Light-rail line or streetcars favored in Scottsdale polling

A solid majority of Scottsdale businesses responding to a Chamber of Commerce survey support bringing light rail or modern streetcars to town, a result that practically assures the chamber will take an active role in the coming months advocating for a fixed-rail system.

Among the 322 respondents to a survey released Tuesday, 62 percent support adding light rail or streetcar as soon as possible, 60 percent say more buses and bus routes are needed now and 81 percent support widening freeways.

When asked specifi cally about transit options that would be the greatest benefi t to the business community along Scottsdale Road — the city’s designated transit corridor — 64 percent favored light rail or modern streetcar.

Those fi xed-rail options, along with bus rapid transit, are being considered by Scottsdale as part of its master transportation plan update, which is still under review and expected to be adopted by the City Council later this year.

One aspect of the plan is choosing a transit option — at least initially going from the city’s southern border north to McDowell Road or possibly to downtown Scottsdale — that would connect with the 20-mile light-rail line under construction through Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa. That $1.4 billion project is scheduled to open in December 2008.

The transit portion of the plan has spurred the most debate, including two heated council hearings in the past three months. On Feb. 6, the council — after being presented a residents’ petition with more than 250 signatures calling for a vote — agreed to hold an election before the adoption of either light rail or modern streetcar.

Scottsdale Area Chamber of Commerce president Rick Kidder, who has spoken in favor of a fixed-rail system, said the chamber board plans to use the survey results to develop a formal position. Kidder said the position could be announced in the next week or two, with plans to be politically involved leading up to an election.

Kidder, who cautioned that this was not a scientific poll, said he was surprised by the strong support for fixed rail, calling the 62 percent support to construct a system as soon as possible “a big number.” He also pointed to 56 percent of businesses that said commuting challenges make it more difficult to attract and retain quality employees.

“In the minds of people who responded, there is a real issue here with work force mobility,” Kidder said. “And, obviously, as a business organization, that work force mobility is of extreme importance.”

On the other side, the Scottsdale Citizens Transportation Study Committee made up of business owners, residents and anti-rail activists, has brought to the debate a pair of wellknown out-of-town transit experts for public forums — both of whom oppose light rail.

Tom Silverman, owner of Chaparral Suites Resort, a former Scottsdale councilman and member of both the chamber and the citizen study group, said he was not surprised by the chamber’s position or the response of its members.

“It’s the chamber’s goal to get as much growth and density into a city as possible, and it’s everyone else’s job to not let that happen in Scottsdale,” Silverman said.

As for the non-scientific survey, Silverman did not put much weight into the results.

“The people answering it are developers and big employers — that’s who it is all about,” Silverman said.

Kidder said the chamber surveyed via e-mail roughly 1,500 of its 2,000 members for whom the organization had active e-mail addresses. The survey was conducted between Feb. 2-12. Each business, no matter its size, received one vote, Kidder said.

Thirty-one percent of respondents came from the Scottsdale Airpark area, 27 percent from midtown, 19 percent from downtown, 12 percent from south Scottsdale and 11 percent from north Scottsdale. In all, 58 percent lived within one mile of Scottsdale Road, and 67 percent had 25 employees or less.

The survey shows 76 percent of companies said fewer than 1 percent of their work forces carpool or use public transit.