Behind the Scenes of the Transit 2000 Campaign!

By Kathy DeBoer, Vice President

On March 13th Phoenix voters passed a four tenths of one cent sales tax to improve transit services in the City of Phoenix. Not many people know how market research was involved in determining what Phoenix residents needed and wanted to improve the transit system. WestGroup worked with RPTA, Valley Metro, and Phoenix Transit over the past year to gain insight into the minds of the voters. Although we conducted several transit related research projects for various transit agencies, two were critical to the process. WestGroup conducted six focus groups and a telephone study with City of Phoenix residents.

Focus on Transit

The focus groups were a great forum to uncover areas of resident concern and interest. Overall the residents who participated in the groups were supportive of transit. They acknowledged that the city was facing a big problem and said that something needed to be done. However, residents wanted to know: What's the timing? Why does it cost so much? Why Light Rail Transit (LRT) on the ground instead of elevated or subway? Is traffic going to get worse before it gets better? Where will the LRT go? The focus group discussions were instrumental in formulating the telephone survey and assisted Phoenix Transit in developing their public outreach campaign.

The Opinion of a Representative

Sample of Voters

Approximately 600 Phoenix voters participated in the telephone survey. We found that the majority of Phoenix voters indicated they wanted improved bus services and light rail service. The study results reinforced the need for clear explanations of the components of the system (i.e., what will the dollars buy, how the money will be distributed, and how much will the tax cost in the long run), as well as the positioning of the Phoenix transit system compared to cities in other states.

The Tax Passes

RPTA learned from the participants' questions and provided the appropriate answers and information to the public during the Transit 2000 Campaign. The public voted overwhelmingly in favor of the tax — two thirds voted YES.

What Happened Next? (Information from the Transit 2000 Early Action Program)

The day after the election Transit 2000...

• Began hiring and training additional operators and mechanics for bus and dial-a-ride service.
• Began preliminary engineering for initial light rail segment.
• Ordered 40 expansion buses, 30 expansion dial-a-ride vehicles, and 6 expansion neighborhood mini-buses.

By June, 2000...

• Deer Valley Park-and-Ride at Bell Road and Black Canyon Freeway will open to express passengers.
• Implementation of automated scheduling and routing software program for dial-a-ride.

By August, 20000...

• New Saturday local bus service at 60-minute frequency from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. on 5 routes (all other routes currently have Saturday operation).
• Extend Saturday service to at least 8:00 p.m. on all routes.
• Improve Saturday frequency to 30 minutes on 9 routes.
• New Sunday and holiday local bus service at 60-minute frequency from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on all routes.
  This would result in 7-day-a-week service in Phoenix for the first time in almost 50 years.
• Improved dial-a-ride service level and extended service hours as follows: weekdays — 5 a.m. to midnight; Saturdays, Sundays and holidays — 5 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• Begin implementation of new bike lanes.

And that's just the beginning.

For more information about the plan, please go to Valley Metro's website at: www.valleymetro.maricopa.gov/busbook/Transit2000

MAY 2000 Answers:
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