​​​Transport Groups

Transport Groups is a Web3 solution that uses smart contracts to link interdependent assets before they are provided. In this case, financing passenger rail is linked with car-free housing before either of them are built. 

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20,000 car-free homes, planned between Phoenix and Tucson, could eliminate 40,000 private vehicles, saving an estimated $20 billion over the lifespan of the housing. The combined capital cost of building housing and passenger rail is approximately $8 billion. By including $6,000 per year in rent over 65 years, this investment can be recovered. In return, tenants receive digital tokens linked to the railway’s value, giving them a long term stake in the transport infrastructure they depend on; turning rent into equity. Investor returns come from two sources:

• Short-term Voluntary Carbon Credits (VCCs), validated by reductions in car ownership, possibly paid via road usage charging.

• A long-term transport supplement, paid by tenants and other users through rent and pay-per-use services, which ensures sustainable funding for shared mobility linked to the railway.

 

Transport Groups are Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAO) that allow providers and users to co-own and govern the development of new transport services.

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Phoenix to Tucson

Since sabotage of the tracks at Harqua in 1995, and resulting rail crash, the Amtrak service between LA and Tucson has been diverted south via Maricopa. This has left Phoenix as the only state capital in the US to have no intercity passenger rail. A feasibility study, for a new line between Phoenix and Tucson, was conducted in 2016 but there has been no progress since. Capital costs at that time were estimated to be $4 billion. Project Video and Tier 1 EIS report.

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Meanwhile the Brightline West project, to build High-Speed Rail between Southern California and Las Vegas, broke ground on 22nd April 2024, Wes Eden interview. There are still proposals to develop new rail projects in Arizona but there is currently a financial stalemate, and an overall reduction in federal funding for high speed rail projects.

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Forming a Transport Group could link passenger rail between Phoenix and Tucson with the development of car-free homes in Maricopa and Pinal counties. Its smart contract would manage a pay-per-use rate, combining both the capital and operational costs. Based on housing by Opticos Design and the example of car-free housing in Tempe by Culdesac, new residents would be able to go car-free, and develop new transport infrastructure.

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Other possible 'Passenger Rail plus Car-free Housing' projects: 

• The Koralm Railway in Austria linking Vienna with Klagenfurt 

• The ALTO High-Speed Rail Network linking Toronto with Quebec City

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​Members of the Transport Group for the use case in Arizona:

• Car-free housing developer Culdesac

• High speed rail developer Brightline West, or Amtrak 

• Arizona DOT

• Car drivers' pay-per-mile RUC charges

• Carbon Credits: Gold Standard