The Goddard Plan for Transportation
Arizona’s ability to lure new businesses to help our economy, provide seniors and people with disabilities the opportunity to live independently, create better access to health care and education opportunities, and improve our air quality depends on our transportation system. Unfortunately, transportation has not been a priority for Governor Brewer. As a result, we still suffer from crippling congestion in our cities and poorly maintained roads in rural Arizona. Funding that was dedicated to transit and road repair has been siphoned off to the General Fund while our transportation opportunities slip through the fingers of Governor Brewer.
As your Governor, I will move immediately and decisively to address our most serious transportation issues that will impact every Arizonan and develop the transportation system that will provide jobs and improve our quality of life well beyond the next decade.
I will:
- Get Arizona’s Fair Share of Transportation Taxes Back
Currently, we pay more in gas taxes to the federal government than we get back. For a growing state with so many transportation and transit needs, that’s inexcusable. Arizona has been one of the fastest growing states in the nation for over a decade but federal investment in our interstate system and transit components has lagged too many other states. This diversion of our tax dollars to other states puts Arizona at a competitive disadvantage when we are trying to welcome new businesses and encourage existing businesses to expand. As Congress begins drafting the Transportation Reauthorization bill, I will make sure this injustice is addressed. - Stop Diverting Local Transportation Funds to the General Fund
Cities, towns and counties depend on lottery funds and vehicle license taxes to provide critical road and transit services. Governor Brewer has swept, diverted, and ended those funding streams. Without them, local roads and streets will not be built or repaired, seniors and people with disabilities will lose their rides to doctors and pharmacies, students will lose their way to school, and thousands of workers will have make our roads more congested as they use their own cars to drive to work. As Governor, I will reinstate these funds as part of my overall policy of making sure funds generated for specific purposes go where they were raised to go. That means transportation and transit funding will go back into roads and rides, not the General Fund. - Stop Diverting Aviation Funds to the General Fund
Once again, Governor Brewer has seen fit to take fees paid for the improvement of our airports and divert them to the General Fund. In addition to being unfair to the Arizonans who pay those fees, it is incredibly short sighted for our economic future. Airports, both large and small, are a critical component of our transportation system that business needs to move people and goods. - Use Public/Private Partnerships to Fund Transportation Projects, Provide Jobs
Despite having a new Public/Private Partnership law that encourages the Department of Transportation to work with the private sector to help build the roads and transit we so desperately need, Governor Brewer has not moved one project forward in her nearly two years in office. As your Governor, I will reverse that trend and join with the private sector to build as much as $100 million a year in transportation infrastructure. Public/ Private Partnerships are being used successfully in many states and they should be a staple here in Arizona. Preliminary estimates indicate there are billions of dollars of transportation opportunities in Arizona waiting to be developed. Since these transportation projects have the potential to create thousands of jobs in our devastated construction industry, they will be an immediate priority of my administration. - Take Advantage of Road, Rail and Transit Opportunities
For our economy, quality of life, and our environment, we must constantly adapt our transportation system to serve the needs of Arizonans. As our cities become more densely populated, we must seek out transit options that will reduce congestion and save people valuable time commuting. As our towns and counties in rural Arizona continue to grow, we must find efficient ways to keep our communities connected. But these decisions cannot be made in a vacuum. Funding decisions for our transportation system must make economic sense for users and taxpayers alike. Whether these decisions are at the local, regional, state, or federal level, we must be looking forward and planning for the transportation system we will need to remain a competitive economy and to provide the mobility we need for all Arizonans.
