Why’s the Phoenix Light Rail Hot?

I’ve been intrigued by the popularity of the light rail.

Yesterday thirteen of us boarded a train at about 10:00 am and rode it to various high rise and loft condo buildings along the route.  During the three plus hours we toured we got on and off the train four times.  And I kid you not every single train during the three hours was full; standing room only.

I took the opportunity to ask my twelve tour partners why they thought the light rail was so much more popular than the bus.  After all, buses in Phoenix are notoriously empty.  Here are some of the answers I got:

  • City buses suffer a stigma that the light rail doesn’t share.
  • The light rail is easy to use while buses require knowledge of routes and connections.
  • Light rails stop more frequently and consistently which may make taking a train bearable even during the summer (we’ll see about that).
  • All thirteen of us wants to live on the rail and think that condo values will appreciate better than non-rail condos.

There have been a tremendous number of naysayers but I don’t think anyone would argue that at least for now the light rail popularity is remarkable.

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5 Comments so far (Add 1 more)

  1. John –

    extreme standing room only = not hot? I hope that the standing room only problem is NOT just because of the novelty of the train right now. I hope we continue to have high ridership. After all, it will be much easier to fix that problem (add more cars, increase frequency of stops, etc) than it would be to fix a problem of empty cars.

    11pm last train – not hot? I agree with you but that too can change if the rail remains popular.

    beggars on light rail platforms = not hot? OK, not hot, but its to be expected. We’re a major city for pete’s sake and we have homeless people wandering the streets just like most other major cities.

    looking for a place to eat…. – Matador for Mexican, Thai Hut for Thai, FEZ for wacky and delicious American/Morrocan burgers and more, Alexis for awesome Italian, Mazy’s for salads, sandwiches and such, Cibo, Palatte, and many more fantastic restaurants. Certainly the light rail is not the cause but will instead be the cure (more people = more businesses) for there not being as many restaurants open as you would have liked to have seen.

    doubling the train ticket price…. – OK not hot either but if gasoline prices hit close to $5 per gallon again you might see things differently.

    My point in writing the blog was that prior to the rail opening all I read were negative comments about how no one would ride the train. I was very happy to see and write that a lot of people are riding the train. I got a kick out of your writing that you weren’t happy that it was too full. Ironic huh?

    1. Will Daly on January 16th, 2009 at 6:44 am

  2. train = hot

    unnessisary annoying computerized announcements = not hot

    extreme standing room only = not hot

    11pm last train = not hot

    beggars on light rail platforms = not hot

    looking for a place to eat lunch downtown on saturday with other light rail exploreres and finding everything closed saturday and sunday = not hot

    doubling train ticket prices in a few months to $5/day = not hot (thats 3 gallons of gas now!)

    2. John on January 15th, 2009 at 4:43 pm

  3. I’ve also ridden Light Rail standing-room-only and one can definitely tell there is a ‘cool’ factor that buses just don’t share. I understand there were naysayers in Portland, Denver, Dallas, and Houston who now must admit the merits of their own LR systems.

    3. CP Truth on January 12th, 2009 at 7:53 pm

  4. Here’s a great article referencing light rail participation in other cities that supports some of the claims made here.

    http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1014712

    4. Will Daly on January 12th, 2009 at 7:56 am

  5. All good points about rail vs. bus. Those who claim that buses can do everything rail can are generally not riders of either type of transport. Moreover, they’re often people who oppose expanded funding for any type of public transportation, especially when it competes with funding for freeways. The argument that the money spent on light rail could have purchased a zillion buses might sound good at first, but would anyone have really supported a tax increase just for buses, and would those buses enjoy the same ridership as rail?

    5. David SB on January 12th, 2009 at 2:59 am

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