The Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) announced that they will be updating its State Rail Plan last week, with an eye on freight and passenger rail needs and improvements, and will also seek public input about what should be included.
They have launched a bilingual survey available for both the public and stakeholders that they hope will give them insight into what their rail systems need most. For their plan itself, ADOT will focus on the role of rail transportation in Arizona, identifying the state’s railroad assets, traffic and associated factors that will impact transportation needs, determining freight rail and passenger rail needs, and then combining all of this into a dedicated rail service plan.
The latest information collection effort follows workshops held with stakeholders last year. ADOT said input gathered from those workshops would be included in the State Rail Plan that they hope to have finished by the end of this year.
Such updates to the State Rail Plan are required by the Federal Railroad Administration every four years. In this case, comments will be accepted until Aug. 10, 2018.