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In addition to having one of the largest light rail systems in the country, San Diego is serviced by Metrolink, Sprinter, and Coaster commuter rail. We also have two Amtrak stations in city limits and four major Amtrak stations in the county that depart 12 times everyday northbound.
In addition to this we obviously have bus and BRT, with real time tracking apps like One Bus Away. We were also one of the first cities to get scooters, and Uber and Lyft offer more ride options here than in many other metros.
Would you be able to explain how Ann Arbor and Rochester have a superior transit network?
SD may be worse than some other West Coast cities, but it's better than most Sun Belt cities.
Aside from Chicago, which Midwest cities have good transit systems? The West Coast generally does significantly better than the Midwest. You've got LA, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, San Diego. Those cities probably have better transit than any Midwest city not named Chicago.
I meant more that the built form is already there for good public transit, due mostly in part to the cities having been built in the pre-car era. As for Phoenix, it has its limitations since it was built for cars. But it seems to be on a good path to getting solid public transit despite its suburban built form. Especially compared to some of the older Midwest cities that really have no solid rail transit anymore, even though they may have in the past.
Phoenix has the very worst public transit system. I agree. I cant imagine standing outside in 110 degree weather while waiting for the bus. I lived there 11 years and never saw anyone ride a bus. Light rail is a joke.
In addition to having one of the largest light rail systems in the country, San Diego is serviced by Metrolink, Sprinter, and Coaster commuter rail. We also have two Amtrak stations in city limits and four major Amtrak stations in the county that depart 12 times everyday northbound.
In addition to this we obviously have bus and BRT, with real time tracking apps like One Bus Away. We were also one of the first cities to get scooters, and Uber and Lyft offer more ride options here than in many other metros.
Would you be able to explain how Ann Arbor and Rochester have a superior transit network?
Minneapolis, Pittsburgh and Buffalo all have pretty similar per capita ridership rates to San Diego. While Rochester is not that much lower.
Phoenix has the very worst public transit system. I agree. I cant imagine standing outside in 110 degree weather while waiting for the bus. I lived there 11 years and never saw anyone ride a bus. Light rail is a joke.
You must not have looked very hard. Phoenix light rail has more riders per mile than Denver or Dallas.
Phoenix has horrible mass transit, but it isn't clear to me how Phoenix has notable worse mass transit than Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and a host of other cities. The only real disadvantage is that Phoenix is dangerously hot much of the year, with crazy UV readings, so it really isn't safe to be baking on a sidewalk, waiting for a bus that never comes.
Why is Phoenix mass transit horrible? You can land at one of the top 15 busiest airports in the country, take the sky train directly from any of the 3 terminals to the LRT connection at 44th street and from there you're in 2 of the cities largest job hubs within 5-6 stops, being downtown Phoenix or downtown Tempe. You can also connect to downtown Mesa but that's not nearly as developed as the other 2.
What I just described is literally not possible in Detroit, Indy or KC so I rank Phoenix above all 3 of those. Even in Boston you're getting on a bus to get to the train from Logan.
Indeed! This was just the topic of an article in the NYT about how the Koch brothers overt funding nationwide towards dismantling all public funding for transit experienced a rare rebuke from the voters in Phoenix, unlike areas like Nashville where they had a great opportunity towards finally setting up some much needed infrastructure in that fast growing and traffic plagued city.
Not that it will solve the entrenched issues with the sprawl of the city but it is a much needed start towards building for the future.
Exactly! And you're right, it won't fix or immediately change the original design of Phoenix but it will continue to add momentum to infill development which the initial 28 mile line has been extremely successful at doing. Phoenix and Tempe have grown up to a great degree in the last 20 years and now Tempe is adding a street car to connect it's 3 developing urban areas being along the lake, on mill ave and down Apache.
Phoenix will always have sprawl but in the past it never had any real urban areas, now you're seeing downtown Phoenix and Tempe offering true urban living options that flat out didn't exist 20 years ago.
SD is about on par with Dallas. They both have extensive LRT and CRT systems, but no HRT.
Same as Seattle? What really sets Seattle apart from these two for now I would think would be buses. I would think the same for Dallas and San Diego. But I've only ridden light rail and commuter rail in San Diego and Dallas so it's hard for me to say.
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No, Phoenix is in fact the Worst
