Arizona Rail Passenger Association

December

• [A new freeway creates more traffic woes than it solves] “because it makes everybody drive more. If freeways solved transportation problems, Los Angeles would be heaven.” — Paul Basha, Scottsdale’s traffic engineering director, in The Arizona Republic, 24 December 1999, page B2.
• TEXAS — “Light rail’s effect on traffic disputed; DART system’s costs, benefits weighed” Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 December 1999. QUOTES: “DART’s 3-year-old light-rail system has beckoned many people. About 40,000 people ride the trains daily, 6,000 more than officials had projected for 1999. Trinity Railway Express, the diesel-powered trains that run from south Irving to downtown Dallas, expanded ahead of schedule to off-peak hours and Saturday service and now serves 2,400 daily riders… [O]n the rebuilt North Central Expressway… approximately one in five people now use trains instead of cars during peak travel periods…”
• “Privatization of Amtrak could help put railroad on right track” by Jon Pepper, The Detroit News, 19 December 1999. Donald Grinter, chairman of ABC-NACO Inc., a $700 million railroad supply company, says Americans ought to get on board for privatization of the passenger rail industry.
• “Wider freeway in Tempe canceled” The Arizona Republic, 18 December 1999, page A1. QUOTE: “The state Department of Transportation has called off plans to widen the Superstition Freeway to up to 12 lanes through Tempe.” See: ARPA’s proposed Arizona Rail system
• “Value of light rail” Letter, Ann E. Ralles, The Arizona Republic, 18 December 1999, page B9. QUOTE: “In transit, as in biology, there is strength in diversity. Investing in rail, buses, pedestrian and bicycle modes create[s] a multiplier effect to reduce congestion at peak travel times.”
• “Phoenix sets transit vote for March [2000]” The Arizona Republic, 15 December 1999, page B1. QUOTE: “Among other things, the transit [0.4 percent sales] tax would allow Phoenix to establish bus service on all major streets… run the buses 19 hours a day vs. the current dawn-to-dusk operation of much of the current sytem; expand express-bus service; introduce neighborhood circulator buses in the Ahwatukee area; and build a 17-mile [light] rail line from the airport into downtown and up to Chris-Town mall by 2006.”
• UTAH — Salt Lake City. “Win One, Lose One” December news from InterRail. East/West light rail to be built after all; Construction at UP station may doom it as intermodal terminal, taking the commuter rail project with it; TRAX light rail is standing room only.
• UTAH — Salt Lake City. “Hordes Are Gone, But TRAX Is Still Full ” The Salt Lake Tribune, 7 December 1999. Salt Lake’s TRAX light rail system is a big success.

November

• “Supervisors approve moving new morgue,” The Arizona Republic, 30 November 1999, page B3. County supervisors have agreed to move the new Phoenix morgue to 7th Avenue and Jefferson, out of the Jackson Street Arts and Entertainment district, and away from the Union Station area. The Santa Fe freight house will be restored.
• “Free bus rides for Tempe students urged,” The Arizona Republic, 23 November 1999, page EV7. High school students in Tempe could soon be riding city buses instead of yellow school buses. The Tempe Union School District wants to eliminate many of its school buses as the city increases service on “Valley Metro” city routes to every fifteen minutes. School administrators are embracing the plan. Tempe Councilman Hugh Hallman says, “If we get a bunch of kids riding the buses, it will be more than enough payoff for the community.”
• “Transit panel submits ideas” The Arizona Republic, 19 November 1999, page A1. Summary: Phoenix does not have a source of money dedicated to transit, unlike most major cities and many medium-size cities. Without a transit tax, or some other source of funding, the current lackluster bus system cannot expand and the region’s hopes of tying down federal money for light-rail construction will evaporate. “Everybody has different ideas on what transit needs to be,” City Councilwoman Peggy Bilsten told the 27-member citizen transit committee. “But we all agree that what we have today is not good.” Without some compromise, transit will remain stuck in low gear, she said.
• “Light rail column’s facts didn’t track” by Neil E. Manske, The Arizona Republic, 17 November 1999, page 3EV. Mr. Manske rebuts the suggestion that autos should be our only transportation alternative. QUOTE: “The Semmens ‘Do Nothing Plan’ is short-sighted and irresponsible. It’s what you can expect from those who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

