The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
I am writing to put the facts before the public regarding the Regional Transportation Authority and Pima Association of Governments (PAG).
The city of Tucson is seeking weighted voting as a member of the RTA. One vote per RTA member is not only required by state statute but was endorsed by prior Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup, who in recent years praised the RTA's success as a result of the regionally cooperative approach to transportation planning.
In fact, the city of Tucson has received a proportionate fair share of RTA funding. It’s disheartening the city doesn’t accept a public process that has proven to work.
The 2006 RTA plan development process worked, and the region is seeing the benefit of having specific projects delivered as voters approved. A very similar model is in place for developing the next RTA plan. The RTA's project and financial delivery have been endorsed year after year by a citizens' oversight committee and more recently via an independent 10-year state performance audit of the RTA plan. In addition, federal and state partners annually review the performance of PAG, which has been regularly recertified as well as received positive feedback on its process and overall work program.
In order for the RTA to be successful, it must be accountable to the voters. The RTA Next plan development process is structured to once again be driven by public input to ensure voter support down the road. The city of Tucson is suggesting that it provide a list to the RTA that does not need to go through a “regional” public input process. The proven RTA regional process has shown that all RTA members receive fair distribution of funds and projects.
To date, the city has not provided a list of projects for the RTA citizens' advisory committee to consider for the next RTA draft plan. Submitting this list would open the dialogue on what the city desires. Without knowing their specific interests, the RTA's hands are tied. The RTA has invited the city to share and discuss the list, which was due to the RTA by July 1, 2020, a submittal date that was requested by former Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild, who wanted the new plan development to stay on track.
The process to develop the next RTA plan allows plenty of time to address issues that come up before a draft is presented to the RTA Board to consider for a future election prior to 2026. PAG and the RTA are regionally collaborative bodies and work together to resolve regional issues. This is the approach that we prefer and believe will lead to a workable solution with the city as soon as they are willing to come to the table.
All PAG/RTA meetings are open to the public and materials are shared with committee members in advance of meetings and usually go through two review cycles. In light of more recent dialogue, we are reviewing our processes to identify opportunities to share information sooner and educating our committee members to clarify their respective roles and responsibilities in the review process for planning documents vs. administrative documents.
PAG and the RTA must follow federal regulations and state statutes. This is not an option. As members of PAG and the RTA, our jurisdictional members took an oath to abide by these legal responsibilities.
The RTA annually contributes $90 million toward transportation improvements, compared to $24 million and $20 million in federal/state funds respectively. The RTA is a funding powerhouse for our region.
The future RTA plan is expected to generate another $2 billion to $4 billion in transportation improvements. If we lose this funding opportunity, it would hurt everyone, including the city.
Let’s keep working together to remain as a model that serves the entire region well by improving our transportation system and supporting economic vitality.
