Friends of Flagstaff’s Future update for Oct. 4 — The Candidates on Props 419 & 421

Do you support or oppose a sales tax increase for roadway, pedestrian, bicycle, and safety improvements at outlined in Proposition 419?
Adam Shimoni: As an advocate of alternative transportation as a means to reduce traffic and congestion, I support prop 419. I have lived in Flagstaff for more than a decade without a car and I commute regularly by bicycle. As a cyclist, I have witnessed the lack of safety our roads. Safe cycling routes are crucial to our ability to bicycle commute and remain safe. I have sat down with NAIPTA’s past CEO, Jeff Meilbeck, to learn about prop 419, and I am excited to see it implemented.

Dennis K Lavin:  Yes. We need a funding source for basic infrastructure. I am glad the Council separated out Lone Tree Overpass No. 420 and Tax Increase No. 421

Austin Aslan: It is clear that we require additional transportation resources. Flagstaff’s rate of growth is not matched by its transportation infrastructure. Traffic, parking, and safety are all impacted and can negatively influence our quality of life. I therefore do support Proposition 419. We must make headway on addressing these problems.

Regina Salas: An integrated multi-modal transportation system is essential to community vitality. Many Flagstaff residents ride bicycles as main mode of transportation. The interlinking of public transit and bicycle is an important issue for seamless safe travel and sustainability of the overall public transportation network in our city.

Paul Deasy: I support the transportation tax. We need to improve our roads as well as our bike and pedestrian paths. This is one of the fundamental functions of government.

Alex Martinez:  I support the transportation tax.

Mayor Coral Evans: I support Proposition 419.

Do you support or oppose a sales tax increase to expand frequency and times of service for transit as outlined in Proposition 421? Why?
Adam Shimoni: For public transportation to be successful, we need for frequency and times of service. Funding is what is holding our buses back from servicing our community properly. Traffic is an issue in town and prop 421 and public transportation provides a solution.

Dennis K Lavin:  As of July 24, 2018, I am open to listening and reflecting on this tax increase.

Austin Aslan: Making public transit a desirable option is an important part of transforming our community into a model of sustainability. People require public transportation to be available where they are and when they need it. I do support Proposition 421, as part of my prioritization of sustainability.

Regina Salas: Proposition 421 is a new sales taxes and if approved will levy a 0.15% tax. It will begin July 1, 2020 and will last a decade, with the revenue generated going towards public transit improvements for Flagstaff. I would support 421; however, I am not sure it goes far enough. I need to know that the extended hours will serve our shift workers, i.e. hospitality, service, manufacturing, health care and other workplaces, who do not work the usual 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. workhours. How about expanding routes to serve commuting Flagstaff’s workforce, student and families?

Paul Deasy:  My main concern with the transit tax is that it does not expand the transit area, just the frequency of services on currently existing public transportation routes. I need to look more into the numbers to understand how this will impact number of people served, number of cars on the road, etc. In general, I believe increased public transportation is a good investment for our community, I would just like to be more informed before announcing support or opposition.

Alex Martinez:  I support the Transportation Tax: Transit. This option will help with traffic issue and help with cutting down our auto emissions.

Mayor Coral Evans: I support Proposition 421. I believe that that expanded frequency and times of service will allow for greater utilization of our transit system. Greater utilization of our transit system would help address current issues we have related to transportation and help us reduce our carbon footprint as a city.

The biking infrastructure that Proposition 419 would fund looks good on paper- 33.8 miles of bike lanes, and 14.7 miles of FUTS trails. This is more bike/ped infrastructure than our current transportation tax. However, the bike infrastructure proposed will not make the average citizen get out of their car and onto a bike. The bike lanes on both W. Rte 66 and Butler will run right beside multi-lane streets with speeds between 35- 55 miles per hour. A cyclist is almost guaranteed to be seriously injured or die if hit by a car at those speeds. In an age where distracted driving is on the rise, we as a community shouldn’t ask our cyclists to take those risks. Nor should we be surprised that the majority of people (including students) will choose to drive in those conditions. Proposition 419 is promising “complete streets” in theory but not in practicality. There are many different infrastructure options to make cyclists safer when on or near roads, and they are relatively cheap (especially in comparison to building roads). Proposition 419 doesn’t take a holistic approach to making biking and walking a safe and convenient choice for people, and F3 hopes that a transportation tax proposed in 2020 will take these issues into serious consideration.

