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Old 01-06-2009, 11:07 AM
 
Location: Yes
2,667 posts, read 6,779,210 times
Reputation: 908

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How many people actually ride it from end to end?

Here, stop-to-stop, my ride to work in a car was 10-15 minutes in good traffic, 20-25 in bad. The metro took exactly 17 min + 10 min walking time to house stop and 5 min walking from work stop ... which equals a plannable 32 minutes total. Which did I take? The metro. Why? Never had to deal with traffic stress, got good exercise, and it was very relaxing ... not to mention it just felt cool. Plus, I could put on my Ipod and enjoy walking ... which is much more than I can say for driving. Plus, I was also doing my part to clear up the congestion on the roads. Sure, it took me a few minutes longer than driving ... but I got up 10 minutes earlier to make up for that. It was worth the enjoyment/exercise.

 
Old 01-06-2009, 11:42 AM
 
7,076 posts, read 12,345,554 times
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I am curious. What are all of the attractions along the new light rail line in Phoenix (ie malls, theme parks, stadiums/arenas, museums, convention centers) stuff like that? These are all things that help boost ridership in other cities with rail.
 
Old 01-06-2009, 11:55 AM
 
549 posts, read 1,559,198 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by urbancharlotte View Post
I am curious. What are all of the attractions along the new light rail line in Phoenix (ie malls, theme parks, stadiums/arenas, museums, convention centers) stuff like that? These are all things that help boost ridership in other cities with rail.
Mill Avenue, ASU, Sky Harbor Airport, Phoenix Convention Center, CityScape (under construction), Chase Field (Diamondbacks), US Airways Center (Suns), City Hall, Phoenix Art Museum, Heard Museum, City Library, Christown Spectrum Mall, the Civic Center Space (under construction)...several, really.
 
Old 01-06-2009, 12:22 PM
 
Location: Mesa, Az
21,144 posts, read 42,128,260 times
Reputation: 3861
As for the 'socialist' factor: freeways also come to mind; never mind that all taxpayers fund them-------pedestrians are not usually allowed on them.

The above stated: freeways and Light Rail both have their uses.
 
Old 01-06-2009, 12:24 PM
 
Location: 602/520
2,441 posts, read 7,008,155 times
Reputation: 1815
Quote:
Originally Posted by urbancharlotte View Post
OK... Rail lovers and Rail haters, let me share some insight.

Rail lovers must understand that light rail is a political issue with the rail haters (ie-rail=socialism). Rail haters actually don't hate rail. They hate the socialistic funding of Rail.

Rail haters must understand that rail lovers are educated enough to know that socialistic funding pays for public schools, freeways, parks/recreation centers and pretty much everything else that society shares. Why can't it pay for rail (the option to move around nicely in a city without a car)?

Rail haters will call all rail projects "too expensive" and "government cronyism". They often say "buses would be better". The truth is they would protest tax money towards an all bus system too LOL!!! Trust me, they did here in Charlotte. They even tried to stop the transit tax here and failed by a margin of 70/30 at the polls.

Light rail is a little over a year old here and the results have been amazing. The development in Charlotte's most blighted areas is a dream come true. The new condos, shops, apartments, and offices along the current light rail line serves as a reminder that our community has taken a huge step forward. The suburban flight is being reversed by a little ole train. Who would have thought? Even our biggest rail haters here in NC are now "happy to see this train isn't the white elephant we thought it would be" is what they are saying now.

Again, hats off to Phoenix!!!
I am not crying socialism, nor am I against allocations for bus transit. I am against light-rail because it isn't necessary. It is blatantly obvious that you have never been to Phoenix. Charlotte's downtown is lightyears ahead of Phoenix. Light-rail in Charlotte is necessary. Light-rail began in Charlotte when the economy was in better shape. There are a number of headquarters and regional headquarters that have recently located in Downtown (Uptown ) Charlotte. That's not the case in Phoenix. The Phoenix area has more than 4 times the population of the Charlotte area. Our light-rail also travels on a longer route (9.6 miles vs. 20 miles). Therefore, to compare your tiny metro area to Phoenix's massive area makes no sense.
 
Old 01-06-2009, 12:25 PM
 
Location: 602/520
2,441 posts, read 7,008,155 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by urbancharlotte View Post
I am curious. What are all of the attractions along the new light rail line in Phoenix (ie malls, theme parks, stadiums/arenas, museums, convention centers) stuff like that? These are all things that help boost ridership in other cities with rail.
Nothing. This is exactly the point.
 
Old 01-06-2009, 12:30 PM
 
549 posts, read 1,559,198 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by miamiman View Post
The problem here is that Phoenix is simply moving too fast. This city is so hellbent on trying to be like Los Angeles or Philadelphia that it does not realize the foolish mistakes it making. We have a weaker downtown than ANY city in the United States with light-rail. Light-rail will not make downtown any less lame than it is now.
That's nonsense. We were downtown just two days ago and there were people walking around, getting on and off the train - with no Suns game, no Diamondbacks game. We ate at a new restaurant and saw people walking to and from the Dodge Theater.

