Weigh in on Bus Rapid Transit

Please, consider filling out the survey or attending one of the in-person meetings to share your thoughts on the project.

The city would like your input on the proposed Bus Rapid Transit route that’d take people from the Tohono T’adai transit center that’s next to Tucson Mall to the Ronstadt Center downtown. There are a couple of different routes under consideration. And yes, there’s yet another survey out to gather your input.

This graphic shows the two routes being considered. One runs up Oracle and the other runs up Stone.

BRT is a high-capacity transit system that will improve travel time even beyond the current bus system. This area was chosen because of its already high ridership, and because there’s a significant level of investment already happening through the Thrive in the ‘05 project. That’s an Oracle Road revitalization effort. BRT will have dedicated bus lanes, high quality wait stations, advanced ticketing and signal priority for the coaches.

Here’s a link for the survey - Comment/take the survey: https://www.tucsonrapidtransit.com/#comment

And if you’d like to attend an in-person meeting to learn more about what’s being proposed, there are these three opportunities coming:

• Tuesday, November 14 (in-person) | 5:30-7:30 p.m. | Donna R. Liggins Recreation Center | 2160 N. 6th Avenue, Main Meeting Room
• Wednesday, November 15 (virtual) | 6-7 p.m. Link: bit.ly/tucson-transit Phone: 1-408-638-0968 Meeting#: 951 9345 0111
• Thursday, November 16 (in-person) | 5:30-7:30 p.m. | Amphitheater High School | 125 W. Yavapai Road, Panther Hall

- BY STEVE KOVACIK

Weigh in on the 5th/6th Street Pedestrian Safety & Walkability

Wednesday, my husband Dan and I attended the 5th/6th Street Pedestrian Safety & Walkability meeting put on by the city's transportation and mobility department. The project is funded by Prop. 407 the parks and connections bond. We were happy to learn that the project would include pedestrian traffic lights and sidewalks enhanced with native plants and trees that will be partially watered with Green Stormwater Infrastructure (streetside rain basins.) 

But while they took neighborhood feedback on what should be done with 5th/6th Street from Campbell to Alvernon Way, the main point of their survey was to get community feedback on lighting the stretch. We learned that street lighting can prevent 40% - 60% of vehicle accidents with pedestrians. 

If you are a frequent traveler on 5th/6th Street, have a child that attends Howell Elementary or live in the neighborhood, you might want to weigh in on this project.

Here is a link to fill out the survey:  

https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/1cf8fffe03f14c739cfea0165b5e9026

https://tucsondelivers.tucsonaz.gov/pages/5th6th

If you are also concerned about potholes, you might be interested in this information that the transportation people also supplied.  

Ward 3 City Council member Kevin Dahl shared, "The easiest way is to use the seeclickfix app you can download from App Store. I noticed it also has Buffelgrass and a lot of other things you might want to report. Or call Department of Transportation 520-791-3154.  We will repair within 3 working days."

https://seeclickfix.com/web_portal/CBuRq6pKYY7iCN8LKnzFG5C7/report/category

TDOTConcerns@tucsonaz.gov

More Information on Parks + Connections:

https://tucsondelivers.tucsonaz.gov/pages/parks-connections

Comment to ACC to Protect Rooftop Solar

On August 24, 2023, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) voted to cut the Resource Comparison Proxy (RCP) for Arizona Public Service (APS), Tucson Electric Power (TEP), and UNS Electric, by 10 percent. The RCP is the mechanism that is used to determine how much the utility will credit you for the solar you produce on your rooftop and send to the grid.

At its October 11th meeting, we are expecting the ACC to vote on whether or not to reopen the Value of Solar decision and ultimately that it will take action to harm efforts to increase accessibility for rooftop solar. They are likely to make other significant changes like eliminating the 10 year lock in for how solar is valued, removing grandfathering for net metering customers – so breaking a contract with those who adopted solar early on, or increasing the permissible annual step down for the RCP, etc. 

