Metro Phoenix’s much-needed light rail transit system will provide transportation in a region currently serviced by a bus system.

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This Christmas, residents of the Metro Phoenix area will get a long-awaited present that most regions its size already received years ago: its first light rail transit system. This 20-mile system will provide transportation between the cities of Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa, a region currently serviced by a bus system and rideshare programs, METRO’s Public Information Officer Hillary Foose says.

The population of Metro Phoenix is expected to be 7.3 million in 2040, and that is a main reason for the project’s initiation. “This valley is experiencing a population boom, and in the next 30 years, we’re going to double our population,” she says. “We just can’t rely on freeways or roads.”

The $1.4 billion light rain system will be composed of 28 stations and eight park-and-ride locations. All will be in-road as light rail or another high-capacity transit mode like Bus Rapid Transit, commuter rail or streetcar.

The system will travel from 19th Avenue and Bethany Home in Phoenix, south to downtown Phoenix, east on Jefferson Avenue, south across Tempe Town Lake, east toward downtown Tempe and southeast on Apache Boulevard to downtown Mesa.

It is designed to serve business centers, heavy residential areas, sports arenas and medical and educational facilities, she notes.

The light rail system will hold its grand opening on Saturday, Dec. 27, and official passenger service will begin on Monday, Dec. 29. The region is currently putting the “final touches” on the stations and park-and-ride locations as well as conducting vehicle testing, she says.

Foose says METRO expects 26,000 daily boardings in the first year, most being from people who currently use the bus system. She adds that some bus routes will be altered so that they better connect to rail stations.

The Metro Phoenix region is currently served by a bus system, dial-a-ride or commuter van pools. The light rail system will be another option to add convenience and an economical alternative to driving, Foose says. “Light rail can move … five times as many people as a single bus,” she says.

Big Demand
The light rail system was planned and put in place by METRO, a nonprofit public corporation created by the cities of Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and Glendale in 2002. The cities of Chandler and Peoria joined in 2007, and Scottsdale joined in 2008.

“METRO was created to plan, design, construct and operate the Valley’s light rail transit system,” the organization says. Initial planning began in 1998 and construction began in 2005.

Foose says that some residents were skeptical about the light rail system at first. Because Metro Phoenix is very spread out, people tend to rely on their cars, she explains.

However, “people see the reality and they are becoming excited,” she says. “The market is different now. People are seeking more than ever an alternative way to get anywhere. Gas prices are higher, there is an economic downturn, and they want an easier way to get where they need to be.”

According to METRO, a March 2007 American Public Transportation Association report says that ridership on public transportation jumped to its highest level in 2006, and more than 10 billion trips were taken on buses and rail lines that year.

The residents in the Metro Phoenix region are no exception to the trend. In 1998, Tempe voters approved a transit tax, followed by the Phoenix residents in 2000, Glendale in 2001 and Maricopa County in 2004. Proposition 400, passed by county voters in 2004, helps support transportation improvements in the Valley and high-capacity or light rail service receive a portion of this tax revenue.

Just A Beginning
This is one of the biggest light rail starter systems in the country, Foose says. Most starter line systems start at between six to eight miles. However, “We aren’t stopping with 20,” she says.
METRO plans to build another 37 miles of high-capacity transit service extensions by 2025.

“The 57-mile system is programmed in the Regional Transportation Plan assembled by the Maricopa Association of Governments to be built on a pay-as-you-go basis,” METRO says.