Transportation dollars much better spent on commuter rail December 9th, 2005
Ahwatukee Foothills News, 9 December 2005.
Guest commentary by Joe Debbins
…The real problem (with Interstate Highway 10) is with the morning and evening commuter traffic  that’s when things get ugly, and even eliminating all of the interstate/bypass truck traffic with the proposed SMF (either on Gila River Indian Community land or Pecos Road) does little to change the I-10 rush-hour volume…
Moving people from the southern East Valley to downtown and points north is simply best accomplished with regional light rail. This is the Right Build. Rail offers clean and quiet transport with a minimal environmental footprint. Rail creates permanent jobs. Commuter rail improves neighborhoods and increases property values, and gives our citizens an alternative to the rush-hour nightmare. Light rail will make those neighborhoods that have it very attractive to permanent, professional working residents and continue the revitalization of central/downtown Phoenix. Even those who do not use rail and continue to drive will benefit, as thousands will choose rail instead of driving to and from work.
Commuter rail is where we should spend the bulk of our transportation money going forward, it can be matched by federal dollars, and with a levy on “planned community builders,” to seriously showcase Phoenix as a progressive forward-moving city in the European model, and not a city stuck in the 20th century continuing to allow unchecked growth dependent on the internal combustion engine. We are now at a crossroads: Do we want to be Los Angeles (bad) or Paris (good) when we grow up?
Rest of the story in the Ahwatukee Foothills News
