Chance to win tickets during light rail 1 yr celebration (Phoenix: purchasing, maintenance)

[cmist]

Originally Posted by Tanque Verde

I live in east mesa so the train works for me when I need a ride home from Skyharbor. I still got another ten miles to go when I get off at the last stop so I usually bum a ride from one of my neighbors. The train always looks pretty full to me plus they're running four car trains ( I think ) instead of two car trains.

One day when it was real busy, three or four blind people got off the train at my stop and wandered out into traffic on main st. The sound of their white canes tapping away on the asphalt drew my attention to them so I hollered at em to come towards my voice. That got em turned around & headed in the right direction.

I was wondering about that. It doesn't have any real compartments or spaces to store luggage, so it looked a little hard to use for airport tranportation if you have a couple suitcases when its busy.

[fcorrales80]

Originally Posted by cmist

I was wondering about that. It doesn't have any real compartments or spaces to store luggage, so it looked a little hard to use for airport tranportation if you have a couple suitcases when its busy.

It is, LOL! I saw one lady with four nice sized pieces of luggage, two strapped to the larger bottom ones. She managed and so did those around her to make some room. Usually they just remain standing with their bags.

[Tanque Verde]

Originally Posted by cmist

I was wondering about that. It doesn't have any real compartments or spaces to store luggage, so it looked a little hard to use for airport tranportation if you have a couple suitcases when its busy.

The trains do have some racks in the lower sections near the middle where bike & wheelchair riders sit. Otherwise it's do the best you can. I travel pretty light anyway.

[Tanque Verde]

Originally Posted by fcorrales80

They must not have the "chirping" crossing signal and lights in Mesa. Good think you where there...

They run 3 car trains not four. I did see them testing four car long trains but haven't seen any in everyday use. Metro does decrease wait times when it gets busy and instead of every 10 minutes trains seem to come every 5 minutes or so...

Thanks for the correction on the number of train cars. I was pretty sure it was more than two.

[Ritchie_az]

"I have a really hard time believing 42,000 people ride it each day, any evidence to back that up?"

That's 42,000 boardings. If one person rides it to work, to lunch and back, and then back home, that person is counted as 4 boardings. It's likely that there are only about 20,000 riders.
The ticket prices cover only 1/4th of the total operating costs (tax payers pick up the other 3/4 of it) and none of the over 1 billion to build the thing. If taxpayers were to cover 3/4 of the cost to fill my gas tank, I'd be quite happy with that.

[Finger Laker]

when was the last time you threw into a non-tax bucket for the maintenance of the roads you drive on to that gas station (and points thereafter)

i see a ton of roadwork out here and the closest thing i've paid to a direct user fee is in the form of taxes/fees on registration, gas, etc ..... that doesn't cover all the expenes though

[nickw252]

Originally Posted by Ritchie_az

That's 42,000 boardings. If one person rides it to work, to lunch and back, and then back home, that person is counted as 4 boardings. It's likely that there are only about 20,000 riders.

Is it really necesary to split hair like this? Every time there is a boarding it is paid for, whether through an individual ticket or a pass. If the same person rode a train 42,000 times a day and paid for each trip wouldn't it accomplish the same goal? 42,000 trips by car per day off the road.

The ticket prices cover only 1/4th of the total operating costs (tax payers pick up the other 3/4 of it) and none of the over 1 billion to build the thing. If taxpayers were to cover 3/4 of the cost to fill my gas tank, I'd be quite happy with that.

Again, I'll bring up the tired and well known fact that you seem to forget every time you complain about the cost. Taxpayers heavily subsidize roads also, bla bla bla all transportation is subsidized, get over it.

The only way your argument would have merit is if every single road in the country was a toll road that covered 100% of the costs, and if every public transit rider's actual ticket cost covered the cost of the system.

If this were the case I suspect public transit ridership would be much higher because overall it is much more cost effective than driving.

[exit2lef]

Originally Posted by Ritchie_az

"I have a really hard time believing 42,000 people ride it each day, any evidence to back that up?"

That's 42,000 boardings. If one person rides it to work, to lunch and back, and then back home, that person is counted as 4 boardings. It's likely that there are only about 20,000 riders.
The ticket prices cover only 1/4th of the total operating costs (tax payers pick up the other 3/4 of it) and none of the over 1 billion to build the thing. If taxpayers were to cover 3/4 of the cost to fill my gas tank, I'd be quite happy with that.

You are correct in stating that the count is one of boardings, mainly because there is no way for the door sensors to know if a person boarding is the same one that boarded earlier. Still, I'm impressed even if it is 20,000 people riding 42,000 times a days. The numbers are still above forecast and strong relative to other cities.

When the ongoing costs of road construction, road maintenance, highway safety, pollution, and a foreign policy designed in part to ensure continued access to cheap petroleum are all taken into account, it is likely that taxpayers are actually funding 3/4 of the cost to fill your tank.

[Ritchie_az]

"when was the last time you threw into a non-tax bucket for the maintenance of the roads you drive on to that gas station (and points thereafter)
i see a ton of roadwork out here and the closest thing i've paid to a direct user fee is in the form of taxes/fees on registration, gas, etc ..... that doesn't cover all the expenes though"

Almost all of the funds that pay for roads are paid for by drivers (users). They may not use the roads every day, but they use them. Very few non-drivers are paying taxes that fund roads.
The light-rail, on the other hand, is mostly funded by folks who have never used the light rail and never plan to.

[Ritchie_az]

"Is it really necesary to split hair like this? Every time there is a boarding it is paid for, whether through an individual ticket or a pass. If the same person rode a train 42,000 times a day and paid for each trip wouldn't it accomplish the same goal? 42,000 trips by car per day off the road."

Not splitting hairs at all. We're talking about a big difference. The Metro words things to make you think that there are actually 84,000 riders (42,000 each way). In reality, there are only about 20,000 riders. I don't think 84,000 and 20,000 are anywhere near each other.

"Again, I'll bring up the tired and well known fact that you seem to forget every time you complain about the cost. Taxpayers heavily subsidize roads also, bla bla bla all transportation is subsidized, get over it."

And again, I'll will tell you that it is road users that are subsidizing the roads, and non-light-rail users that are subsidizing the light-rail. For the amount we're all paying, we should be able to ride the rails anytime we want with no ticket (like with the roads). OR, ticket prices need to increase 4-5 times the current price to pay for it.

"When the ongoing costs of road construction, road maintenance, highway safety, pollution, and a foreign policy designed in part to ensure continued access to cheap petroleum are all taken into account, it is likely that taxpayers are actually funding 3/4 of the cost to fill your tank."

How's that? 20% of the price I pay for gas goes to (federal, state, county and city) taxes (which, in turn, pays for all those things you said).
Again, it is almost entirely road users paying for roads, and almost entirely non-light-rail users paying for the light-rail.