New Rail Transit Push In Phoenix - Phoenix, Arizona - Brief Article

Railway Age, Oct, 1999

Two years ago Phoenix, Ariz., voters rejected a proposed transit tax by 122 votes out of 110,000 cast. The one-tenth-of-one percent margin of defeat left transit proponents chagrined but not crying uncle, and it now seems probable that a proposal for an 0.4% sales tax increase to fund a new rail system and an expanded bus system will be sought at the polls in March 2000.

Such a tax would raise about $80 million a year, 20% less than the increase turned down in 1997. According to The Arizona Republican, "Phoenix's transit tax is crucial to the completion of a Valleywide light rail system." Nearly 11 miles of the proposed 17-mile line would run through the city. Federal funds received so far have been limited to planning and preliminary engineering.