October 1, 2008

In the News:
Route choice aims to draw passengers, The Arizona Republic, September 28, 2008
Light rail won’t service last call, Tribune, September 28, 2008
Arizona gets $1M grant for Phoenix-Tucson rail study, Phoenix Business Journal, September 20, 2008
Christown area sees light at the end of the rail line, The Arizona Republic, October 1, 2008

Upcoming Events:
Valley Forward Event- All Aboard: Light Rail is Leaving the Station! Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Don’t forget to visit Friends of Transit on the web at www.friendsoftransit.org!

 

Route choice aims to draw passengers
by Glen Creno 
Sept. 28, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

The people who planned the Metro light-rail route that opens Dec. 27 wanted to attract a lot of passengers, connect urban hubs and provide an economic lift to neighborhoods along the line.

The result is a 20-mile route that runs between north-central Phoenix and the western edge of Mesa. The $1.4 billion system strings together schools, sports arenas, commercial areas, new condominium complexes and neighborhoods.

Any new light-rail route is controversial, and Metro was no exception. When the new line opens, there likely will be more questions and complaints about why the line runs here rather than there, why one neighborhood and not another.

Jack Tevlin is a retired city executive who was Phoenix's deputy city manager for transportation when Metro was planned. He's familiar with the complaints.

"People say: 'I live in Paradise Valley. This doesn't help me,' " Tevlin said. "But this is just the beginning."

Planners see this first stretch as the trunk of a system that will branch out as extensions are added.

The story of how the first stretch of light-rail track was planned is about financial, political and physical challenges, some compromises, some high hopes and a little history.

Started out smaller

Regional planners identified Phoenix and Tempe as far back as the late 1980s as top prospects for rail transit, said Wulf Grote, Metro's director of project development.

One of the best ways to site a light-rail line is to look at busy bus routes. The route that planners chose shadows Valley Metro's popular Red Line bus service. That route will be eliminated when Metro opens. Light rail will replace big sections of that bus line, including along Central Avenue in Phoenix and along Apache Boulevard in Tempe.

Metro was originally envisioned as a 13-mile line running from near the intersection of Central Avenue and McDowell Road in Phoenix to near downtown Tempe. That route connected key employment districts but did not catch many neighborhoods full of potential riders. Local planners extended the proposed line, over the objections of federal officials.

"They wanted to fund something smaller," Grote said.

Metro officials continued to push for the longer line, arguing more riders would be served by the system. The route grew from 13 miles connecting Phoenix and Tempe to 20 miles when it was extended to Mesa.

Total cost of the line would be $1.4 billion.

Local money was provided by Phoenix ($402.1 million), Tempe ($143.7 million), and Mesa ($20.5 million). An additional $198.7 million came from the Proposition 400 transportation tax in Maricopa County. Having three cities involved helped win approval from federal officials, who covered about half the cost with $646.9 million. Construction began in February 2005.

Along the line

Six areas along the route illustrate some of the goals and issues considered by the planners who picked the route.

Here is a look at them:

• The northwest end of the line at 19th and Montebello avenues in Phoenix.
The area was picked to scoop up commuters who live in the residential areas along that major traffic corridor. Metro considered running the line along 15th Avenue, but objections from the neighborhoods and worries about wedging the rail into the narrow street favored 19th Avenue. Planners wanted the line to go to Metrocenter, a major shopping center in northwest Phoenix, but money for such a route was unavailable. Instead, a two-part extension will take the rail north on 19th Avenue to Dunlap Road and later it's expected to go west to Metrocenter.

Just-renovated Christown Spectrum Mall, at 19th Avenue and Bethany Home Road, stands to benefit as the northern terminus of the system. Planners recognized it as a shopping and business destination. They located a park-and-ride next to it that is also expected to attract commuters from Interstate 17.

• Central Avenue in Phoenix.
Light rail could have run along any of the major north-south streets through central Phoenix. The entire area is a major job center. But Central Avenue got the nod because it fronts the big office buildings where those jobs are concentrated.

"It was fairly obvious to us that the employment concentrations are on Central and that's where the thing needed to be," Grote said.

The line offers another connection between midtown and downtown, two big job centers, as well as a way to get around without a car, said Terry Goddard, the state's attorney general and a former Phoenix mayor involved in light-rail planning. "It gives you a dynamic alternative to getting into your car and hopping from parking lot to parking lot."