All written comments have to be filed to the docket in Docket No. E-00000J-14-0023. We need comments to recommend NOT reopening the docket and for the ACC to keep its word and not break the contracts with those who have and who would like to adopt solar. It’s just not fair! If you can help: 

• Attend the October 11th open meeting at the ACC in Phoenix or, at a minimum, call in and speak against reopening this Value of Solar decision. The meeting starts at 10:00 A.M. Rules for public comment can be found here. Here is the call-in information 
• Dial-in Phone Number: 1-877-309-3457 Passcode: 801972877##
•  NOTE: When requesting to speak, please be prepared to provide the phone attendant your name, company you represent, and the item number in which you are calling about.
• File comments in the docket in opposition to reopening the decision. You can file your comments here. If you don't have an account, you can set one up at that same link.
• Consider submitting a letter-to-the-editor.

If you need help or have any questions, email Sandy Bahr at sandy.bahr@sierraclub.org.

Note that there is a news conference at 9:30am in front of the ACC.

MORE INFO:

Arizona Corporation Commission wants you to get paid less for your solar

https://azcapitoltimes.com/news/2023/10/05/arizona-corporation-commission-wants-you-to-get-paid-less-for-your-solar/

Safer streets? Yes, please!

Hotrods are racing down Speedway at all hours. And I can’t sleep thinking about all the auto related deaths in Tucson. Yesterday I saw photos of a totally demolished car caused by a drunk driver going over 100 MPH on Grant. Luckily the victims survived. 

Photo credit KOLD

As I write this, I know that someone will blame the Mayor and City Council. They’ll complain that we don’t have enough traffic officers. But the council included a substantial increase for law enforcement in the last budget. Police Chief Chad Kasmar is working to staff the shortage. One solution for our traffic problem is to have traffic cameras send tickets to speeders or people who run red lights, but Tucsonans voted (by a 66% margin) to make those cameras illegal. In March, the police department implemented an app where citizens can report traffic violations. 

Traffic Watch
https://survey123.arcgis.com/share/b831037dea9a425d83fa836628c7f87e

Then there's the issue of the condition of our streets. Those hotrods race through town causing wear and tear on our main streets. Of course, people blame the city for the potholes, but let’s put the blame where it belongs. The money for fixing those main streets comes from our STATE gas taxes. But the state legislature doesn’t give us our fair share of tax revenues to fix those streets. After voters approved money for neighborhood streets in 2022, it took a year to collect enough taxes before they could begin working on neighborhood streets. I found out at a recent transportation meeting that they can’t even work on streets during the hottest months of the year because of the impact of extreme heat on the asphalt. 

You can track their progress here: 

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/3487b2b052f0436990185e026618a6b9

The city council is aware of the condition of our streets and they are working on it. They have done extensive outreach to the community for our priorities on transit. They are installing traffic calming features in some neighborhoods. They have done a great job finding alternative funding sources for "alternate transportation". The plain truth is we have too many cars on the street. And too many people not following traffic laws. If we put in more lanes, we will have even more cars. And the same legislators who won’t pay to fix Tucson’s streets, sponsored bills prohibiting Tucson from even planning safer bike lanes. What I’m saying is do some research before you make snap judgments and feel free to get involved in coming up with solutions. And slow down for heaven's sake! 

SURVEY: Share your thoughts about legal personhood for rivers.

Study Title: Personhood for Rivers in Arizona
Principal Investigator: Madeleine Oliver

Summary of the research
This research is inspired by a growing international popularity for granting legal personhood to rivers or areas of the environment. What this means is that the river or environmental area is provided with a legal status and rights that can be upheld in a court of law.

The purpose of this research is to gather perspectives on the concepts of establishing legal rights and legal personhood for rivers in particular, especially in Arizona, as a part of a graduate research project. The goal of this research is to gain some understanding of how a community might react to a hypothetical granting of legal rights to rivers.

