A plan to expand bus routes and add a light rail system through the center of Tucson contains some good ideas, but is too expensive and doesn't provide a comprehensive mass transit solution to the city's traffic problem.

Propositions 200 and 201, which propose a 0.3 percent sales tax increase to cover the cost of an expanded bus system, as well as a new light rail system and a lengthening of the Old Pueblo Trolley, could pump $60 million per year into these changes over the next 20 years.

The light rail, which would begin construction in 2010, would run along East Sixth Street past the UA and through much of midtown Tucson. Buses would also run more frequently in highly trafficked areas and an express bus system would run to some outer areas of the city.

If money were no object, the proposition would be worth the effort. If buses ran more frequently, more UA students, faculty and staff might ride them to school. People might be attracted to the novelty of a light rail, though if it didn't prove to be convenient, the novelty would wear off quickly.

But the proposal isn't worth the $1 billion gamble.

It's too costly a venture to implement without some assurance that it'll pay off. And very few of us students will be around to reap the plan's benefits.

For the UA, it could mean more people commuting to campus by public transportation, especially as surface parking lots are replaced with parking garages and more people don't want to pay for expensive garage permits.

But addressing that problem would require only a bus system expansion in the city's center, which would cost a small fraction of the total price tag on the current transportation plan.

Better bus service around the UA would ease the city's problem as it relates to the UA, but to really address it across the Tucson metropolitan area, any mass transportation plan must include a far more comprehensive solution for involving outlying areas like the Catalina Foothills and Oro Valley.

The plan would spend too much money on solving a problem that could be fixed for less.

OPINIONS BOARD
Opinions are determined by the Wildcat opinions board and written by one of its members. They are Shane Dale, Kristina Dunham, Brett Fera, Caitlin Hall and Jeff Sklar.