October

• “3 days, 29 resolutions” Daily News-Sun, 22 October 1999, page A3. QUOTES: “Arizona’s Silver Haired Legislature has wrapped up its inaugural session… Five resolutions will be forwarded to the regular Legislature, which could use them to formulate policy… The most populare of these resolutions, said Mary Lynn Kasunic, executive director of the Area Agency on Aging, is the establishment of an Arizona Rail Authority. Bob Hart, of Peoria… said an overarching agency is needed to make commuter rail a reality…”
• “Tirade against light rail sans alternatives” by Steve Corman, The Arizona Republic, 22 October 1999, page 4EV. QUOTE: “…perennial naysayer John Semmens is at it again… Mr. Semmens and other perennial transit opponents unleash blizzards of supposedly good alternatives to public transit every time an election is near. Then once they have prevailed in an election, they do nothing…”
• “Light rail is not the answer for Valley” by John Semmens, The Arizona Republic, 19 October 1999, page 6EV.
• “Who is crafting transit ballot? Light-rail supporters control panel, critics say.” Arizona Republic, 5 October 1999, page B1.

September

• “Transit tax vote looming Phoenix plan based on 0.4% increase” by Mary Jo Pitzl, The Arizona Republic 17 September 1999 , page A1.
• “Freeways not answer, but mass transit is” Editorial, by Neil G. Giuliano (Mayor of Tempe), The Arizona Republic 14 September 1999, page 4EV. QUOTE: “On the East Coast, for example, anyone who lives on Connecticut and works in Manhattan almost automatically commutes by train. It’s a given. Those who live in the far East Valley must begin to develop a similar mind-set.”
• Light-rail leads alternatives; Far-out ideas for rapid transit gain little support in Valley The Arizona Republic 13 September 1999, page A1. Explanation of the light rail proposal and its alternatives.

August

• New jail: Anyplace but… south of Jackson” The Arizona Republic 22 Aug 1999, page B8. Plans to raze most of the historic Warehouse District including the Santa Fe Freight Depot are criticized. Would severely negatively impact possibilities for reuse of Phoenix Union Station.
• “Reports: Can Amtrak be near end of the line?” by Ben White, The Washington Post, 8 August 1999. QUOTE: “Amtrak is enjoying a slightly better than expected 1999 but still faces serious obstacles to becoming financially self-sufficient by 2003, as required by law, two recent government reports conclude.”

July

• “200-mph passenger train linking L.A. and San Francisco proposed” Tucson’s Arizona Daily Star, 11 July 1999. QUOTE: “The staff of the California High-Speed Rail Authority has recommended that a proposed San Francisco to Los Angeles passenger train system that could zip up to 200 mph make stops in or near San Jose, Merced, Fresno, Bakersfield and Santa Clarita.”
• McCains shaken in train wreck: ‘Couple of bumps’ for senator’s wife, son By Bill Muller The Arizona Republic 9 July, 1999. QUOTE: “The wife and 13-year-old son of Sen. John McCain were “doing fine” after crawling out of a toppled Amtrak train following a derailment near Houston, the senator said Thursday.”
• Amtrak train hits truck, derails west of Houston CNN, 8 July 1999. QUOTE: “EAGLE LAKE, Texas (AP) — An Amtrak train carrying 235 passengers struck a truck Thursday, derailing nine cars and injuring 18 people. “
• Train crossings no place to race San Antonio Express-News . QUOTE: ” In 1934, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled trains always have the right of way over cars and trucks. Ever since, Texas drivers have been among the worst violators of this decision, trying to beat oncoming trains by racing across tracks or darting around railroad gates. “