Light rail has a singular advantage over buses in that it's a fixed, obvious track, with clear stations. Buses don't have that advantage. People use rail to get to specific spots and back. And that's exactly what they're doing. If you bring people downtown, the restaurants and bars start to open - exactly what happened in Denver in the early 1990's.
 
Old 01-06-2009, 12:44 PM
 
7,076 posts, read 12,345,554 times
Reputation: 6439
Quote:
Originally Posted by miamiman View Post
I am not crying socialism, nor am I against allocations for bus transit. I am against light-rail because it isn't necessary. It is blatantly obvious that you have never been to Phoenix. Charlotte's downtown is lightyears ahead of Phoenix. Light-rail in Charlotte is necessary. Light-rail began in Charlotte when the economy was in better shape. There are a number of headquarters and regional headquarters that have recently located in Downtown (Uptown ) Charlotte. That's not the case in Phoenix. The Phoenix area has more than 4 times the population of the Charlotte area. Our light-rail also travels on a longer route (9.6 miles vs. 20 miles). Therefore, to compare your tiny metro area to Phoenix's massive area makes no sense.
ROTFLMAO!!! You make Phoenix sound like it is sooooo far away (like in another country or something). The first thing that surprised me about Phoenix was the golf courses and the palm trees. I was also impressed with that massive cap over I-10 near downtown (I kinda thought I was driving through a tunnel). Phoenix looks a lot like LA in many ways and I like your city a lot. Oh yeah, I am a NYC native BTW. Charlotte has a lot of NYC natives you know LOL. I grew up in Charlotte, however I think Phoenix and Charlotte are both "tiny metros" to compare to the cities I have seen, so let's not get into a city vs. city debate because neither city screams urban or "big city" to me.

With that said, I have never lived in Phoenix but I have visited. I am aware of Phoenix's lack of a typical east coast downtown district. That still doesn't mean Phoenix doesn't need light rail. I think all medium large cities could use some form of rail.
 
Old 01-06-2009, 01:11 PM
 
73,007 posts, read 62,585,728 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chandlerguy View Post
I took the metro from end to end, and that is the last time I'll ride that over-glorified trolley car, even if gas is $10 a gallon. Round trip takes 3 hours not including the drive to the park-and-ride. It starts in the barrios of Mesa and ends at ChrisTown, a mall that was mostly out of business over 25 years ago. The only thing near the Chris-Town stop is a Target with bathrooms that are overused by passengers that have nowhere else to go.

I could walk faster!

The metro, or light rail, or whatever you want to call it goes from nothing to nothing, and in between we get to see the worst blight Phoenix has to offer. I never knew there were so many seedy motels, bulldozed buildings, and foreclosed condos in Phoenix.

Out of the 30 stops (not including stops at red lights) there are about 4 that go somewhere that sane humans would want to go to. Unfortunately everyone that rides this contraption will soon learn that the metro is the last choice on how to get to one of these spots. In almost all cases you will have to catch a bus after you get off the rail in order to go someplace useful -- or take a taxi. Why not just take the bus in the first place and save yourselves the hassle?

The Phoenix trolley replaced the red line bus, which was probably 5 times faster at a fraction of the cost. What kind of idiot besides mayor Phil Gordon would think that's a good idea?

Unlike the trolley in San Francisco that is useful for tourism, our trolley car serves no useful purpose. Nobody will use it and it clogs our already congested roads. It's powered by electricity that is generated by coal or natural gas, or our nuke at Palo Verde so forget the green thing.

QUESTION: So, for $1.4 billion how many busses could we have bought that runs on green fuels like bio-diesel?

ANSWER: About 500 busses!


What Phoenix needed was MAGLEV.

As for the buses, Phoenix could have used it.

Alot of cities have done mass rail transit the right way. Tokyo, London, New York. I know Phoenix is no NYC, or Tokyo, but if it designed its rail syatem based on that of Tokyo, maybe it would work better. MagLev runs on magnetic levitation. No pollution. The green buses are an idea too.
 
Old 01-06-2009, 01:39 PM
 
Location: Phoenix, AZ
1,108 posts, read 3,321,048 times
Reputation: 1109
It is not so much that the light rail wasn’t a good idea. It was done on too small a scale – too piecemeal.

ANY mass transit system is only a success when it can be used reliable and conveniently by commuters.
The trolley line is too short and too far from where people actually live and it does not connect them with where they work.
Also at the end of the day many of the riders who do try the system out are going to realize that could have just driven or taken the bus which defeats the purpose of the trolley.
Another complicating fact or is that the Valley has multiple, decentralized commercial/ industrial areas. Most of the Valley’s major employers are not located anywhere near downtown.
The only major group of riders I can that might sustain the current system will be ASU students and that remains to be seen.
I don't know if there are any future plans for major expansion. If there are - that could help.

The idea behind the trolley was actually very good but the planning fell short and took the wrong factors into consideration.
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