Be a solution to stormwater pollution
Pima Association of Governments will launch its annual Clean Water Starts With Me outreach campaign in July to provide information on how to prevent stormwater pollution. Stormwater generally runs along the streets, picks up pollutants along the way and deposits them into washes.

A goal of this year’s campaign, coordinated through PAG’s Stormwater Management Working Group, is to raise awareness about how rainwater harvesting on your landscape results in cleaner desert washes downstream.

Community interest in rainwater harvesting is increasing and PAG’s campaign encourages people to build upon water conservation as a way to improve stormwater quality. You can dig basins that keep yard chemicals on your property where runoff in the soils is treated biologically.

Also called green infrastructure, this helps the environment, economy and human health. You can store water in the soil for vegetation, create habitat that will cool and shade urban neighborhoods, reduce flood flows, increase land values, reduce energy demands and improve air quality.

PAG’s Stormwater Management Working Group (SWMWG) is a public/private collaboration. Since the Arizona Pollutant Discharge Elimination System regulations require that jurisdictions help protect the stormwater quality of the region, the SWMWG has conducted a regional outreach campaign since 2003. The SWMWG has grown into an ongoing forum for planning, program development, information exchange and cooperative projects.

In response to recognition of the Tucson region by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a low impact development model, PAG is forming a regional focus group to create workshops and a conference on the topic.

Objective:
To keep pollutants from entering desert washes
and groundwater sources.

Outreach is critical for building community involvement and helping people understand how urban life impacts our natural environment. PAG’s outreach materials from the “Clean Water Starts With Me!” campaign will be included in the EPA’s outreach toolbox this summer to help other communities develop an effective and targeted outreach campaigns.
 

A high rank: Transit connects people, jobs in Tucson metro area
Tucson recently ranked 4th in a report issued by the Brookings Institution on how transit connects people and jobs within and across the metropolitan area.

Missed Opportunity: Transit and Jobs in Metropolitan America, a report of Brookings’ metropolitan policy program, analyzed data from 371 transit systems of the largest metropolitan areas in the nation.

Sun Tran operates the region’s mass transit system with more than 600 employees, 40 fixed routes and a fleet of 240 buses.

“The region’s investment in a more convenient, affordable and accessible system is reinforced by these findings,” said Sun Tran General Manager Katrina Heineking. “Tucson-area residents can feel confident that every dollar invested in transit is used effectively and efficiently.”

Sun Tran provides coverage to 73 percent of the metropolitan area, above the 100 metro average of 69 percent. Sun Tran also provides access to jobs in 57 percent of the metropolitan area, above the 100 metro average of 30 percent.

“The report’s findings confirm the value of transit in our region,” noted Heineking. “We will continue to strive to be safe, innovative and customer-focused. We value our employees and work hard to meet the demands of our customers.”

The regional Transportation Authority is investing more than $533 million in transit service expansions and improvements, including expanded evening and weekend service, as part of its 20-year regional transportation plan to be implemented through fiscal year 2026.

Other transit services included in the analysis included Sun Shuttle, the neighborhood transit service funded by the RTA with service connections to Sun Tran, and the City of Tucson’s free downtown shuttle, Downtown Loop, formerly known as TICET (Tucson Inner City Express Transit.)

The study looked at transit scheduling and route information, household income and employment to determine access to jobs via transit.

The Brookings Institution noted that trends revealed in the report indicate that local, regional, state and national leaders should make access to jobs an explicit priority in their spending and service decisions, especially given budget pressures they face. The findings also stated that “metro leaders should coordinate strategies regarding land use, economic development and housing with transit decisions in order to ensure that transit reaches more people and more jobs
efficiently.”

Other communities in the West that ranked high in combined scoring for their transit systems were Denver, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.

The complete report is available online at http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/Programs/
Metro/jobs_transit/0512_jobs_transit.pdf

Regional Council OKs program for 2012-2016 transportation improvements
Pima Association of Governments’ regional Council approved the FY 2012-16 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) at its June 9 meeting.