Planners believed the rail line would offer the potential for residential growth on Central Avenue. The idea was that condos and apartments would spring up along the line. Metro would also provide easier access to some of the city's favorite leisure spots such as the Heard and Phoenix Art museums and Steele Indian School Park.

• Downtown Phoenix.
The new rail had to include downtown Phoenix, the regional center for state, county and local government. Downtown is also home to major banks, law firms and other employers, as well as convention, cultural, concert and sports venues.

The downtown rail also creates a strong connection to Phoenix bus lines, which are centered on downtown. The new rail straddles the main bus station.

Getting tourists from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to the convention center and downtown was a key consideration, Grote says, despite the fact that the final route does not connect directly to the airport because of the high cost of construction through the terminals.

When the planning started, Arizona State University had only a small outpost at the Mercado, so the new downtown campus was a bonus for Metro. Rail also would be part of downtown's continuing effort to rebuild, bringing energy and life to a sometimes listless section of the city.

"The big beneficiary is going to be ASU," Goddard said. "That (the downtown campus) was something that was not even on the planning block when this was put into place."

• Washington and Jefferson streets in Phoenix.
Planners considered running the line down Van Buren Street, but that would have required either narrowing the street to one lane in each direction or knocking down a lot of buildings up and down the street, Grote said. Instead, planners picked Washington and Jefferson streets.

Those streets were a major route into downtown before the inner loop of Interstate 10 opened and drivers started using the freeway. But the wide transportation corridor remained, and planners figured it was a good place for the train.

The line splits on Washington and Jefferson to mirror the one-way traffic on each street. This area also is the heart of what Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon designated as the "Opportunity Corridor," a redevelopment zone running from the state Capitol to downtown Tempe.

Running the line along the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks was rejected. The railroad didn't seem interested, Grote said. That route also would have taken the train behind the back doors of businesses and housing - an eyesore and pedestrian hassle for passengers.

The line bypasses Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport because it would have required a subway there to avoid conflicts with cars and aircraft, planners say. An airport subway would cost as much as the entire Metro system and might have discouraged East Valley commuters who wanted a direct trip to downtown Phoenix.

Many lobbied hard to get light rail to the airport, including Goddard, who sees it as a missed opportunity. Instead, airport shuttle buses will take Metro passengers from the 44th Street train station to the airport. An automated "people mover" connecting Metro and the airport is expected to open by 2013.

• Downtown Tempe, ASU.
Tempe and ASU were natural destinations for a light-rail line because they are major activity centers, said Amanda Nelson, spokeswoman for light rail in Tempe.

Tempe's Mill Avenue is an entertainment attraction, and ASU has a built-in population of students who would use the train. The university is a major employment center. Thousands of administration, faculty and support staff work at the Tempe campus.

There also was an economic reason for taking the train into Tempe. Tempe was willing to help pay for it with the transportation tax its voters approved in 1996. That source of revenue gave the project more stable footing with the federal government. Phoenix followed suit in 2000 when its voters approved a transportation tax.

Metro considered taking the line down Mill Avenue, but that would have choked car traffic. Planners also thought about running the tracks along McAllister Avenue in the center of ASU. But Grote said the university objected because vibration from the trains and the electrical field might have disrupted research activities.

So planners picked a diagonal route from downtown Tempe that runs near the city's government center, the ASU sports complex, ASU dormitories, and residential neighborhoods east of the campus.

• Apache Boulevard in Tempe and Main Street in Mesa.
Planners chose to run light rail down Apache Boulevard in east Tempe to tap the residential neighborhoods near the street and kick-start an economic revival of an aging part of the city.

The line was going to end at Price Road or McClintock Drive in Tempe, but then Mesa jumped on board with $20.5 million in rail funding. That took the line an extra mile east, going from Apache Boulevard in Tempe to Main Street in Mesa. The investment in rail gave Mesa access to a regional transportation system that could be extended farther into the city, potentially hitting such spots as the city's downtown, Mesa City Hall and the Mesa Arts Center.

Extensions on the way

Extensions are planned over the next two decades.

Government officials, Metro, businesses and residents will decide on the best routes in coming months and years. Routes in the study or design phase are in northwest Phoenix, into central Mesa, south into Tempe and along I-10 West. Public hearings are scheduled later this year.

The first extension, in Phoenix, will take the 19th Avenue section of the line to Dunlap Road. It's well under way, with that new piece of track scheduled to open in 2012.

