Taking the Metro, Tempe to Scottsdale

[Java Jolt]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

There are some advantages to using public transport, and some disadvantages. It's different for each passenger on each trip. The OP seems interested in bus routes and park-and-rides due to concerns about potential parking costs at an unnamed Scottsdale workplace. ubba -- why not just contact the HR department at your future workplace and ask if there is a charge for parking? That seems like the quickest way to know if all this is necessary.

Very well-written.

One of the disadvantages is not being close enough to a bus route or light rail, many parts of the west valley have this disadvantage especially since light rail doesn't go anywhere west of 19th Avenue for now.

Light rail doesn't go into Scottsdale either and it seems they wanted it that way.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by Java Jolt

Very well-written.

One of the disadvantages is not being close enough to a bus route or light rail, many parts of the west valley have this disadvantage especially since light rail doesn't go anywhere west of 19th Avenue for now.

Light rail doesn't go into Scottsdale either and it seems they wanted it that way.

Thanks. Light rail will head west in the years to come. There are two or three extensions that will go to points west of I-17. Scottsdale, on the other hand, is unlikely to see light rail in our lifetimes.

[Java Jolt]

Originally Posted by exit2lef

Thanks. Light rail will head west in the years to come. There are two or three extensions that will go to points west of I-17. Scottsdale, on the other hand, is unlikely to see light rail in our lifetimes.

There are even plans to expand light rail to the southwest valley eventually but that won't be for many years.

Meanwhile people who live in the west valley are stuck with mediocre bus service and congested freeways because the east valley got the majority of transportation projects.

Scottsdale doesn't have enough demand for light rail or even expanded bus service, many people there think public transportation is beneath them.

[Valley Native]

Originally Posted by Java Jolt

There are even plans to expand light rail to the southwest valley eventually but that won't be for many years.

Meanwhile people who live in the west valley are stuck with mediocre bus service and congested freeways because the east valley got the majority of transportation projects.

Scottsdale doesn't have enough demand for light rail or even expanded bus service, many people there think public transportation is beneath them.

When the plans were originally drawn up for mass transit expansion many years ago, the east Valley had the most growth & the highest demand ... therefore, that's where the majority of freeways & transit improvements went. Of course, light rail is big in the centralized areas because that's where most of the transit ridership takes place.

The west Valley will see its share of improvements in years to come ... however, don't count on a massive expansion anytime soon. For one thing, the growth in the west Valley is not great as people predicted a few years ago. The growth rate has actually slowed down compared to 10+ years ago. Another thing is transportation funding has slowed, and ADOT once again has failed to deliver what they promised the voters when they approved all those new freeway projects in 2004!

[Java Jolt]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

When the plans were originally drawn up for mass transit expansion many years ago, the east Valley had the most growth & the highest demand ... therefore, that's where the majority of freeways & transit improvements went. Of course, light rail is big in the centralized areas because that's where most of the transit ridership takes place.

The west Valley will see its share of improvements in years to come ... however, don't count on a massive expansion anytime soon. For one thing, the growth in the west Valley is not great as people predicted a few years ago. The growth rate has actually slowed down compared to 10+ years ago. Another thing is transportation funding has slowed, and ADOT once again has failed to deliver what they promised the voters when they approved all those new freeway projects in 2004!

In the last decade the growth rate in the west valley has outpaced the east valley and continues to do so.

That is why the 2004 transportation tax included most of the new freeways for the west valley.

If ADOT broke ground on those new freeways in 2005 or 2006 there would have been some reliever routes to ease the I-10 congestion.

I'm sure the double-dip recession put a damper on many of the transportation projects but it would be nice for the west valley to have a little less congestion and some other options besides just I-10.