How Car-Centric Cities Like Phoenix Learned to Love Light Rail [View all]

Aug. 01--The centerpiece of Greg Stanton's re-election campaign is a tax increase. The Phoenix mayor not only wants his city's voters to approve a 35-year sales tax hike later this month, but he wants them to do it on the same ballot that has him running for a second term. Stanton believes voters will support both him and his tax policy because, in doing so, they will be casting a vote for transportation. The mayor argues that an improved regional transportation network -- and specifically a bigger light rail system -- are the key to his own political fortunes and to the economic well-being of the region as a whole.

Stanton was not yet mayor in 2008 when light rail made its debut in Phoenix with hype worthy of a new theme park ride. Rock bands, street fairs and fireworks marked the opening. Nearly 90,000 people enjoyed free rides on board the new teal-and-silver trains that first day. Transit advocates exulted; skeptics insisted the enthusiasm couldn't possibly last.

But it largely has. Today passengers take nearly 44,000 trips on light rail on a typical weekday, already beating the local transit agency's estimates for ridership in 2020. Long-neglected neighborhoods are experiencing new life, and major employers credit transit for their decision to add new jobs in the region.

To those who fought for it, light rail in Phoenix was always about more than shiny new trains and faster travel times; it was a machine to transform urban life. Advocates in Phoenix, like those in many other cities, claimed light rail would introduce a whole new type of development, one that would appeal to both working millennials and retired snowbirds. Less developed neighborhoods would morph into walkable communities. Residents who live along transit corridors would be able to hop on a train to see a show, catch a game, head to class or get to work. The transit system would attract new residents, new businesses and new jobs, making the region competitive for years to come. ................(more)

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/14063318/how-car-centric-cities-like-phoenix-learned-to-love-light-rail