Tucson lives in the shadow of Phoenix, a city whose metro area is several times larger than Tucson's and which dominates Arizona and the entire Southwest. We need to make the presence of Phoenix an asset, not a liability. We can do that by building a true high speed rail link between Phoenix and Tucson.
We read last week how fewer and fewer airlines serve Tucson Int'l Airport. If we had a 200 mph+ train running on dedicated lines you could reach either city in under an hour, thereby permitting area residents and businesses to use Sky Harbor Airport easily.
Phoenix area businesses would open branches here if their employees could be whisked here inside of an hour. Even better, Phoenix businesses operating here would slowly raise the pay scales for the Tucson workforce.
Tourism would get a shot in the arm as visitors could fly into Sky Harbor instead of dealing with TIA, and visitors to the Phoenix area could easily add on trips to the Old Pueblo. Tucsonans could more easily visit Phoenix's many attractions.
Finally, there's two large groups that tend to either avoid driving or don't have vehicles: senior and college students. Such a link would enable them to travel to either city and patronize its various attractions and businesses.
The cost would be over $1 Billion, but the dividends would be huge, and expanding the highway wouldn't be much cheaper and not add any of the benefits I outlined above.
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As someone whose work requires periodic trips to Phoenix, I am heartily in favor of this proposal. Having lived in both Asia and Europe, where efficient and relatively cheap public transportation of this type made life so convenient, I would love to see us put a priority on developing this kind of infrastructure.
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