June

• TUCSON: “Council OKs plan to refurbish Union Pacific train depot” Arizona Daily Star 29 June 1999. QUOTE: “The City Council yesterday approved a 12-year, $26 million plan to refurbish the Union Pacific train depot. But rather than choose between the depot’s original 1907 version or the expanded 1941 configuration, the council unanimously agreed to build something that looks like the original but is as big as the existing structure… The council train depot plan will require tearing down portions of the building, making the project more of a historic re-creation than a restoration.” At least one station track will be reactivated.
• “$26M plan to fix train depot area is before council ” [Tucson] Arizona Daily Star 28 June 1999. QUOTE: “City officials today will unveil an ambitious, 12-year, $26 million plan to refurbish the northeast corner of downtown around the Union Pacific depot.”
• “No jive for Jackson St.: City, county need to put more thought into area’s future” Editorial, The Arizona Republic, 20 June 1999, page B10. QUOTE: “County officials need to quit prefacing every statement with ‘the new jail cannot be moved’ …and city officials need to make concrete suggestions about what the county ought to do differently.”
• “Downtown jail can’t be moved” by Mary Rose Wilcox, The Arizona Republic, 18 June 1999, page B10. QUOTE: “Last Friday, I made the announcement that the county will not destroy the old freight depot at 501 W. Jackson St. The Phoenix Historic Commission will now look at the building and possibly add it to the historic register. …I also announced that the morgue would no longer be in the parking structure. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. My support for moving it disappeared…”
• “Whither Warehouse?” Phoenix New Times, 17 June 1999. “The county’s new downtown jail would destroy valuable pieces of Phoenix’s past.”
• “Wilcox overstates generosity: Offer to change jail plans needs to be scrutinized” The Arizona Republic, 15 June 1999, page B6. QUOTE: “While it is gratifying to see Maricopa County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox extending her hand in cooperation with the city of Phoenix to help preserve downtown’s Jackson Street, by no means is this deal done…” Plans for a parking garage and morgue on the Santa Fe Freight House site, say county officials, are not yet off the table.
• “Downtown rally draws a crowd — and county assurances” The Arizona Republic 14 June 1999, page B3. QUOTES: “On June 4, the Citizens Committee to Save Jackson Street staged a rally to blast Maricopa County’s plans to build a jail and other facilites in downtown Phoenix… Maricopa County officials… say there are no plans to demolish the Union Station, as some fear… [County Supervisor Mary Rose] Wilcox says the county could actually ‘ jump start’ redevelopment” of the area.
• “Qwest making hostile run at US West” The Arizona Republic 14 June 1999, page A1. QUOTES: “Qwest Communications International Inc… said Sunday that it was making a hostile $55 billion bid to acquire US West Inc… Qwest is controlled by Philip Anschutz, the reclusive Denver tycoon, and emerged from Anschutz’s takeover of the Southern Pacific railroad in 1988. Qwest has used rights-of-way from the railroad and others to build an advanced nationwide fiber-optic communications network.
• “Amtrak links Fort Worth, Oklahoma City” Austin American-Statesman 14 June 1999. see also:
  • News Capsule and Photo in Tucson’s The Arizona Daily Star
  • Oklahoma’s Heartland Flyer to commence — details at the Oklahoma Passenger Rail Association and the Texas Eagle site
• “Planners look beyond freeways. Next phase: Outer loop or mass transit?” by Mary Jo Pitzl, The Arizona Republic 13 June 1999.
• “County revamps jail plans; Compromise still gets cool reception” by Pat Kossan, The Arizona Republic, 12 June 1999. QUOTE: “Maricopa County is tempering its plans for a downtown Phoenix jail complex, bowing to the city’s demands to save Jackson Street’s old buildings and its potential as an arts and cultural center. The county’s new proposal, which has yet to be approved by the Board of Supervisors, keeps the jail and a six-level parking garage on the drawing board. But the morgue will move, and an old railroad depot [the Santa Fe Freight House] will be restored instead of torn down…”
• “Save Downtown’s History: Area plans would benefit from county-city cooperation” Editorial, The Arizona Republic 10 June 1999, page B6. Maricopa County has proposed razing the Santa Fe Freight House just northwest of Union Station to erect a 2000 car parking garage and a morgue. QUOTE: “The Phoenix and Maricopa County governments need to take seriously the recommendations of the newly formed Jackson Street Advisory Committee… every dusty old pile of bricks knocked down for a jail or morgue or a parking structure is a load of life extracted from Phoenix’s future.”
• Senator Don Nickles’ Press Release: Oklahoma Train named Heartland Flyer. 8 June 1999.
• “Crowd seeks return of Amtrak service: Congressmen discuss task force to explore route between Boise, Portland” Spokane Spokesman-Review, 5 June 1999. QUOTE: “More than 100 people, many coming from Ontario, Ore., voiced support for an Amtrak route from Boise to Portland during a meeting to gauge public backing for the proposed route.”

