Dec. 16—Mesa residents could one day hop onto streetcars that'd take them to places like Sloan Park, Mesa Riverview, the Asian District and into neighboring Tempe to Mill Avenue and Arizona State University ... or not.
Council last week on a 5-2 vote approved researching the feasibility of extending the streetcar system from Tempe 4.4 miles into Mesa, heading east on Rio Salado Parkway to Dobson Road and concluding at Main Street.
The study, which will look at things like traffic and construction impacts, ridership projections and project cost is being funded by a $16-million federal grant.
Council's decision on whether to move forward with laying the tracks, putting in the overhead wires and buying streetcars is about two years away.
"I lived in New York, I know transit systems," said ASU professor and architect Tim Boyle, one of nine residents opposing the study. "I love transit systems, I have great memories of that.
"I see the public transit system working wonderfully in Tempe but I don't see it working here."
Boyle said that his neighborhood saw a dramatic increase in crime after the light rail system was built in Mesa. He disputed comments from the Dec. 5 study session that crime on the light rail was a perception problem and not reality.
He said that his mother and his wife were shot at from a Circle K when they took the light rail to a concert. He also pointed to police reports that showed from the time the light rail debuted crime shot up "150% for the approximate 10 years before Covid shuts it down."
District 10 state Rep. Barbara Parker, R-Mesa, told council that streetcars "will waste the taxpayers' money in perpetuity."
"It may be said that this is federal dollars and it won't cost the citizens anything," said Parker, who lives in Northeast Mesa. "I do want to remind people where federal tax dollars come from. They come from your citizens. It's going to be pulling down a half a billion dollars from your citizens' taxes to pay for 4.4 miles."
There is no cost estimate yet for the project, which will be part of the study.
Parker said that the proposed project would destroy property values and asserted that when federal tax dollars dry up, Mesa will be raising utility rates again to maintain "these cute San Francisco cable cars that no one will ride."
"Less than 1% of all of Arizona residents ride mass transit," Parker continued. "And less than 2% of all commuters ride it. You won't cut bloated top-heavy departments but you want streetcars."
Speakers also questioned if there was an adequate return on the city's investment and some maintained that streetcars would cause a construction and traffic nightmare while others called it antiquated technology.
Five residents, including Gennie Fasanella, spoke in favor of Mesa moving forward.
Frasanella said she was one of the 58% of households in the study area with one or no car.
"I'm here to tell you about my excitement for the extension of the streetcar," she said. "I take Valley Metro to work very frequently. The more places that the transit can take you to and the more places the closer that you can get on and ride the transit, the more likely you are to use it, the more that your ridership will go up."
Streetcars began operating in Tempe in 2022, traveling to 14 stops on a 3-mile route considered one of the largest transit ridership centers in the region, according to Valley Metro, which operates the system. The price tag for Tempe's streetcar system was $192 million.
Mesa Council in 2023 OK'd $800,000 toward the $2-million study that came up with the preferred route approved last week. Tempe kicked in $1.2 million.
According to Valley Metro and city staff, the streetcars have the potential to boost economic development, improve air quality and provide transit options for undeserved areas in Mesa.
Transit Director Jodi Sorrell said that the chosen corridor generally comprises Mixed-Residential, Urban Center and Regional Center in the city General Plan and those place types really support investment and redevelopment.
Maricopa Association of Governments data showed the population in the study area of Tempe and Mesa is projected to grow by 55% in the next 20-25 years and that households with one to no cars is about 58%. Employment also is anticipated to grow by 45% in the next 25 years.
West Mesa is ripe for a streetcar system, according to Trevor Collon, who leads the Capital Development Division for Valley Metro.
"The corridor that you're looking at — even today without economic redevelopment — is extremely compelling for a street car," Collon said.
According to Collon, Tempe's ridership number on its free streetcars has outpaced the original projection and continues to grow. Just for Fiscal Year 2023-24, there was a nearly 28% growth in ridership, he said.
"It's a very popular service (and) it was located appropriately," Collon said, adding that it will be interesting to see if ridership numbers will be affected when Valley Metro starts to charge a $1 fare next summer.
Councilman Scott Somers and Mayor-elect Mark Freeman, however, opposed the study.
