Light rail ridership exceeds expectation (Phoenix, Scottsdale: construction, schools, subsidized)

[buckeyenative01]

I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm curious to see how many people are willing to wait for any length of time at one of the stations when its 116 in July.

[silverbear]

Originally Posted by buckeyenative01

I'm cautiously optimistic. I'm curious to see how many people are willing to wait for any length of time at one of the stations when its 116 in July.

I agree that it will be interesting to see how much habits change in the summer heat, but I think it's important not to jump to a conclusion that a ridership decrease in the summer is automatically due to weather.

I'm 100% certain that passenger counts will decrease in the summer, but they will do so for a lot of reasons, many of them the same reasons why freeway traffic loads are lower in the summer:

-- fewer seasonal residents and tourists
-- more locals on vacation
-- fewer students commuting to and from high schools, colleges, and universities
-- fewer major events drawing crowds to Downtown Phoenix and Tempe

I'm sure that die-hard rail opponents will jump all over any decrease in passenger counts with a hearty "I told you so," but before reaching any conclusions it would be helpful to compare seasonal fluctuations in rail ridership with seasonal fluctuations in hotel occupancy, restaurant sales, etc. Almost every activity in Phoenix slows down in the summer, so the only question will be if light rail slows down more than others.

[Valley Native]

I'm wondering what will happen when (not if) the electricity goes out ... such as during one of our powerful monsoon storms in the summer. And the power outages aren't always a result of storms. Just last week, mylar balloons supposedly caused a massive power outage in parts of Tempe. If the electrical grid is THAT sensitive to a mylar balloon, then something is definitely wrong. Are the rail lines on a backup system in case the juice is suddenly cut (which seems to be too often)? I'd hate to think of hundreds of people stuck on a train with no movement, no air flow, and no way to exit.

I have to agree about being cautiously optimistic. Light rail is what was the majority of voters wanted, so we got what we asked for. However, things like power outages, and the defective sensors certainly need to be worked out ... otherwise there will continue to be accidents & other unpleasant/tragic situations, which will only give the strong opponents of light rail even more fuel to express their rage.

[Jimrob1]

Originally Posted by chandlerguy

Ridership may be up because useful alternatives like the red line bus were cancelled, and because ASU kids are being coerced into using it. Surely nobody would use that trolley car if they had a real choice.

I would and so should you. Im sorry but when you live in large Metro areas you learn to take a train or use your legs. Im real real sorry but the days of using a car for driving all over is coming to an end.

[Jimrob1]

How much is the light rail in phoenix, it is $2.30 here in Portland. I hope it is a big success there and they get on the move and extend it with other lines. Phoenix is huge and so sprawled out, this was really needed 2 decades ago. Better late than never though.

[silverbear]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

How much is the light rail in phoenix, it is $2.30 here in Portland. I hope it is a big success there and they get on the move and extend it with other lines. Phoenix is huge and so sprawled out, this was really needed 2 decades ago. Better late than never though.

Currently, $1.25 one way and $2.50 for a day pass.

Those rates are well below national norms and are likely to increase in a few months under a proposal now being discussed.

[ArizonaBear]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

I would and so should you. Im sorry but when you live in large Metro areas you learn to take a train or use your legs. Im real real sorry but the days of using a car for driving all over is coming to an end.

I may be a 'car dude': but; I tend to agree with you concerning large congested metro areas-----------driving and especially parking can be a real pain.

[zenkonami]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

I would and so should you. Im sorry but when you live in large Metro areas you learn to take a train or use your legs. Im real real sorry but the days of using a car for driving all over is coming to an end.

I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry at all

[roosevelt]

The Phoenix area is more spread out than metropolitan; there is parking everywhere except maybe the old downtown. People are not going to give up driving for Light Rail. Projected traffic for Light Rail is only 10% of the cost of running it. This will be a tax drain forever.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by roosevelt

The Phoenix area is more spread out than metropolitan; there is parking everywhere except maybe the old downtown. People are not going to give up driving for Light Rail. Projected traffic for Light Rail is only 10% of the cost of running it. This will be a tax drain forever.

It would have been a lot smarter to take the billion and buy a million Vespas for the yuppies in the east Valley. It's cool and green to be seen on Vespa too.