If you agree to voluntarily participate you will be provided with information and asked about your perspective on the concept of granting legal rights and personhood to rivers or other environmental areas. You will also be asked for reactions to different hypothetical situations, and for some contextual information about yourself. The survey contains 21 questions and is expected to take no more than 15 minutes of your time. No personal identifying information will be collected or used in any publication or sharing of the final research product.

Fill out survey here:

https://uarizona.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0IBI2X3xhOMArau?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery

Be Part of Global Climate Strike Day • Sep 15th 2023

Join Arizona's youth across our state for Fridays for Future’s Global Climate Strike Day to demand strong and local climate action.

Show up to support and listen to young climate activists who are demanding climate solutions and action from our leaders. There will be information tables, speakers, and lots of committed activists.

• Tucson’s strike will be held at El Presidio Plaza in Downtown Tucson from 3-5pm

• Phoenix’s strike will be held in the amphitheater area of Wesley Bolin Plaza, east of 17th Ave, across from the State Capitol from 3-5pm

Young Tucson Protestors Demand an End to Fossil Fuels. September 17, 2023 by Larry Bodine

More than 75 youth climate activists in Tucson rallied to join student climate protesters around the world who are calling for an end to fossil fuels as the earth heats up. In Tucson, several youth activists spoke at El Presidio Plaza in downtown Tucson on September 15, 2023, to demand local action in the state of Arizona.

https://youtu.be/qW8YMcs6-Zs?si=3q9Y0fUUHs1drscK

AZ Legislature Update and Report Card

On Wednesday, August 30th, Sierra Club along with Chispa Arizona issued an Environmental Report Card for the Arizona Legislature and Governor. Once again, the highly partisan session resulted in most Republicans earning a failing grade on the report card. The good news is 32 legislators earned an "A" on the report card and voted time after time against anti-democracy and anti-environmental bills.

The 2023 Legislative Session was the longest session on record, officially spanning 204 days and finally wrapping up on July 31st. The session included significant breaks as there were vacancies, negotiations, and reluctance by some in the majority to adjourn as they wanted to keep an eye on the Governor. Very little of note was accomplished, however, and Governor Hobbs’ veto stamp got a workout as legislators sent up a slew of bad ideas.

The attacks on democratic processes this session were again significant and frequent with more than 200 bills introduced seeking to limit early voting, make voting more difficult, and limit the initiative and referendum process, and other efforts to hinder democracy. A measure to require a proportionate number of signatures from each legislative district for initiatives and referenda, SCR1015, was referred and will be on the ballot in 2024. If passed, it would make it extremely difficult to qualify a measure for the ballot.

2023 brought new attacks on transportation as the majority in the Arizona Legislature sought to put a stop to light rail expansion and really any substantial funding for transit, bicycle and pedestrian safety or anything that did not involve concrete or asphalt. Senator Jake Hoffman led the way in introducing anti-transit, anti-bike measures with five bills – SB1312, SB1313, SB1314, SB1697, and SCR1018 specifically targeting multi-modal transportation. All of these bills died in either the Senate or House.

Some positive highlights of the session included important provisions in the budget, SB1720, including $6 million for the State Parks Heritage Fund, $7 million for the Upper Verde State Park, $3.5 million for planning passenger rail service between Phoenix and Tucson, $300,000 for trees for schools, and $9 million for Economic Transition Resources for capital projects, economic sustainability developments, renewable energy projects and broadband projects located within twenty miles of the Kayenta Coal Mine.

Nearly all of the Republican caucus earned an “F” on the Environmental Report Card this session as they pushed and supported bills to limit transit, consideration of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) issues, and to hinder voting. There were 32 senators and representatives and Governor Hobbs who earned an “A.” 

The Sierra Club report card is available on the website in English here and Spanish here.

You can also view the news briefing we conducted on YouTube here.