"I'm highly suspect of streetcars," said Somers, who represents Southeast Mesa. "I think the economic impact benefits Tempe."
He noted a retail study showed no discernible increase in sales tax for Mesa when people come to Sloan Park for spring training and that more than likely, the attendees would "take the rail over to the ball games, getting back on the rail, going back into Tempe."
He also questioned where the money to fund the project would come from should Mesa decide to bring streetcars to the city.
Unlike light rail, which received funding from Proposition 400, there is no money for streetcars in the voter-approved Proposition 479, which extended that half-cent sales tax for transportation projects for another 20 years, Somers said.
"We don't have local funds for this," he said. "Federal grants are likely to dry up."
And if the city has to dig up infrastructure to put in streetcars, that's "going to be a lot of money," he said.
Tempe's streetcar funding included a combination of federal grants, regional Proposition 400 and local city transportation funds.
Freeman said the city needs more time to vet the project and that a red flag went up for him when he began receiving emails from neighborhoods along the streetcar corridor that claimed they weren't informed. Over 63 public outreach events on the proposal have been held since 2017.
"I think personally that there should have been better information presented to the public and especially the neighborhoods involved," he said.
Freeman also said he rides the light rail every two months to keep track of what's going on and "the ridership is not to my expectations."
"I've always said this and I'll say it publicly, it's been a low-performing asset in our community but it's brought economic development to some areas our city, which I have appreciated. But at the end of the day I'm going to vote no."
Councilwoman Alicia Goforth, who represents Northeast Mesa, said she was not convinced that streetcars are justified for the city. However, she supported moving forward.
"There are a lot of questions," she said. "There are a lot of people who do support this and I think as a city as a whole that we should answer those questions for the people that are asking them."
Councilwoman Julie Spilsburywho represents Central and south-central Mesa, said she was unsure how she felt about streetcars.
Spilsbury said that the only way she could see streetcars truly benefiting Mesa is if the route connects to Maricopa Community College, Banner Desert Medical Center and the Fiesta District, which is on the cusp of a lot of development.
Sorrell said that the system must connect to Tempe and the way to do that is with the preferred route.
Councilwoman Jenn Duff, who represents downtown and south of it, said the No. 1 concern for residents in the 2050 Transportation Master Plan was congestion.
"I can say in Dobson Road particularly we don't have any land to add additional lanes," she said. "All we can do is have some kind of form of transit that carries more people in a smaller space.
"I don't want to wait until we're LA in the west part of Mesa, the densest part of Mesa, before we start doing something about it," she said. "I don't want to be living in this condition of massive congestion, public safety issues and people not to have options for their transit."
Vice Mayor Francisco Heredia, who represents West Mesa, said, "Not everywhere in Mesa makes sense to have this."
Heredia, who serves on the Valley Metro Board of Directors, added, "But in an urban area like we're seeing in Tempe and West Mesa I think this makes sense to look at how we can connect people from Tempe to come to the Asian District to shop there. That means more sales tax dollars for Mesa."
At the study session earlier in the month, Duff commented that West Mesa has been depressed for at least 40 years and said downtown would have never developed without light rail. According to Sorrell, there's been $689 million of investment in Mesa since the light rail went in.
Heredia also disputed comments that light rail attracted few riders.
According to Valley Metro, in Fiscal Year 2024, light rail over all carried just over 10 million riders, streetcars, 800,000 passengers and buses just under 26 million.
Giles, a fan of streetcar technology because it seems more nimble and costs no traffic lanes, said one of the compelling reasons to look at the proposal is the potential of a major league soccer franchise coming to West Mesa.
"There's a couple of spots in West Mesa along this alignment that I think would be excellent candidates for something like that," he said.
According to staff, if the council opted not to do the study, the $16 million will go to Tempe instead.
"I think a no vote tonight is essentially putting our fingers in our ears and saying 'don't confused me with the facts,'" Giles said. "There will be a very significant vote made on whether or not Mesa ought to join and commit to the streetcar.
"That will be a big vote and when this council makes that vote they need to make that vote in a very informed way with data they need to answer these wonderful questions that were presented here today. The way to do that is to do the study."
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