The proposed 2012-2016 TIP programs over $1.5 billion in local, regional, state and federal funding sources. A subcommittee made up of PAG’s jurisdictional members updates the TIP annually. The updated plan was presented to the public for comment during three open houses in March.

The TIP identifies priorities for national, state regional and local roadways, transit or bus services; aviation, bike and pedestrian facilities as well as programs such as ride sharing, VanPool and Saferoutes-to-School.

The TIP document provides a general description of the projects, available funding sources, the agency implementing each project, and a general project schedule. The TIP includes projects funded through the regional Transportation
Authority plan, which Pima County voters approved on May 16, 2006. The $2.1 billion RTA plan will be implemented during the remaining 15 years of the plan.

For more information about the TIP, you may call John Liosatos at 792-1093.
 

Imagine Greater Tucson’s map-making workshops draw over 500 people
More than 500 people participated at “scenario-building” workshops as part of Imagine Greater Tucson’s (IGT) initiative to develop a regional vision.

Four workshops have been held to-date with special guest appearances from Daniel hernandez, intern to U.S. rep. Gabrielle Giffords, George hanson, music director and conductor of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Greg Byrne, University of Arizona athletic director, former UA basketball players reggie Geary and Matt Muehlebach, and ron Barber, Congresswoman Giffords’ district director.

Upcoming workshops will be held in Marana and the south side of Tucson. Details and are available online at www.imaginegreatertucson.org where interested people should RSVP.

During the workshops, people have shared their ideas for how the greater Tucson region should grow in the future using game-style chips on a map to indicate where open space should be preserved, where single to multi-family housing should occur, where retail or commercial development should be located, and to note areas for transportation improvements.

During the summer, information on the maps will be entered into modeling software and analyzed.

• Business and the Economy
• Cultural Diversity and regional Character
• Governance and Leadership
• K-12 Education
• Land Use and Urban Design
• Natural resources, Environment and Outdoor recreation
• Transportation and Accessibility
• University of Arizona and Its role in the region

• Well Being and Safety

IGT learned that you value family time, minimal time in the car, easy commutes, access to our great outdoors, bicycle and pedestrian safety, low crime and engaging youth activities. Imagine Greater Tucson discovered, however, that the path our region is on, based on our current trends and decision-making policies, does not align with our values.

In the fall, the public will have an opportunity to look at the alternative scenarios and provide feedback that will lead to a preferred scenario which addresses some of the values. All of the values will be incorporated into the Imagine Greater Tucson Vision.

For more information about Imagine Greater Tucson, please visit www.imaginegreatertucson.org or follow Imagine Greater Tucson on Facebook or Twitter.
 

Platinum Challenge (continued)
Force, included a presentation of a “bicycle friendly university” award to University of Arizona President Dr. robert Shelton, who touted the university’s commitment to use alternative forms of transportation. The Tucson/Eastern Pima County region currently is rated as a gold bicycle friendly community by the LAB. The region plans to submit an application for platinum status next February.

While Clarke congratulated the region on achievements and efforts that have been made thus far, he clearly stated that in order to become a platinum community, the number of people using the bicycle as a mode of transportation to work needs to increase. he said communities that are currently designated as platinum have bike-to-work rates of 8 percent to 14 percent. The current bike-to-work rate for the region is currently around 2 percent.

However, Clarke added it isn’t all about long commutes to work, considering only 14.5 percent of trips nationally are work-oriented. he pointed out that 40 percent of all the trips in the United States are less than two miles.

Clarke, an internationally renowned bicycle advocate who visits communities and provides technical assistance on how they can become more bicycle-friendly, advised the region to implement an individualized marketing program to reach potential bicyclists who need more information to try cycling, both to commute short and long distances and for recreational purposes.

During the forum, representatives from Pima County, the City of Tucson, Arizona Department of Transportation, University of Arizona and the Tucson Pima County Bicycle Advisory Committee held a panel discussion on what they are doing to
promote bicycle riding in the region.