May

• “Trashing Rail Transit: The Dismal Science is at it again” by William C. Vantuono, Railway Age, May 1999. QUOTE: “Replacing rail with buses may be ‘sound economics’ but it’s a lousy way to get to work.”
• “Myriad ideas on transit, roads offered” by Keith Bagwell The Arizona Daily Star, 31 May 1999. QUOTES: “Some Tucson residents made one thing clear to Gov. Jane Hull’s transportation task force: They want more state money…” and quotes from Anthony Haswell, Robert Lindley Jr., and Gene Caywood.
• “Light-rail transit advocates remain on track” by Gregor McGavin, The Arizona Republic 30 May 1999, page 1EV.
• “Regional Mass Transit drained by new law” by Art Thomason, The Arizona Republic 23 May 1999, page 1EV.
• “Chandler train museum to get federal aid” The Arizona Republic 22 May 1999.
• “Where is vision to create transit plan?” Editorial, The Arizona Republic 20 May 1999, page 6EV. QUOTES: “The piecemeal approach [to public transportation], in which cities try to create their own destiny, isn’t working… There was an agreement among supporters and opponents of the Chandler transit tax that the Valley suffered for lack of leadership in pursuing a regional solution to a regional problem. On this common ground should arise a movement to move the mass transit debate along in broader terms and with more horsepower.”
• “Big bucks talk, but not in Mesa” Opinion, Phil Boas, The Arizona Republic 20 May 1999, page 6EV. QUOTES: “As for the Chandler transportation election, I thought the greatest weakness of the plan… was its image. This looked and felt like a strategy cobbled together by committee. And indeed it was. The larger message of this vote is that all pretenses of building a regional transit plan city by city are dead. Scottsdale, Phoenix, and now Chandler have all tried to do it piecemeal and failed. The only solution is a regional solution.”
• “Rush-hour relief for Chandler? Not now; vote bad omen for regional transit” by Janie Magruder, The Arizona Republic 20 May 1999. QUOTES: “The constant rush-hour stream of motorists at Dobson and Elliot roads in Chandler isn’t about to let up, and local buses will continue to be catch as catch can. Voters on Tuesday defeated a proposed city sales tax increase that would have paid for more buses, Dial-a-Ride vans, wider major intersections, bicycle lanes and other improvements. The plan, which would have raised $122 million over 10 years, got thumped in all but one of the city’s 19 precincts, 58 percent to 42 percent overall. ‘It’s obviously not a positive step, coupled with the Legislature’s actions a couple of weeks ago where they said there cannot be a regional (transit) vote,’ said Mayor Jay Tibshraeny. ‘It’s a challenge that we need to take a look at.’”
• “Chandler puts brakes on transit tax” by Janie Magruder, The Arizona Republic 19 May 1999. QUOTES: “Chandler on Tuesday night became the third Valley city in 20 months to put the brakes on a tax increase for transit… The Chandler vote leaves Tempe, the only Valley city with a dedicated transit tax, out in the cold. Other cities and supporters of a regional transportation system were watching the Chandler vote carefully. The proposal’s defeat had less to do with buses and more to do with an anti-tax backlash, said Mike Perry, head of the Chandler Citizens Committee which advanced it onto the ballot.”
• “Chandler puts brakes on transit tax” by Janie Magruder, The Arizona Republic 19 May 1999. QUOTES: “Chandler on Tuesday night became the third Valley city in 20 months to put the brakes on a tax increase for transit… The Chandler vote leaves Tempe, the only Valley city with a dedicated transit tax, out in the cold. Other cities and supporters of a regional transportation system were watching the Chandler vote carefully. The proposal’s defeat had less to do with buses and more to do with an anti-tax backlash, said Mike Perry, head of the Chandler Citizens Committee which advanced it onto the ballot.”
• “Amended bill angers council: Would end city’s hope for a light rail system” The Arizona Republic, 4 May 1999, Mesa section, page 1EV. QUOTE: “…the Mesa City Council is mighty upset with the state Legislature for pulling the plug on its plans for a light rail system. The council … fired off a resolution Monday protesting a last-minute amendment to [SB 1201] that kills any regional authority to extend a sales tax for freeways and mass transit beyond 2005… Council members believe the amendment was aimed at hurting the Maricopa Association of Governments but could end up inadvertently dooming the RPTA [Regional Public Transit Authority], instead.”
• “Vision of future: More roadwork, more bottlenecks” by Kathy Finberg, The Arizona Republic, 4 May 1999, Mesa section, page 6EV. The MAG 20-year plan has “a tripling of bus transit and 39 miles of trolley [light rail] tracks. But [the] real focus over those two decades is an 89 percent increase in the miles of expressways and freeways in the Valley.” She says to MAG, “Your long-term vision is shortsighted, too. Recent Valley history tells us that the more roadways we build, the more development spreads, the more vehicles jam the roads, and we more we end up with the same old traffic problems.”
• “Mass transit can work, if you believe” by Art Thomason, The Arizona Republic, 4 May 1999. QUOTES: “I’m not ready to give up. Mass transit is hopeless if we keep convincing ourselves that it is. Purposeless until we realize that mass transit is a staple of urban life. That it is like police and fire protection, garbage collection and clean water. All of the things that our cities are not making money off of. Useless until we understand that we and our cities have to take the lead and establish local mass transit systems in the absence of effective, comprehensive transit planning at the regional and state levels of government.”

