time when tight budgets are making local and state governments reluctant to put more money toward public transportation.

“I began last month taking the public bus to work because of the gas prices,” said Tammy Vega of Austin, Texas, who also takes mass transit when she is on business trips. “Whether I’m in town or out of town, public transportation is going to be the way to go for now.”

In the first three months of 2008, 2.6 billion trips were taken on public transportation in the U.S., a 3 percent increase over the first quarter of 2007, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

Among the cities registering big increases in the first quarter were Baltimore, where light-rail ridership was up 17 percent from the same period a year ago; Seattle, which saw a 28 percent jump in commuter-rail passengers; Boston, where subway ridership rose 9 percent; and San Antonio, where the number of bus riders climbed 11 percent.

Meanwhile, the number of miles driven on American roads fell slightly last year — from 3.014 trillion to 3.003 trillion, according to the Federal Highway Administration. It was the first time since 1980 that the figure had not increased. The drop has continued this year. “We were always clearly a bargain, but we’re becoming even more starkly, clearly the wise economic choice,” said Daniel Grabauskas, general manager of Boston’s Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

Many big transit systems already have expansion plans that were in the works long before the run-up in gas prices. In New York City, for example, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is in the middle of a $21.2 billion capital program that includes the biggest subway expansion since the system was completed in the early 1940s.

In Washington, Metro has been receiving additional subway cars, ordered long ago. The new cars have enabled the subway to lengthen many of its rush-hour trains from six to eight cars — the longest that will fit in the stations.

But the agency is also working on contingency plans prompted by high gas prices. Among the ideas: having certain lanes declared “bus only” on an emergency basis, and encouraging employers to stagger workers’ schedules to ease rush-hour crowding. Similarly, Boston’s transit agency and Southern California’s Metrolink commuter-rail system are urging people to spread out their commutes.

Metrolink plans to add 107 rail cars to its fleet of 155, but it will take at least a year for the order to arrive, spokeswoman Denise Tyrell said. The agency has been leasing cars from other transit agencies, including those in Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area.

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