RTA Executive Director Gary Hayes recaps the RTA’s history of success.

RTA achieves commitment to voters in its first five years
Three roadway corridor projects, 39 bus pullouts, 77 intersection safety and capacity projects, and a total of 44 Sun Tran evening and weekend routes were among the many projects completed or services expanded in the past five years as part of the 20-year, $2.1 billion regional Transportation Authority plan.

The multi-modal Transportation plan received voter approval by a 3-2 margin on May 16, 2006. This was the first time in approximately 20 years that Pima County voters passed a major Transportation initiative seeking local public funding.

“We started with a diverse group of people on our citizens’ advisory committee to ensure that we had all interested parties represented,” said RTA Executive Director Gary Hayes. “This was a critical factor in the development of a balanced plan with half the funding targeted toward roadway improvements and a quarter of the funding slated for the increasingly popular mode of transit.”

To date, the RTA has completed more than 400 projects and has met its promise to deliver in the first five-year period of the RTA plan. The RTA Board recently authorized the issuance of $152 million in bonds to help fund roadway projects in the next few years of the second period of the plan.

“The RTA Board approved these bonds knowing that they were always part of the RTA plan funding and would be used to close the gaps when needed during economic swings,” said RTA Board Chair Jennifer Eckstrom. “This will allow continued construction of RTA roadway projects, which will keep people employed at a time when our local economy is still recovering.”

Through October 2009, RTA projects helped create 700 news jobs, according to the Economic and Business research Center at the University of Arizona Eller College of Management. Hayes said the RTA Board initially instructed staff and member jurisdictions to accelerate smaller projects in the RTA plan in order to start construction on smaller projects while the larger, more complex road projects were under design.

“The RTA Board wanted to see the dirt flying,” Hayes said. On May 11, 2009, the first RTA roadway project to break ground was the Twin Peaks Interchange project. The first two RTA roadway projects to be completed in November 2010 were the Twin Peaks Interchange and road. Twin Peaks road, formerly Camino de Mañana, started construction in late August 2009 and was renamed by the Marana Town Council.

Grant road, the largest roadway project in the plan, will get under way this fall with an intersection project at Grant and Oracle. The rest of the $167 million project will be phased in over the remaining 15 years of the plan.

The Modern Streetcar project became reality when the City of Tucson received $63 million in federal funding through a Transportation Investment Generating Economic recovery (TIGEr) discretionary grant. This serves as part of the matching funds to the RTA’s $75 million toward capital costs. The RTA also will fund approximately $13 million for operations. The streetcar project, a 3.9-mile route between the Arizona health Sciences Center and the west side of downtown, is expected to cost $196.8 million and be operational by the fall of 2013. RTA achieves commitment to voters in its first five years
Objective REGIONAL Pima Association of Governments 4 RTA project update State Rep. Steve Farley, D-Tucson, and an original member of the RTA Citizens Advisory Committee, said, “This Modern Streetcar is an essential piece of the RTA package. The project already has created large numbers of private-sector jobs and is spurring significant economic development for the entire region. Congratulations to the RTA and the City of Tucson for pushing this project to fruition.”

Projects in the plan are managed by the local jurisdictions. Pima County has two major corridor projects, along La Cañada and La Cholla, in progress. “In many projects, the RTA provides all or a significant portion of the dollars to complete these projects,” said Pima County Department of Transportation Director Priscilla Cornelio. “We are fortunate that the voters had the wisdom to see the need for a regional Transportation plan to help Pima County and our local jurisdictions catch up on needed projects that will improve travel safety and our regional mobility.”

Given historical funding issues with prior Transportation initiatives, the RTA Board established a Citizens Accountability for regional Transportation (CART) Committee to oversee implementation of the plan as voters approved.

“We have consistently been impressed, but not surprised, that the RTA has delivered on the projects as presented in the RTA ballot,” said RTA CART Chair Kelle Maslyn. “This is a tremendous undeRTAking, and it’s a major accomplishment in this environment to be on track with where the RTA said it would be.”