April

• “Chandler transit cost projections stir debate” by Janie Magruder, The Arizona Republic 28 April 1999. QUOTE: “Based on ridership in Tempe and Mesa, RPTA estimates 290,200 local bus service boardings would occur in 1999, while 10,200 Dial-a-Ride boardings are anticipated next year.”
• Mass transit is answer, not wider U.S. 60″ by Art Thomason, The Arizona Republic, 27 April 1999. QUOTE: “I’m betting that many sole commuters would eventually grow weary of lonely trips and climb aboard buses and trains if a reliable, “round-the-clock transit system” were in place.”
• “Truth about Semmens, his negative campaign” Opinion by Mike Perry, The Arizona Republic, 25 April 1999, page 6EV. QUOTE: “For the past several months, John Semmens has mounted a misleading and distorted political campaign against Question 1 in Chandler [which] is the plan to make our streets safer, reduce congestion and provide more transportation alternatives, including a full time bus and Dial-a-Ride system.”
• “New transit tax a bad product at a bad price” Opinion by John Semmens, The Arizona Republic, 25 April 1999, page 6EV. Semmens says 90 percent of bus seats are empty, but ignores the fact that most buses are crammed during rush hour.
• “Grand Canyon digs in for Mass Transit” The Arizona Republic, 24 April 1999, page B1.
• “Grand Canyon to kick cars out: Park starts building staging area for transit” Deseret News, 24 April 1999. QUOTE: “[O]n Friday, Grand Canyon National Park took the first step toward eliminating most of the 1.5 million cars and commercial buses that annually snake along the park’s aging roadways when ground was broken on the $17 million Canyon View Information Plaza.”
• “Groundbreaking set for Canyon visitors center” by Peter Corbett, The Arizona Republic, 22 April 1999. This will be “one of the first steps toward reducing traffic in the park and turning the park into a place where visitors can see canyon vistas from walking and biking trails and use light-rail trains and alternative fuel buses to get from one scenic overlook to the next.”
• “Regional mass transit on shaky ground: Amended bill would knock out sales tax election” by Mike McCloy, The Arizona Republic, 23 April 1999. QUOTE: “Lawmakers are on the verge of pulling the plug on plans for a rail-transit system in Maricopa County.”
• “Kyl supporting $3 million request for light-rail planning in Valley” The Arizona Republic, 12 April 1999, page B1. Senator Kyl will support a $3 million request to continue planning for light rail. The system will eventually run from Mesa to Glendale. Sen. Kyl and Rep. Pastor are also supporting between $12 and $17 million for bus projects.
• “Light rail is sensible way for mass transit to go” Editorial, Kathy Finberg, The Arizona Republic, Mesa section, 6 April 1999, page 6EV.
• “Amtrak’s vision: Today, the Northeast. Tomorrow, America” By William C. Vantuono, Railway Age, April 1999.

[A new freeway creates more traffic woes than it solves] “because it makes everybody drive more. If freeways solved transportation problems, Los Angeles would be heaven.” — Paul Basha, Scottsdale’s traffic engineering director, in The Arizona Republic, 24 December 1999, page B2.

Speaking of Dallas, here is their Summer, 1999 ridership report:

Total ridership for FY 98 was 85.7 million, a 15.8 million (28%) increase over FY 97 and 37.2 million (76.6%) increase over FY96.

Bus ridership during the second quarter of FY99 was 11.6 million–a 6.7% gain over the second quarter of FY98.

The increasing accessibility of DART’s fixed route services is helping to reduce demand for more costly paratransit curb-to-curb service. During the second quarter of FY99, paratransit passenger trips decreased nearly 13.7% compared to the second quarter of FY98.

Light rail ridership during the second quarter of FY99 was 2.8 million – up 8.3% over the first quarter of FY98; total light rail ridership for FY98 was 11 million – a 37% increase over FY 97.