Extensions into south Tempe and central Mesa are scheduled to open in 2015, assuming that studies recommend that light rail, and not another type of high-capacity transit, is the best way to serve commuters there. I-10 West could happen as soon as 2019.

There also are discussions to extend Metro to downtown Glendale, and to the Paradise Valley Mall area.

Businessman Pat Cantelme, the former head of the firefighters union who served on committees that studied light-rail routes, is pleased with the 20-mile line and extensions chosen.

He believes the extensions selected will serve the most people in the parts of the city that need the most relief from traffic.

"We're in the right place at the right time," he said. "Part of it was good planning and foresight and part of it was luck."

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Light rail won’t service last call
by Mike Branom 
Tribune
September 28, 2008

Metro has let me know its position of light rail serving as the Valley’s designated driver by staying in service beyond last call. 

In short, no. 

To recap: A Mesa resident wanted to know why the trains were not scheduled to run past midnight when the bars close at 2 a.m. Don’t we want to get drunks out of their cars and off the roads? he asked. 

Hillary Foose, Metro’s spokeswoman, replied with these reasons why: 

1. Sufficient maintenance window. “The industry standard is at least three hours a day to provide for a proper level of system and vehicle maintenance, including services such as cleaning and trackway repairs.” 

2. Passenger demand. “Data gathered during planning shows reduced demand past 1 a.m. As a public agency, Metro must spend tax dollars in such a way to ensure maximum benefit to the greatest number of people.” 

3. Bus connections. “Metro hours will match bus hours of operation. Light rail must work in conjunction with the bus service in order to provide full-service connections for passengers. 

4. Industry standards. “The Metro hours of service are similar to those of light-rail systems in other cities of our size.” 

Of her answers, let me first dismiss No. 4. “Because others don’t, that’s why” isn’t much of a reason. 

The rest of the replies make sense, especially No. 3. Light rail is designed to work in conjunction with buses, bicycles and parkand-ride, and doesn’t work as well when it stands alone. 

Should the bus system have its service hours extended, too? If so, how much would that cost? If not, well, we can’t rely on a fleet of cabs to whisk us partiers from the lightrail stations to our homes. 

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Arizona gets $1M grant for Phoenix-Tucson rail study
Phoenix Business Journal
by Jan Buchholz
Tuesday, September 30, 2008 - 1:35 PM MST

Arizona was awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to conduct a planning study on the environmental impacts of passenger rail service between Phoenix and Tucson.

The grant would complete the environmental analysis necessary for project development, according to a written statement from the federal agency.

The proposed rail plan would operate trains at speeds up to 125 miles per hour with up to 15 rail stations between the two Arizona cities. Currently there is no daily service between Phoenix and Tucson. It’s estimated that daily rail service would attract 1.2 million passengers annually.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, the former director of the Arizona Department of Transportation, released data Tuesday showing that Americans drove 9.6 billion fewer miles in July 2008 compared with July 2007. At the same time, transit ridership increased 11 percent. Amtrak had its busiest month ever in July.

The $1 million grant Arizona received is a matching grant and is part of a $30 million grant program that will be shared with several other states, including California, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

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Christown area sees light at the end of the rail line
by Chad Graham 
Oct. 1, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Christown area residents who live along the northern end of the 20-mile Metro light-rail line hope prosperity will roll into their neighborhood along with the new trains.

The blocks of ranch-style homes, built mostly in the 1950s, that lie just west of Christown Spectrum Mall have been through good times and bad.

Originally a middle-class enclave, and known as the Simpson Neighborhood, the area began to languish in the 1970s as newer malls and suburban developments drew people farther from the city. Home values dropped, and crime grew worse.

Nearly five years ago, with light rail on the horizon, developers began a slow overhaul of Christown mall. New stores opened and shoppers began to return.

Light rail could provide the extra push to bring the neighborhood back, said Paul Enniss, president of the Simpson Neighborhood Association.

In the mid-1990s, the association organized to free the neighborhood of drugs, other crime and neglected housing. They marched through the neighborhood to deter drug dealers. They received a grant from the city of Phoenix to temporarily increase services, including more police and school programs.

Now the major topic of discussion at monthly association meetings is the expected impact of light rail - good and bad.

Will it increase the number of transients? Will the park and ride next to the mall mean increased traffic?

