From: michelle@michelle.org
Some of this is a repeat for a few people I sent an earlier message to.
A few years ago, the voters in Maricopa County voted to extend a half-
cent sales tax that was about to expire; this money was designated for
transportation improvements: road widening, intersection
improvements, additional HOV lanes, and a light rail system. 15% of
the revenues were designated for the light rail, but that was enough
for the right-wingers and pseudo-libertarians to fight against the
"Light-Rail Tax". As I said, it passed anyway.
The first leg of that system opened today; it runs for twenty miles
from downtown Mesa, through downtown Tempe, through downtown Phoenix,
and then into the southern part of northern Phoenix. One of the
additional legs will be a spur to Sky Harbor Airport; until that's
built, there will be free shuttle service from the light rail to the
airport. There are stops at Arizona State University and at Chase
Field (the ball park) and and US Airways Center.
Rides on the system are free through the end of the year; starting
January 1, 2009, passengers will have to pay. I think the fares are
quite reasonable. Children aged five and under ride free. Seniors
(65 and older), youths six to eighteen, and the disabled are half
price. 1-ride/one boarding costs $1.25; an all-day pass is $2.50;
there are 3-day and 7-day passes, but they don't save any money
compared to one-day passes; however, a 31-day pass costs only $45,
which comes out to $1.45 a day. The passes are also good on the
system's bus lines.
It takes an hour to go from one end of the line to the other end;
giving a mean speed of 20 MPH, including stops. The service is in
operation from 4:20 on weekdays (5 am on weekends and holidays) until
midnight, with the last trains leaving each terminus at 11:00 PM.
Trains run every ten minutes from 6 am to 7 pm on weekdays, and every
15 minutes during that same time period on weekends and holidays.
They run every 20 minutes the rest of the time. They may operate more
frequently or for longer hours during special events.
As one might expect, the cars are up to date modern. They have full
wheelchair access without the use of ramps or elevators, or
"kneeling", and are designed so that wheelchairs do not have to be
tied in place.
Most stations have the platform between the sets of rails, but some
have two platforms, with both sets of rails between the platforms.
The station at the ASU campus has two platforms with the eastbound
tracks between them, but the westbound tracks on the outside of one
platform. (Maybe they reverse the direction of the trains in that
section, depending on time of day.) And one stretch where the tracks
are along one-way streets have each set of tracks on a different street.
They started operation at 10 am today, with events at various
stations; I got to the eastern end, in Mesa, at 10:30 and was told
that the wait to get on the train was an hour and a half, so I rode a
bus to a less busy station, rode to the other end, and rode all the
way back. The main entertainment at the end-of-the-line event in Mesa
was Grand Funk Railroad. I thought that was an appropriate choice.
I won't be using it much because the nearest station to me is a half
hour's drive away, but if I'm going to be going into downtown Phoenix,
I just may take the train because the fare would be cheaper than a
parking lot or garage; I may take it to Tempe, too, because parking is
hard to find there.
You can read more about it at .
-- Michelle
--
It's now time for healing, and for fixing the damage the GOP did to America.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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