[Source: Glen Creno, Arizona Republic] — The state Department of Transportation has won a $1 million federal grant to help pay for a study of passenger rail service between Tucson and Phoenix. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Arizona will match the $1 million with funds from state, local, tribal, and private sources. The money is for the first year of an environmental impact statement.
Rail service connecting the two cities has been talked about for years. Most recently, it was proposed as part of a statewide transportation-funding initiative that failed to make this year’s ballot. Planners say the line would run through a developing “megapolitan” — an uber-urban mass of development that would merge the two cities.
Downtown Voices Coalition 