Would you like to see a commuter train within Phoenix?

[NAU Alumni]

In most cases (not all) Lightrail makes about as much sense as carpool lanes and on-ramp signals. Don't get me started on these stupid ideas.

Also, it doesn't make sense to spend so much of the taxpayers money for such a tiny percentage of the population. Assuming the previous poster was correct of riders being 1% of cummuters that means, in effect, that there would be a decrease of 1% in freeway traffic. I don't know the actual figures, but it seems to me that you could add a lane to most of your major congested areas of the freeway system. for example, add one lane to an allready existing 4 lane freeway and that would be a 25% increase in capacity.

25% vs 1%

you be the judge.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by NAU Alumni

In most cases (not all) Lightrail makes about as much sense as carpool lanes and on-ramp signals. Don't get me started on these stupid ideas.

Also, it doesn't make sense to spend so much of the taxpayers money for such a tiny percentage of the population. Assuming the previous poster was correct of riders being 1% of cummuters that means, in effect, that there would be a decrease of 1% in freeway traffic. I don't know the actual figures, but it seems to me that you could add a lane to most of your major congested areas of the freeway system. for example, add one lane to an allready existing 4 lane freeway and that would be a 25% increase in capacity.

25% vs 1%

you be the judge.

Continuous widening of freeways doesn't offer a long-term solution to congestion. Time and time again, we've seen freeways being widened only to have them become congested again within a few years. The same scenario is being played out right now with I-17. The road is being widened, and traffic will temporarily improve. Nevertheless, as soon as drivers see the lighter traffic and the housing market recovers, more people will convince themselves that the commute from Anthem isn't so bad, move there, and the cycle of congestion will start all over again.

Light rail is far from a stupid idea, but is instead one of the smartest things Phoenix has ever done. It offers us an alternative to the endless cycle of freeway building and widening and opens up methods of transportation and land use that have been neglected in Phoenix (and much of the country) for decades. As I have pointed out before, comparing several hundred miles of freeway to the light rail starter line (despite its ambitious 20-mile length) is invalid. We've deliberately given freeways the advantage by getting serious about them 20 years before rail. Now, finally, we're beginning to see a more balanced approach to transportation.