Light rail

[mchaves]

I've gotten a lot of opinions on the light rail -- none of them positive. Is there anyone out there who supports it? I don't have a strong opinion either way at this point and don't know all the details about it, but I'd like to open this up to a larger group and see what others think about it.

[modeddie]

I'm counting the seconds until the first train runs. I work near downtown Tempe and live in central Phx (and bought my house in part to be near the l.r.), and plan to use it almost every day of the week. With luck my car will rust in my garage from disuse. (If only Sprouts or Trader Joe's were on the light rail route, I'd sell my car.)

A more complicated question is how much it will benefit phx as a whole. I visit Dallas once or twice a year and for what it's worth, ridership there seems quite high. I'm hopeful it will be here as well. Unlike Dallas, the lr here willl be useful for getting to and from the airport, if I understand the plans correctly.

[matthew]

i can imagine taking it to the airport. good for games and events too.

i think it will benefit the neighborhoods close to it. which is a great thing, for those neighborhoods. a solution to the metropolitan transit issues? no.

[JC]

Every major West Coast City seems to have some form of mass transit transportation. Downtown Phx used to have a trolley system running down Central back when it was buzzing in the 40's.
I love it. It will be huge for Phoenix.

If not immediately- give it 5 years...
It gives a designated area to plant seeds.
Little growth seeds- and soon the entire mile E or W of the Rail will be beefed up with developments.

It is very functional.
How great would it be to live in say, Landmark on Central or Century Plaza. Take the rail to a Suns game, Roosevelt Tavern, D-backs game, Majerles, Fate, eventually Cityscape or Warehouse Entertainment District... a gym, to work Downtown.
Give ASU time to infect the area (buzzing nightlife and energy hopefully)....
I am a believer.

pssst:
"If you build it, they will come"... ch-ch-ch

[bryaninaz]

I was looking at some maps on the Phoenix Light Rail website ( http://www.valleymetro.org/METRO_light_rail ) and was shocked to see that the light rail will not go to the airport it will instead have People Mover Trams between the airport and light rail station. Here is a link to an article that goes more in depth on the reasons why.

http://www.trainnet.org/cgi-bin/dcforum ... CForumID24

[mchaves]

I noticed that too about the airport when I looked at the plans. I think that is a big oversight in the plan. The "people mover" thing, which is undoubtedly just a bus, is better than nothing, but a lot of people are going to feel it is too complicated. It was a big opportunity to get riders who might not otherwise use the system to be exposed to it.

I feel optimistic about the rail on the whole. I really want it to be successful.

[MrX]

I think that the city should just go all out and splurge on some heavy rail.

[JC]

In time the rail may end up connecting to the airport. The important thing is the first stretch, and getting it approved in the first place.

This is just the beginning.
It may also shoot down Scottsdale road all the way to airpark, (Although I don't think I like the idea).
I would like it to connect to Sky Song though (connect three ASU branches). There was also talk of the rail shooting down the I-10 all the way to Westgate. -Mixed feelings on that one too.

Here's a thread on Light Rail if you want more info:
http://www.phxloftnetwork.com/forum/vie ... 28&start=0

I would think that in time the rail may get approved to connect with Sky Harbor. (Next 5 years or so)
I cannot remember why it isn't connected currently, Phoenix is known for having the major W Coast airport- but if memory serves me correctly, I think there was a good argument for why it isn't going in currently.

[MrX]

They probably want to see if anybody is going to use it before they try to shoehorn it into the airport cluster.

[Mama_Tee]

MoEddie:
The Northwest Extension of the light rail system
http://www.valleymetro.org/METRO_light_rail/Downloads/Publications/Fact%20Sheets/NW%20Extension%20factsht.pdf
will travel from Spectrum Mall up 19th Ave, past the Sprouts at Northern and 19th and continue on up to MetroCenter Mall where there is a Trader Joe's. Unfortunately, it won't open till 2012, but it is coming!!

[modeddie]

Moma_Tee,

If my car makes it till the NW passage is open (as little as I plan to drive it, it should), it'll be on the market then. Any bids for a 99 Subaru Forester, delivery date 2012?

[PatintheHeights]

Adding to an old topic,
I was disappointed with spending all the money and going with the in-the-street design. It has to go thru all the intersections and lights, it's going to be s-l-o-w, probably only average 20 mph. Maybe 25.
I wanted to see something cool (and modern!) like a monorail! Swoop over the cross streets. Dip down to little slightly elevated platforms for stops. Swish along 20 or 30 feet up, admiring palm trees and architecture, sneering at the cars stuck on the streets..... Or at least an elevated light rail design like the People Mover in Morgantown WVa or in some other cities. They have a short-line version in Vegas.
It's costing us - can you believe - about $70 Million per mile. I think we could have got something more than what will run about the same speed as a bus.
It will still be of benefit to the areas it comes close to. Probably about 1/4 mile either side of the route. Linking in with bus routes will help some too. But they were afraid to be daring.

[mchaves]

I do think the light rail will change Phoenix and hopefully for the better. Phoenix has never been great at city planning so there are clearly a number of problems and oversights that will need to be tackled once it starts operating. I have to say I'm optimistic that they'll get the bugs worked out and that it will be great new addition to the city.

I do think the airport/people mover thing is a huge oversight in planning and lacks vision -- I think that would have been the no-brainer way of getting the people to use it who might not otherwise have used it. If you can get those people to buy in, it is a win for everyone. Instead, you'll probably just get a lot of people feeling aggrevated by the people mover buses.

[modernlover]

I wanted to see something cool (and modern!) like a monorail!

A monorail?! Which would cast a shadow and create 13 inches of shade?! God forbid.

[PixelPixie]

Pick up a copy of Phoenix Metropolitan for more Downtown Redux and 'pinions on the rail. Just in case. You. Didn't. Get. Enough.

http://www.phxmetropolitan.com/