RTA Project Status
April 30, 2011

RTA Financial Status
April 30, 2011 (000s)

RTA Board OKs transit fare increases
The Regional Transportation Authority Board approved fare changes on June 9 for Sun Shuttle, a neighborhood transit service, Sun Express and rTA-funded special needs transit provided by handicar.

The proposed changes are in alignment with proposed fare changes approved by the City of Tucson for Sun Tran and Sun Van.

The new full fares are: $1.50 for Sun Shuttle, $2 for Sun Express and $3 for handicar. The new economy fares are: $0.50 for Sun Shuttle and $1.00 for handicar. Complete fare information is available online at www.suntran.com.
 

Sun Shuttle recognized by state transit association
The Arizona Transit Association recognized the regional Transportation Authority’s Sun Shuttle neighborhood transit service as the Outstanding rural/Small Urban Transit System.

The Arizona Transit Association presented the 2011 Arizona Department of Transportation Excellence Award during its annual conference in Mesa during the week of April 11. Sun Shuttle was nominated for its increase in ridership and regional approach to marketing and customer service.

The award recognizes the outstanding provider of public transportation in rural or small urbanized areas through improvements or innovations in operations efficiency and customer service.

The RTA fully funds the Sun Shuttle service, which started operations in May 2009 and now services the areas of Marana, Oro Valley/Catalina, Green Valley/Sahuarita, the San Xavier District, Ajo and Tucson Estates.

The Arizona Transit Association is a nonprofit statewide organization dedicated to improving public transportation in all Arizona communities.

The association also presented the Outstanding Transit Individual award to Katrina Heineking, general manager of Sun Tran. The award recognizes an individual that has provided outstanding leadership and/or contributions to public
transportation programs to the transit industry, to a jurisdiction or municipality, or to the private sector to improve the quality of transit services.
 

Significant ridership increases for Sun Shuttle
Sun Shuttle, a neighborhood transit service, saw significant ridership increases in its second year of providing transit services as more residents in the community choose the service as their mode of transportation.

All of the routes in the shuttle system provide easy and convenient neighborhood access to shopping, entertainment and employment centers as well as connections to Sun Tran routes or transit to access regional destinations.

The transit service was launched in May 2009 to serve Marana, Oro Valley, Sahuarita and Green Valley, with additional routes added in the San Xavier District of the Tohono O’odham Nation and portions of unincorporated Pima County in November 2009.

The Sun Shuttle system ridership more than doubled in year two of service with over 150,000 trips provided between May of 2010 and April 2011. The 115 percent increase in ridership is attributed to route changes approved by the RTA Transit Working Group and an increasing awareness of the service.

To learn more about Sun Shuttle, contact Jeremy Papuga, RTA Transit Planning and Operations Manager, at (520)792-1093.

For general information, visit www.suntran.com and follow the Sun Shuttle link or contact the Customer Service Center at (520) 792-9222 [for individuals with TDD equipment, call (520) 628-1565].

RTA sells municipal bonds totaling $152 million
The Regional Transportation Authority sold $152 million in municipal bonds on May 24 and 25 to help pay for specific roadway projects scheduled to be built in the second five-year period of the 20-year, $2.1 billion RTA plan. The underwriter syndicate includes RBC Capital Markets, JP Morgan/Chase, Piper Jaffray & Co., Barclays Capital and Wells Fargo Securities. Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s rated the RTA bond issue as AA and Aa3, respectively.

Maturities of these bonds will be up in 15 years, all redeemable prior to the end of the RTA fiscal year 2026. These bonds will be repaid by the ½-cent excise tax passed by voters in May 2006 to fund the RTA plan. Interested investors may contact their financial advisers for more information.

