Tucson’s modern streetcar - now we get to the pesky details
WAKE UP, TUCSON: Does it make sense?
By Joe Higgins, Inside Tucson Business, or Chris DeSimone, Inside Tucson Business
Published on Friday, February 26, 2010

 We can hear it now, “Why do those Wake Up guys have to bang on the streetcar?” Don’t they have anything better to do than bum us out about this “high point” in Tucson’s economic development soap opera?

Does light rail make sense when Tucson lacks a crosstown freeway, our streets are so bad Joe almost lost his car in a pothole, and freight trains routinely botch up rush hour traffic along the east side of Interstate 10?

Spending $144 million — $38 million per mile — to build rail tracks on roads that nearly empty Sun Tran buses now travel makes complete sense to us — in fantasyland! Print this story

 
Our electeds love to work with the broad brushstroke. That’s good for campaign pamphlets, but the pesky details about this modern streetcar/light rail worry us.

 It’ll spur private investment

Portland, Ore., is the land of light rail. They’ve been modernizing their light rail system since 1986. After 10 years, Portland’s then-City Commissioner Charles Hales noted the many vacant sites along its light rail system and said, “It’s a myth to think the market will take care of development along transit corridors.”

Ten years and a career change later, in 2006 Hales, now a development consultant to HDR Engineering, the company that helped sell Tucson on light rail, was quoted saying “The $55 million streetcar line has sparked more than $1.5 billion (and growing) in new development.”

What the ex-commissioner, now light rail promoter, failed to mention is to-date, Portland’s governmental subsidies have exceeded $1.5 billion.

 It’ll spur housing

Is light rail really the impetus to finally get student housing built downtown? For the last decade, the University of Arizona has suffered from a housing shortage and downtown needed the development.

Downtown has the Ronstadt Transit Center and lots of Sun Tran buses to take students to campus.

The lack of student housing downtown has more to do with developers not wanting to get tangled up in the city’s and Rio Nuevo’s insider deals, development services, payoffs for pet projects, bureaucracy, and more.

Having a streetcar without major reform in the downtown redevelopment process leaves us in the same swamp of stagnation.

Ongoing expenses

Once the light rail is built it’s going to take money to keep it running. Fares are planned to be somewhere between $1 and $2 per ride. The actual cost will be something else.

The scariest example comes from Beaverton, Ore., where the TriMet system has an average cost of $33 per rider but collects just $1.15 per person in fares. (read about Oregons experience HERE)

Construction isn’t cheap

The “Happy Gilmore” check in federal stimulus money our esteemed electeds now hold represents $63 million of a total $144 million project. Tucson Transportation Director Jim Glock was quoted saying it will more than likely come in under budget. God bless him in his optimism.

Call us skeptical, but after a 50 percent cost overrun on the $46 million Fourth Avenue Underpass and the $820,000 that was spent on a 15-minute movie about Rio Nuevo, our confidence in the cost projection is a little low.

The Federal Transit Administration studied 21 rail projects and found they had an average 40 percent cost overrun on construction. That’s only an extra $56 million in Tucson’s case. Maybe the mayor can find that amount under the cushions of his couch. (Read the US Dept of Transportation report HERE)

Why not celebrate?

Lastly, we’ve heard: “How can you guys knock Tucson winning a $63 million federal grant, who would be against something so wonderful?” Our simple response is these tax dollars are your tax dollars. The working family in Oakland, Calif., the single mom in Lincoln, Neb., and the cab driver in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., are all contributing to a city in Arizona that’s getting $63 million of their hard-earned tax dollars. For what? To build a four-mile rail system that will shuttle college students to and from school.

Other’s excitement and Tucson’s excitement over winning the money may not match up.

 We hope we are wrong regarding Tucson’s venture into the world of light rail. We hope ridership is through the roof and businesses spring up along the route. We hope the project comes in under budget. We hope light rail is the spark downtown needs to get going.

Our history, research and past experience with projects run by the City of Tucson just isn’t encouraging.

Contact Joe Higgins at joe@joehigginsinc.com or Chris DeSimone at provenpartners@comcast.net. They’re the hosts of “Wake Up Tucson,” which airs 6-8 a.m. weekdays on The Voice KVOI 1030-AM. Check out their blog at www.TucsonChoices.com.

Copyright © 2010 Inside Tucson Business

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