Commuter rail ridership on the Trinity Railway Express during the second quarter of FY99 was 143,000 – up 26.2% over the first quarter of FY98. Total commuter rail ridership for FY98 was 503,000 – up 162% percent over FY97. Don’t forget, the Dallas commuter rail system has ONLY THREE STATIONS.

San Francisco Bay: The Altamont Commuter Express is carrying in excess of 1,000 passengers daily as of September 8, when it hit 1077. ACE reports 79% of their passengers previously drove alone in their cars, meaning “there were 850 fewer cars on the highway” that morning, relieving the congested I-580. A celebration is planned for October 16 marking ACE’s first year of “overwhelming success,” which will start in Stockton at 5:00AM, and at 12:00 Noon at the newly rebuilt Centerville station.

Los Angeles Metrolink has ordered 28 new bilevel cars from Bombardier. A $47 million contract was announced October 5 detailing this order, which is for all coaches, but no cab cars. These new cars will be used to expand capacity on existing trains, not to add new service. Bill Davis, Metrolink Board Chairman and Simi Valley Mayor, said, “We are literally running out of seats on some routes during the rush hour.” Deliveries, however, are not scheduled to begin until January, 2001, and will be spread out over five months. Metrolink is now carrying 28,000 average daily riders on its 130 trains serving 46 stations over its 416-mile network.

The new SOUNDER commuter rail service in between Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, according to the South County Journal, will commence on September 18th next year. Initially there will be three trains every weekday, with up to eighteen daily trips introduced over the next several years. Sound Transit has been working with BNSF to finish $250 million in track and signal upgrades, but the work has taken longer than expected; service was formerly expected to begin late this year. The September 18th date was chosen to coincide with the fall bus schedule change.

This year’s Rail-Volution was held in Dallas. A few observations:

• Amtrak’s infamous “Market Based Study” may not ever be fully released to the general public. Instead, it “might” come out in piece-meal form, with the information contained in various business plans, over time. The first portion of the so-called “Study” will most likely be seen in November, and that will probably be nothing more than a basic overview of where Amtrak is right now (in Trouble) and where they would like to go (someplace other than Trouble)…
• The “Study” will not contain any specific recommendations for additional routes to be added to Amtrak’s basic system! It may contain (eventually, but not at first) some examples of system expansion that would be possible with (and only with) State assistance (but most likely not including the price tag)…
• Conversely, there are no specific routes set aside for immediate elimination, either (that was the “good news”). The “Marketing Study” will most likely concentrate on train specifics (by spring 2000?) reviewing, for example, the presence of Dining Cars on one train and Lounge cars on another.
• All of Amtrak’s energy will be focused on Corridor Plans. If any geographical area expects expanded service, they need to be prepared to pay. PERIOD.
• There are apparently no plans for additional “non-high speed” equipment orders. Long Distance trains are seen by most Am-officials as nothing more than useless drains on the system, hopeless for anything except (insert the “L” word) travel. If you ever want to watch someone’s eyes glaze over (it can be fairly entertaining, in a macabre sort of way), mention something like the potential use of long-haul trains for overnight business transportation to a Management-level Amtrak employee.

– Garl Latham

We owe a debt of gratitude to Bob Hart, a longtime active ARPA member, for his role in the inaugural session of the Silver Hair Legislature, a group which hopes to influence action in the State House. Under Bob’s guidance, the Silver Hair Legislature adopted a resolution that the Governor’s Office should, as its first priority, consider the creation of an Arizona Public Transportation Authority. The Transportation Authority Resolution was sent with four other resolutions to the Governor’s office for consideration in next year’s legislative session.

The City of Phoenix is expected to ask for a public vote in support of bus and light rail in March of 2000. The amount of sales tax that is to be asked for the twenty-year initiative has yet to be determined by the City Council. The full Steering Committee’s plan is expected to be unveiled the at the City of Phoenix Council Chambers on the morning of Saturday, 20 November 1999 (10 AM to Noon.)

Also on November 20th will be the Third Annual ARPA Awards Dinner, at Bashas’ Corporate Art Museum in Chandler. Please join in extending our warmest thanks to Eddie Basha for his generous sponsorship and making his unique museum available for this evening of dinner and recognition. Awardees this year will be Jack Tevlin, Phoenix Deputy City Manager; and Max Biegert, C.E.O. of Grand Canyon Railway. We certainly hope to see you there. - Sam Morse