The following RTA projects are among those expected to continue or begin construction within the next 15 months at an estimated cost of $196 million:

• Completion of current construction projects on La Cañada (Ina-Calle Concordia), La Cholla (River Ruthrauff),Tanque Verde, and Speedway

• Magee, Thornydale to La Cañada

• Kolb connection to Sabino Canyon

• Houghton, Irvington to Valencia, and Broadway intersection

• Downtown Links, Church to Interstate 10 and 8th Street Drainage

• Magee, La Cañada to Oracle

• Grant road, Oracle Intersection

• La Cholla, Magee to Overton

• 22nd/Kino Intersection

“Bonding was always anticipated in the RTA plan,” said RTA Executive Director Gary Hayes. “With a favorable construction bidding climate and good market conditions for bonding, it makes sense to continue with an aggressive construction schedule.” The RTA legislation has provisions for bonding and this bond sale was approved by the RTA Board on April 7.

RTA committee seeks to streamline 404 permitting process
The Regional Transportation Authority Technical Management Policy Subcommittee is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to identify ways to expedite 404 permits on roadway projects, particularly RTA projects in the second five-year period of the 20-year plan.

The process started with two ThinkTank sessions conducted on March 31 and April 5 with jurisdiction representatives, consultants and Corps employees. The sessions have been followed by subsequent meetings with Corps officials. ThinkTank is a group intelligence application that engages participants in creative or problem solving objectives by allowing all participants to contribute anonymously through an online network.

Under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, a Corps permit is required for discharge of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States. In the PAG region, any roadway project that could impact the Santa Cruz river or any of its tributaries is subject to review and permitting by the Corps.

The permitting issue surfaced during a review of first-period RTA roadway projects last year and Pima County Administrator Chuck Huckelberry, chair of the Technical Management Committee, recently requested further review due to the lengthy turnaround time for permit approvals.

Issues identified include improving the consistency of feedback from the Corps on project applications to the degree possible, identifying other ways to streamline the pre-application and review process, and developing a training program beneficial to both the Corps and applicant. The Technical Management Policy Subcommittee is working with Corps staff to identify various ways to improve the process in order to present their recommendations to the Technical Management Committee.

Streetcar purchase, contract decisions to bring project big savings
The regional Transportation Authority and the City of Tucson decided in April to seek proposals for construction of the full 3.9-mile Modern Streetcar line rather than seek proposals for four segments in order to save at least $6 million. The savings will be realized due to economies of scale relating to the use of workers and equipment.

The City of Tucson also announced it will save another $3.5 million by pursuing the purchase of T-rail for the streetcar tracks because it is readily available and can be installed at reduced labor costs compared to block rail, which was previously considered.

RTA conducts first value analysis on Houghton Road project
The initial results of a value analysis performed on the regional Transportation Authority’s Houghton road project show an excess of $47 million in potential savings, although some of the savings are based on overlapping proposals.

Objective:
To carve out potential cost savings.

The analysis led to 36 proposals and 14 additional recommendations. The goal at the onset of the analysis was to identify $20 million in project savings without compromising the function, durability or quality of the roadway. The 2006 RTA plan identified $160.6 million in project costs. Current project estimates are $180 million.

Recommendations contained within the value analysis proposals include such things as narrowing the roadway lanes to the width used on other nearby roadways (without compromising safety), condensing the project from 11 phases to five phases (for cost efficiencies), reducing landscaping planting densities to sustainable levels, developing nearby sources for fill material and using corrugated metal pipes instead of concrete pipes for culvert crossings.

The RTA’s Technical Management Subcommittee will further evaluate the proposals and make a recommendation to the Technical Management Committee, which would forward a final recommendation to the RTA Board. The analysis included a comprehensive review of the preliminary design and a functional analysis. The RTA Houghton road project is a 13-mile section of Houghton road, stretching between Interstate 10 and Tanque Verde road. Of that, 10.5 miles are in the City of Tucson and 2.5 miles are in unincorporated Pima County.

