3.2.1 Introduction

 A primary strategy of the Surprise General Plan 2030 is to reduce dependence on the automobile in order to achieve multiple and interrelated goals including: increasing mobility, preserving and enhancing neighborhood character, improving air quality, and fostering compact development and a more walkable city. A greater reliance on public transportation will improve mobility by increasing the people-carrying capacity of the city’s transportation system. It will also decrease the environmental degradation caused by the growing use of single-occupant vehicles. The intent is to develop a transit system that supports as well as leads the development of Surprise’s village strategy as set forth by the Surprise General Plan 2030.

Surprise’s village strategy combines transit supportive changes in the city’s development pattern with a more complete and competitive intermodal public transportation system. Achieving growth targets based on cores and corridors is an important element of the village strategy. It provides more desirable investment in facilities ands service delivery systems to support areas where growth will occur and reflects local decisions and neighborhood priorities. This paradigm shift will require some major investments in transit infrastructure and services as well as changes in priorities for street use.