Final Report - Pima Association of Governments

High Capacity Transit System Plan - Final Report June 2009
Refined Corridor Assessment
infill and redevelopment while managing congestion; these MMTDs place secondary priority on
automobiles and primary priority on alternative modes such as transit. Other potential means of
building support for converting general‐purpose lanes to dedicated HCT lanes are incremental
implementation of the conversion and pilot studies.
The project team also notes that transit preferential treatments may improve transit reliability
even if they do not reduce the potential for delay. Additionally, transit preferential treatments
that are not effective during the peak hour may be effective during less‐congested hours. More
detailed assessment of transit preferential treatments is therefore necessary as project
development moves forward.
Possible Environmental Impacts
Environmental impacts (including impacts on endangered species habitats, water quality, and
floodplains) may occur if new roadways are constructed or if sizeable new HCT‐related facilities
such as a maintenance garage or park‐and‐ride lots are constructed. The project team identified
where such impacts might be likely in the corridors. Environmental impacts are not likely where
HCT will operate on existing streets or where facilities such as park‐and‐ride lots are integrated
into existing developments. HCT may positively affect the environment in terms of air quality
and energy use.
Rail Owner/Operator Cooperation
This criterion is applicable to CRT only. Detailed study by the Arizona Department of
Transportation (ADOT) is underway related to a potential high‐speed passenger rail corridor that
connects Tucson and Phoenix. The project team assessed relevant findings from this effort, as
high‐speed rail and CRT are likely to use the same tracks and stations in the Tucson region. The
high‐speed rail study does not analyze any passenger rail services south or east of downtown
Tucson.
Impacts on Title VI Communities and Transit-Dependent Populations
This criterion addresses the impact of HCT on specific demographic groups. These are groups
with the highest propensity to use transit (“transit‐dependent populations”) and the groups that
are the focus of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Input data for this assessment is Census tract data
from the PAG model.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act requires that “no person shall on the grounds of race, color, sex,
age, disability, or national origin, as provided by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the
Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 (P.L. 100.259), be excluded from participation in, be denied
the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity.” The
United States Department of Transportation (DOT) requires involving the public at all stages of
the project in an effort to ensure that every transportation project nationwide considers the
human and physical environment. There are three fundamental justice principles:
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