After more than a decade of planning, $1.4 billion dollars, and its share of controversy, the Phoenix light rail officially opened today.
Francy and I braved the coldest day of the year to join an estimated 200,000 other people in riding the rail.
Festivities took place all across the 20 mile route. We initially tried to get on at the far east end of the light rail route in Mesa. When presented with a line packed 15 deep, we decided to drive west a few stops where we were able to board in short order.
The train cars were packed….
But we had a great ride. We talked to a lot of different folks, got toes stepped on by obnoxious out of control kids and enjoyed some views of Mesa, Tempe and Phoenix that we rarely get to see as we’re normally focused on navigating traffic and not getting killed while we’re behind the wheel.
Right now the light rail doesn’t quite come far enough east to be convenient to us in most cases. Expansion is planned, but who knows how long (or how many dollars) that will take.
I can tell you one thing for sure though. If I’ve got a destination along the route, I’ll almost certainly take advantage of a Park & Ride, hop a train, and leave the downtown driving to someone else. The $1,400,000,000 question is, of course, how often will I have a destination that lies on the route?
If you want more info on light rail, go to the fabulous RailLife.com. It will have everything you need, and more. And who knows, maybe you’ll score a cool t-shirt.
See my Flickr Light Rail set for more light rail opening day pics.
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Sweet shirt!
I was wearing mine and I was stopped *multiple* times and asked “hey, where did you get that shirt?”
My reply?
“I won it on Twitter!”
The response each time?
“What’s Twitter?”
**Justin McHood´s last blog post..Arizona Mortgage Experts? 7 Things About Us That Have Nothing To Do With Mortgages
Wow, I am so envious! We may eventually get light rail in metro Detroit Hopefully in my lifetime). Sounds like there is a high level of excitement for light rail in your town.
Jay, I know I have said it before but, YOU ROCK. Thanks so much for the mention. The shirt looks awesome!
**Nick Bastian´s last blog post..Help Celebrate this historic day – Show us your pictures!
Wow! The Light Rail train really looks cool! They almost look like futuristic if you know what i mean?
Till then,
Jean
**Bratwurst Recipes´s last blog post..Easy to make grilled Beer Brats
The light rail will definitely have an impact on real estate values within walking distance from the stops especially if there are is a mixed use (residential/commercial) real estate.
Kind of ironic but when St. Louis opened up their light rail that ran from downtown to the upscale county mall the car theft crimes went up at the mall.
Thanks for sharing the photos.
**Doug Devitre´s last blog post..11 Steps to Host Your Own Home Buyer Seminar Online for Pennies
I wish we had a rail system here in NH. We do have a train that will bring us south to Boston…which I have never been on! That looks pretty cool Jay and I like your tee shirt
**monika´s last blog post..Hampstead NH Ice Storm Videos
I wish they put something like that here. Instead we have the monorail, which is convenient if you are going to a convention but is way to small to be considered “mass transit”. That reminds me of BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). You get spoiled taking that around.
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I think we’ll see more and more cities focusing on transport projects like this in the near future. The Portland area has a great system called “The Max”. It is very successful. Saves gas, time, and road rage!
What a fun shirt! The Marta line is great for getting around in Atlanta when I go down there to visit; so much less hassle than driving. Have fun with the light rail!!
I wonder when will the light rail come into our country?? It really is envious, you know. You could really feel that the technology of well developed countries are fast and straight forward. I really hope that our government would consider investing in this kind of projects. It would surely benefit all of us..sigh..