In Phoenix, Weekend Users Make Light Rail a Success

[Lunican]

In Phoenix, Weekend Users Make Light Rail a Success



PHOENIX â€" Among the many detractors â€" and they were multitudinous â€" who thought a light rail line in this sprawling city would be a riderless $1 billion failure was Starlee Rhoades, the spokeswoman for the Goldwater Institute, a vocal critic of the rail’s expense. “I’ve taken it,” Ms. Rhoades said, slightly sheepishly. “It’s useful.”

She and her colleagues still think the rail is oversubsidized, but in terms of predictions of failure, she said, “We don’t dwell.”

The light rail here, which opened in December, has been a greater success than its proponents thought it would be, but not quite the way they envisioned. Unlike the rest of the country’s public transportation systems, which are used principally by commuters, the 20 miles of light rail here stretching from central Phoenix to Mesa and Tempe is used largely by people going to restaurants, bars, ball games and cultural events downtown.

Full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/us/20rail.html?_r=2

[Lunican]

Study: Tempe land values increasing near light rail
By: April Atwood
Published On: Tuesday, September 22, 2009

The city of Tempe has experienced the highest increase in the Valley in land value surrounding the light rail route, according to a study conducted by ASU doctoral student Katherine Kittrell released Friday.

Mixed-use buildings that incorporate residential, retail and office space are the type of transit-oriented developments that led to increased land value, she said.

“The research concludes that one of the best ways to get people to incorporate a different lifestyle is to get them to live in transit-oriented developments,” she said, referring to buildings that offer convenience for public-transit riders.

Land value appreciation was the highest along Apache Boulevard in Tempe, as well as in downtown Phoenix, she said.

http://www.statepress.com/node/7674

[thelakelander]

Great article.  Jacksonville take notice. You don't get this type of excitement with putting lipstick on buses or PCTs.

"Unlike the rest of the country’s public transportation systems, which are used principally by commuters, the 20 miles of light rail here stretching from central Phoenix to Mesa and Tempe is used largely by people going to restaurants, bars, ball games and cultural events downtown."

"The rail was projected to attract 26,000 riders per day, but the number is closer to 33,000, boosted in large part by weekend riders. Only 27 percent use the train for work"

"In some part thanks to the new system, downtown Phoenix appears to be one of the few bright spots in an otherwise economically pummeled city, which like the rest of Arizona has suffered under the crushing slide of the state’s economy."

"In the first quarter of 2009, downtown Phoenix saw its revenues increase 13 percent, while the rest of the city saw a fall of 16 percent"

"The gaggle of light rail users â€" including Arizona State University students, who use a line that connects its Tempe campus with the downtown campus â€" have given a small part of the city a new, dense connectivity that was more or less unheard of in the city two years ago. Pub crawls along the light rail have become a weekend staple, and restaurants have seen new customers from outside the neighborhood popping in off the line for brunch on the weekends."

"The hooting of an oncoming sleek new train is a sound many in Phoenix are still becoming used to, but it has given the city a distinctly modern feel."

Also, this is Phoenix not New York, Tokyo or Paris.  So lets stop with the Jax isn't dense enough for rail excuses.

[fsujax]

Yep, if only we had not had people telling us 10 years ago Jacksonville isn't dense enough, then maybe we could be having those successes in place here now.

[Ocklawaha]

How freaky is this...

The INSTANT I got onto this thread, my personal "LastFM" radio station online, plays the classic Mark Lindsay song ARIZONA! 

Hum? got lots of friends in AZ, guess us desert rat hang together, They got light-rail and we don't. What the hell am I doing down by the Cow Ford?

Every argument that could be made to shut us up about LRT or STREETCAR has been tried here... AND FAILED!
Fact is they were saying the same thing 30 years ago too, while 30+ cities built Light Rail, and another 40+ have built streetcars.

OCKLAWAHA

[buckethead]

Don't give up on us OCK.