The value analysis is a new project requirement for all major roadway projects, and was one of the 35 policy-related recommendations that were identified as part of the review of RTA projects in Phase 1. Last fall, the RTA Technical Management Committee recommended that the RTA Board require value analysis as a technique to improve project delivery and control costs. Value analysis has been shown to have a 15:1 benefit-to-cost ratio nationally.
If the proposals recommended in the Houghton value analysis are used to bring the project in line with available funding, this project will achieve a benefit-to-cost ratio of over 200:1.

Another approved policy-related recommendation is to confirm that RTA roadway projects or project phases conform to the RTA Scope of Work before new reimbursement agreements are executed. All projects are now required to complete a project charter, which identifies the RTA-approved scope of work, project budget, project schedule, project participants and commits all signers to adhere to the scope, schedule and budget.

Lead agencies for projects must present scope, schedule or budget changes at the conclusion of the planning phase and prior to proceeding to design. Other interim measures approved last fall include caps on soft cost (non-construction) reimbursements.

Del Post, Town Deputy Manager, Marana

Marana hires new deputy manager
Marana native Del Post is the Town’s new deputy manager. Post was an associate attorney with Datsopoulos, MacDonald & Lind, PC, a law firm in Missoula, Mont. his areas of practice included real estate litigation; civil litigation; family law; probate; wills and estate planning.

“I’m extremely excited to have the opportunity to serve my hometown,” Post said. “I’m looking forward to helping the Town achieve its vision.” Post, 33, was chosen from a group of more than 200 applicants in a national search.

“his personality, experience in the private sector and love of this community will make him an outstanding deputy manager,” said Town Manager Gilbert Davidson.

Post holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Arizona and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Montana School of Law. he is a graduate of Marana high School.

 

Arizona census stats released
In March, the U.S. Census Bureau released detailed population totals for Arizona with initial demographic characteristics.

Arizona: 6,392,017
Maricopa County: 3,817,117 (+24.2% since 2000)
Pima County: 980,263 (+16.2%)
Phoenix: 1,445,632 (+9.4%)
Tucson: 520,116 (+6.9%)

Hispanic or Latino population in Arizona grew by 46.3 percent to represent 29.6 percent of the state’s population, while other populations grew by 17.3 percent to 70.4 percent of the state’s population. Persons of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity accounted for 47.5 percent of the total population growth in Arizona. Over 80 percent of the growth of the population under 18 is Hispanic. In Tucson, Hispanics contributed100 percent of the growth for this segment of the population over the decade (there was a net loss of non-Hispanic children under 18).

The Census Bureau’s Demographic Profiles for Arizona show an aging population and the effects of the greatest economic downturn since the Great Depression. The share of population under 18 has fallen in many places concurrent with growth in the 65 and over age group. The workforce is aging. In Pima County, the proportion of the population aged 20 to 44 years decreased by 10 percent while the 45- to 60-year-old group increased 18 percent.

Household composition changed over the decade with a decrease in the number of spouses living in households as a component of the total population. This may reflect young adults postponing or foregoing matrimony (marriage rates have declined over the decade; divorce rates also fell). ¹ There is also evidence of an increase in other relatives and non-relatives living in households. The proportion of family households to total households has declined slightly while the share of non-family households has increased. All this may indicate an effect of financial distress: more people are moving in with relatives and friends. At the same time, the aging of the population contributed to the growth in non-family households with more individuals over 65 years living alone.

The story of vacant housing units in Arizona is the story of the state’s boom and bust economy. With job losses and foreclosures, the number of vacant housing units has increased dramatically. According to Marshall Vest of the Economic and Business research Center at the University of Arizona, it would take a decade of “normal” population growth to absorb the 463,000 vacant houses reported in Census 2010. After factoring out seasonal and recreational homes, vacancy rates are well above Census 2000 figures. In Pima County, the homeowner vacancy rate is 2.9 percent, up from 1.8 percent in 2000 (a 61 percent increase). Even as the proportion of housing units occupied by renters increased, the rental vacancy rate reached 11.2 percent, growing 21.7 percent since 2000.