In discussions of Proposition 419, there is the enduring myth that creating more road lanes will help relieve traffic. Fifty plus years of traffic data or a day trip to Phoenix shows this is not the case. Creating more road lanes simply creates more drivers. The widening of W. Rte. 66, Butler, and Lone Tree will not make anyone’s daily commute shorter in the long-term. Our population will continue to grow and widened roads will absorb those new drivers, especially when there are not appealing alternatives. However, there are many things we could do that would lessen our single-driver dependence and relieve traffic: Transit and HOV lanes, Bus lines on W. Rte. 66 and JWP, traffic signals that favor transit/bike/ped, even simple things like more bike parking or lighting on FUTS trails would relieve traffic. But none of these are in Proposition 419; it is primarily an automobile-oriented transportation tax where pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure is secondary and insufficient. F3 hopes that a broader approach to traffic relief will be available to the voting public in 2020 in a new transportation tax.

There are two metaphorical roads to Flagstaff’s transportation Future in the next 20 years. One will have us sitting white-knuckled in traffic, cursing the driver in front of us, and circling around looking for a parking spot. We might frequently choose to stay at home than engage with our community. One will have our waistlines a little thicker, our city budget struggling to repair potholes, our children’s asthma rates a little higher, and a rampant increase in greenhouse gases.

Another road to Flagstaff’s transportation Future in the next 20 years has us exercising more and all of us a little healthier. It has us saying hello to the neighbors we pass on the sidewalk, the FUTS trail, or on the bus. It gives us a street-level view of our local businesses to check out and ample bike racks in front. It has us safely writing a message to a friend on our smartphone on the way to a community event, while someone else does the driving. It leaves more money in our city budget to fund other things that we want. It also gives us the opportunity to seriously reduce our greenhouse gases and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

This is what a community that prioritizes and adequately funds transit, walking, and bicycling looks like. Proposition 419 doesn’t get us remotely close enough to this vision, and we don’t have the luxury of another 20 years to get it right. We at F3 hope that you will join us at the ballot box on November 6th and vote no on Proposition 419. We also hope that our members will join us in helping to provide input on a new transportation tax that we all can feel proud to support in 2020.

Fifty percent of our population works in the service industry sector, which often includes weekend and night shifts. Proposition 421 will extend the hours of service, as well as increase frequency on weekends. More workers will be able to use transit if they know that NAIPTA will be operating at the end of their shift, and they only need to wait a few minutes for the next bus.

Proposition 421 will also be effective in making it easier for our community to attend community and cultural events. With extended hours, people will be able to choose transit to attend a play at Theatrikos, a performance at Coconino Center for the Arts or the Orpheum, most of the events on the NAU campus, and many of our other downtown events. Between gas and parking, it will be cheaper and less stressful to pay $2.50 to NAIPTA than driving to these events.

Proposition 421 will also go a long way to eliminating NAU students’ need to have a vehicle. With every student having a UPass that will work on all transit lines, they will be able to commute to school, commute to jobs, and travel to community events without dependence on a vehicle. Our younger population in particular would prefer not to drive if the alternatives were convenient and easy. Proposition 421 makes this a reality for a large portion of our population.

F3 supported the transit tax in 2016 and thinks Proposition 421 will provide the means to significantly increase ridership. F3 would like to see more transit lines throughout Flagstaff and to our neighboring communities. By increasing ridership through Proposition 421, these additional lines will be easier to support. F3 hopes that you will join us at the ballot box on November 6th and support Proposition 421.