The Pima County Committee of the Arizona Libertarian Party

July 28, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: David Euchner, Chairman: (520) 400-8324

LIGHT RAIL INITIATIVE “EXPENSIVE BOONDOGGLE”

The light rail initiative sponsored by “Tucsonans for Sensible Transportation” is misguided and brimming with erroneous “facts”, according to the Pima County Libertarian Party.

David Euchner, Chairman of the PCLP, sees this “feel good” idea as all feeling, no thinking. “I believe the people involved in this initiative have their hearts in the right place; but it is clear that they are not thinking this proposal through. This project is a $500 million boondoggle; and when federal money does not come through as promised, ultimately Tucson taxpayers will be left holding a very expensive bag.”

Arizona Libertarian Party chairman Jason Auvenshine sees the proposal as a lack of understanding of basic economic principles. “People vote with their dollars, and if Tucsonans really wanted more bus service then why is Sun-Tran so under-utilized right now? Light-rail will serve only a small fraction of Tucson's commuters and will not relieve the traffic congestion.”

Among the faulty “facts” supporting this initiative are:

  • That light-rail means “two words: zero pollution”. Did the environmentalist sponsors forget that electrical plants which will power these trains generate considerable pollution also?
  • That the federal government will provide 80% of the money for the project. “One need only look at what happened in Atlanta in the 1970s to see what happens when the feds promise money for this kind of project and then back out,” said John Nemeth, a Tucson libertarian who worked as a draftsman on the Atlanta light-rail project. “When the federal money did not come through as promised, the 53 mile rail line promised to the voters was shortened to 15 miles in 1975 and the express bus-only lanes were never built according to the current map.”

Not only will light-rail fail to come in on time and under budget as the sponsors suggest, but as with all government programs there will be many unintended consequences:

  • Hundreds or thousands of pieces of private property of both residences and business will be confiscated under eminent domain. This will result in costly lawsuits against the City.
  • During construction, life in the construction corridor will be unbearable for many years for both residents and commuters.
  • When the project is finished, there will not be any less car traffic.