For more local and state statistics, please click here http://www.pagnet.org/documents/census/LocalandState2010CensusStats.pdf

¹ Arizona Vital Statistics, http://www.azdhs.gov

Quarterly PAG program highlights

• Land use modeling services analyzed general plan land use data received from Pima County and Marana.

• Data services prepared Census data and data visualization ideas to support the 2010 traffic volumes map; provided support for PAG’s hosting of Census Bureau workshops on community data analysis.

• Transportation planning is working with the University of Arizona, College of Engineering, to apply for grant funding for a Center of Excellence with a focus on managing freight in an urban environment.

• As part of administering the travel reduction ordinance, Transportation TDM staff met with employers located on rita road to discuss future transit service and vanpooling.

• Air quality planning completed the updates to the 2008 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory to account for revised transportation data.

• Watershed planning completed the final report entitled, “Evaluation of riparian habitat and headcutting Along Lower Cienega Creek.” This work was conducted under an Arizona Water Protection Fund Grant.

• Energy program, Communications and Computer Administration staff helped launch a Web site for the Southern Arizona Solar Standards Board.

• Communications and GIS coordinated public outreach, event logistics and materials for Imagine Greater Tucson’s Big reveal event to identify shared regional values and a trends scenario. The event drew 450 people.

• PAG hosted three open houses around the region for public comment on the 2012-16 Transportation Improvement Program.

• Transportation planning held 5310, 5316 and 5317 application review panels; 19 applications were received, reviewed and ranked for submittal to ADOT.

• Watershed planning staff presented on the Tucson region’s work on low impact development (LID) and various stormwater pollution prevention efforts at the Arid LID conference in Albuquerque, N.M.

• Tucson Clean Cities created a new Arizona Diesel Emissions reductions - Arizona Task Force in conjunction with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Auto Safety house and other interested parties.

• Transportation planning initiated work, at the direction and in cooperation with the Transportation and Finance Subcommittee, on developing a sustainable transportation funding white paper.

Tucson ranks 3rd among 25 U.S. cities with cleanest air
Tucson air quality is improving, according to the American Lung Association (ALA). Tucson was ranked as the third cleanest city in the nation for year-round, small particle pollution, up from sixth in the nation in that
category in 2010.

The ALA “State of the Air” report, released on April 27, indicates that many thousands of people who live in the Tucson area and who are at risk from air pollution are breathing easier, based on air monitoring data from Pima County Department of Environmental Quality (PDEQ). The report also shows that Tucson moved up from an “F” to a “C” for ground level ozone pollution.

Beth Gorman, senior program manager at PDEQ, said, “healthier air is good news for all of us, but especially those who are most at risk throughout Pima County, such as those with heart and lung disease, the elderly, and our children.” According to the ALA report, more than 155,000 residents in Pima County suffer from asthma and other lung diseases and nearly 300,000 have cardiovascular disease. In addition, studies indicate that those with diabetes are also at risk when air pollution levels are elevated.

Sources responsible for the majority of air pollution in the Tucson region involve the burning of fossil fuels - power plants, industry, and gasoline and diesel fueled automobiles and trucks. While newer vehicles and fuels are cleaner, our community works to reduce emissions and improve air quality through several different programs such as Pima Association of Governments’ (PAG) Clean Cities and Travel reduction Programs, as well as the PDEQ Clean Air Program.

“The School Bus Idle reduction Program and alternative-fueled school buses, which replace diesel fuel with cleaner burning fuels such as biodiesel, compressed natural gas and propane, are active in many of our school districts and are reducing small particle pollution,” said Colleen Crowninshield, manager of PAG’s Energy Programs. PAG’s Travel reduction Program also targets nearly 300 local major employers to encourage the use of carpooling, mass transit, bicycling and walking during employee commutes.

The recently updated PAG Air Quality Trends poster that tracks regional progress on air quality is available on the PAG Web site at: http://www.pagnet.org/Documents/Air/AirQualityTrends2011.pdf