Enniss said he was initially concerned when light-rail officials proposed running the line on 19th Avenue.

But then, he said, "I started looking at light-rail reports out of Dallas and Houston and what they do to property values and things like that and it became clear to me that this was a good thing for our neighborhood."

He hopes the light rail will mean increased property values, better infrastructure like sidewalks and "hopefully people will have more pride in their property."

Chris Porter and her family moved to the area in 1986. They live near the rail station at 19th and Montebello Avenues. She says residents "want to make sure that our neighborhood is still safe. We'll still monitor that and be vigilant."

Porter, who works at the Phoenix Day School for the Deaf and part-time at Bath & Body Works at Christown mall, sees economic benefits for her family. She predicts that when the housing market starts to rebound, the neighborhood's property values will take off faster than other areas.

Porter's 19-year-old son, Andrew, a sophomore at Arizona State University, will take the light rail to classes in Tempe. Her husband, Paul, a graphic artist, has mapped out a possible light rail and bus route to his workplace near Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Porter believes train service will help struggling families.

"There are a lot of young families (in the area). There is just not a lot of money," she said. "I think the public transportation is going to be ideal, it's going to be able to get these people to jobs that they need to go to."

Others feel the same way about the convenience. Nearly three years ago, Jose and Joanna Marquez purchased a bungalow near the line, believing light rail would increase their property's value. They also looked forward to walking just a few blocks to a nearby station and riding across town.

Jose plans to take the train to his job working security for Go Daddy Group Inc. in central Phoenix. Joanna will use it for shopping trips. The couple would also like to take their 5- and 7-year-old boys to Sweet Tomatoes at Camelback Road and Central Avenue, a favorite family restaurant.

The couple also hope to save money on gas and car maintenance.

Households along this stretch of the line earn a median annual income of $34,163. A majority of the area's workers are employed in industries that are highly sensitive to economic downturns, such as sales, service jobs and construction.

Neighborhood businesses are also optimistic about light rail's impact.

Christown Mall officials believe it should immediately increase sales. The shopping center is completing a more than $30 million renovation, just in time for the light-system launch.

"The construction of the light rail did not impact the decision to renovate the center, but it was certainly a great bonus," spokeswoman Robin Lybarger said. The mall plans to welcome light-rail riders with coupons and promotions.

"We believe the ease of travel will bring customers from as far away as Mesa, largely due to the historical nostalgia of the center," Lybarger said.

Christown was the largest mall between Houston and Los Angeles when it opened in 1961. It was Arizona's first enclosed mall with air-conditioning.

Longtime Phoenix resident John Bueker operates a Web site on its history. He, like many Valley residents, had written off the area as being in a permanent downward spiral but calls the mall's renovation "astonishing."

The impact of the light rail on the Simpson Neighborhood, he believes, remains uncertain. "They're banking on it having a tremendous impact," he said.

Chris Porter said the light rail could not come at a better time.

"The economy has really helped the light rail," she said, citing the high price of gasoline. "I really think that people now see that public transportation can be part of the answer."

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Valley Forward Event- October 22, 2008

ALL ABOARD
LIGHT RAIL IS LEAVING THE STATION!
We're nearing the end of construction, at last - and a new beginning awaitsas light rail sets to premier in our Valley communities...

Join us for a VIP preview of the Valley's light rail system, which will connect Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa in a 20-mile starter segment scheduled for completion in December 2008. Hear about plans for the grand opening, public events and what to expect for the future. Barring any unforeseen circumstances during testing, we'll also board the train for short ride immediately following remarks at Valley Forward's upcoming luncheon featuring:

THE HON. HUGH HALLMANMayor, City of Tempe
THE HON. KYLE JONESVice Mayor, City of Mesa
THE HON. TOM SIMPLOTCouncilmember, City of Phoenix
RICHARD SIMONETTACEO, Valley Metro Rail

BOARD OF DIRECTORS/GENERAL MEMBERSHIP LUNCHEON 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., Wednesday, October 22ndTempe Mission Palms60 East Fifth Street

Register at https://www.valleyforward.org/events-activities/quarterlyluncheons-reg.php

Important: Advance registration required. Reservations accepted through October 17, 2008; Phone: (602) 240-2408; Fax: (602) 240-2407. Cancellations accepted up to 24 hours in advance only; no-show reservations will be billed.
Cost: Valley Forward Members $45   Non-Members & Payments at Door $50

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