The past year and a half has been a very busy time for all of us. ARPA has seen some very important actions taken by the Legislature and the Governor. House Bill 2280 was passed by the House and the Senate and signed by Governor Symington last June. This legislation established a Joint Legislative Study Committee to investigate the possibility of a Regional Rail service in Arizona. Recently, a consortium headed by Kimley-Horn and Associates of Denver was awarded a contract to validate the feasibility of such a system. We can take direct credit for these actions for it was our initial White Paper on the same subject released in March of last year that spurred officials to take a look at and to sponsor Regional Rail legislation. We owe a great big thanks to Rep. Lela Steffey (Rep. Mesa) for taking great interest in this idea and getting it on track.
Our Adopt-A-Depot program has been instrumental in getting many small problems fixed at the Amtrak stops around the State, and in some cases major upgrades have occurred due to our concern. Benson now has a new platform, Phoenix will soon have new restrooms and a renovated ticket area, Flagstaff will be totally remodeled and Tucson has been designated for a major upgrade soon.
And, we can't say enough about our Arizona Rail Express Demonstration Train and Phoenix Union Station Days. Our Association and several major corporations sponsored the Demonstration Train to introduce our elected officials and civic leaders to the concept of Regional Rail. We owe a special thanks to General Motors, Bombardier, Southern Pacific, Amtrak, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette and to the many other organizations who stepped up to make the demonstration possible. We had over 200 riders and the feedback and the media coverage was especially positive.
The Annual Meeting and Banquet will be held this year [1993] on July 24th at Oscar Taylor's in the Biltmore Center. The Center is located in north central Phoenix on Camelback Road. The time for the event is 12 noon. The program will be packed with information about what we have done this past year and where we are headed over the next couple years. Mark your calendar as these are important times for us and we want to make sure you are kept up to date on all of ARPA's plans. The cost will $15 in advance and $16 at the door. Send or call in your reservations early!
More volunteers are needed to become Adopt-A-Depot Members and it is best if there is more than one person per Amtrak Station. This results in many more accomplishments. Remember, every little bit helps and many small achievements make for major progress. To add your name to the Adopt-A-Depot rolls please call the Association.