Tucson, AZ

Rail Transit Online, July 2004

The promoter of two light rail proposals that were decisively defeated by voters in May 2002 and November 2003 has come up with a alternative rail plan calling for building a less expensive, modern streetcar system that would be limited to those parts of town that supported LRT.  Steve Farley’s newest plan would focus on the central city, where up to 70 percent of the electorate favored light rail.  But overwhelming opposition from the East Side caused the ballot measures to fail. The streetcar network would run from Tucson Mall to the University of Arizona and downtown.  If successful, it could be expanded to other neighborhoods, but only after residents there showed support for the concept.  Farley proposes using modern, air-conditioned cars similar to those operating in Portland and Tacoma.  He is also trying to address concerns of residents and home builders who oppose a new city-wide tax for transportation and of utility companies who don’t want to pay for relocation of their sub-surface lines.  Farley says only those to be served by the streetcars would be taxed and no utility relocation would be required because the lightweight rolling stock would not require deep track foundations.  “It's the strategy of neutralizing the opposition, and so far it is working really well,” Farley told the Tucson Citizen.  “Now that there is not an election facing them, a lot of people look at us in a lot less threatening way.”  Farley says a local congressman has included a $75-million “placeholder” in the federal transportation bill that could be used to help finance the midtown streetcar.