It’s been a while since I’ve done a story about the updates that the Rail Passengers Association has been emailing, but this one looks important.
Arizona Department of Transportation Taken Hostage
Arizona State Senator [A.S.S.] Jake Hoffman has taken the Arizona Department of Transportation hostage, saying he’d rather see the agency eliminated than allow the state to move forward with the development of a passenger train line between Phoenix and Tucson.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist inserting that “[A.S.S.]” into the original paragraph. Also, Jake Hoffman is one of Arizona’s eleven fake electors from 2020. His current district is the 15th, which was created (gerrymandered?) in 2022.
Hoffman’s tactics are new; I can’t recall an official who was so against the idea of a new train that, to prevent a new service from being introduced, he was willing to eliminate the agency in charge of building roads, maintaining bridges, and overseeing municipal airports.
Emphasis mine.
However, his arguments against passenger trains are certainly a retread.
This type of short-sightedness does not benefit the communities of Phoenix and Tucson and isn’t that what a state senator should be focused on?
During the press conference where he announced his hostage-taking, State Sen. Hoffman claimed “the people” don’t want it. He said Americans love automobiles too much to ride a train. He claimed passenger trains will block the movement of freight rail. And he said a train service would be a waste of money.
These arguments are tired enough that I won’t waste your time debunking them yet again. Anyone arguing that Americans don’t want to ride trains simply has to try to book a room on an Amtrak sleeper car to be confronted with the indisputable evidence to the contrary.
What’s different this time around is that—thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—there is significant, multi-year investment in passenger rail programs. So whatever Mr. Hoffman thinks about passenger trains, states across the nation are applying to the U.S. Department of Transportation for grants to fund new and expanded passenger rail corridors across the country. The only thing Mr. Hoffman’s bill would do is harm Arizonans looking for alternatives to overcrowded highways and airports and spike the ambitions of small towns in Arizona looking for improved economic connections to larger markets.
Fortunately, it doesn’t look like Mr. Hoffman has the horses. Governor Katie Hobbs is opposed to the bill. And while many are attempting to frame the issue as partisan (State Sen. Hoffman is a Republican, Gov. Hobbs is a Democrat), many of Arizona’s Republicans support expanded passenger rail service in the state and throughout the Southwest. (We should know! They’re our members!)
— Jim Mathews, CEO, R.P.A.