Figure 5. Metropolitan Phoenix Commuter Rail
ARPA recommends the establishment of commuter service to provide another opportunity to link people to major employment, educational, and entertainment destinations with multiple-trip daily rail passenger service. Such service would complement the urban freeway system, and the light rail lines soon to be constructed, by generating rail passengers from suburban areas beyond light rail service.
Commuter service in this corridor requires close integration with other urban transit services and private taxicab and shuttle services. Only with such integration will the investment in commuter rail service achieve its potential. ARPA further suggests the opportunity for a multi-modal transportation terminal in the vicinity of Sky Harbor International Airport. Here, the initial metropolitan Phoenix light rail transit line, a people mover proposed to connect Sky Harbor's passenger terminals and car rental facilities, the previously recommended Phoenix/Tucson high speed rail passenger line, commuter rail, urban buses, and intercity buses would all meet for passenger interconnection.
ARPA also recommends that stations at Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa become commuter rail interfaces with the Phoenix/Tucson high speed rail passenger line, intersecting urban light rail transit lines, urban buses, and intercity buses. The Glendale station should be similarly considered as a transportation hub, including most of these complementary rail and bus passenger services.
Figure 6. Metropolitan Tucson Commuter Rail
Commuter service in the corridor extending from Avra Valley Road in Marana to the Raytheon Plant in Southern Tucson would provide daily connection from growing northwest residential areas to expanding employment centers in central and southern Tucson, including Tucson International Airport. This commuter service could also be an Interstate 10 construction mitigation candidate, recognizing the major disruption that will be caused by widening I-10 through Tucson.
The Tucson railroad station would be the hub of this proposed commuter rail service. 22 urban bus lines radiate from the nearby Ronstadt Transit Center, and the Old Pueblo Trolley will be extended to reach the railroad station (see page *). The Phoenix/Tucson high speed rail passenger line proposed above and intercity buses are also planned as services to the Tucson station, making it an important intermodal transfer point.