Posted on 09/19/2010 2:49:53 PM PDT by Willie Green
TAMPA - More than a decade ago, Phoenix baseball officials showcased a video of their state of the art ballpark during a lavish Tampa Bay reception, overwhelming the home team's introduction of Tropicana Field.
Local business and civic leaders that night yearned for a comparable facility, even before the Rays' first season had begun.
Once again local officials are casting an envious eye toward Phoenix. This time they are studying a 20-mile light rail system that could serve as a model for a proposed system in Tampa.
This week, a Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce contingent will visit Phoenix to explore the Valley Metro light rail system. Relying on light rail, they will visit museums, malls, the airport, Arizona State University, the suburbs and downtown, including a D-Backs game at Chase Field.
Phoenix's Valley Metro Rail has exceeded ridership expectations in each of its first two years of operation, serving not only commuters and college students, but a surprising number of people who use light rail to reach shopping and entertainment venues.
At the same time, the system has been criticized for not going to places convenient to and necessary for those commuting to jobs.
(Excerpt) Read more at 2.tbo.com ...
PHART (PHoenix Area Rapid Transit) is a joke.
Light Rail Burns Through $28M Per Year
So why are there plans to extend?
Updated: Thursday, 26 Aug 2010, 11:06 PM MDT
Published : Thursday, 26 Aug 2010, 11:06 PM MDT
MESA - Everyone has nice things to say about the Valley Metro Light Rail — it’s convenient, quick, and affordable. But the costly project is losing money, and Arizona taxpayers are footing the bill.
Every train system in the U.S. is losing money. Phoenix’s light rail costs $37 million per year to operate — but only brings in $9 million in fares.
That means taxpayers are on the hook for $28 million per year — and that doesn’t include the $1.4 billion we spent to build it.
John Farry with Metro Light Rail says that he defines success by how many people use the system, and that total ridershup has surpassed their goals.
“We’ve got everybody riding this line from commuters, to people going to ball games and a lot of special event use. One of the biggest surprises for us was students from ASU riding between downtown Phoenix to the main campus in Tempe.”
It may be costly, but Farry says, light rail benefits the community and that public transportation attracts new business.
Right now there are 20 miles of light rail track, and there are plans to add more miles to the route.
On the west side, it starts at 19th Ave and Montebello, just north of Camelback. It runs right through downtown Phoenix, then north of Sky Harbor, and through downtown Tempe. It finally ends on the east side — the western edge of Mesa.
A 3-mile extension has already been approved to the tune of $200 million that will take it right into the heart of downtown Mesa. It should be completed in six years.
But only 0.5 percent of all commuters actually use the light rail.
Dollar for dollar, light rail is not a cost-effective way to move people around. But there may be benefits that are hard to calculate simply looking at the dollars spent — intrinsic value for the community, and people who ride it love it.
Mesa Mayor Scott Smith is live in the newsroom to express why he supports this transportation form, and John Semmens, a former high ranking official within ADOT, explains why he disagrees.
From http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/money/light-rail-losing-money-8-26-2010
See my post above. Socialists like to spend money. Odd that FR has a resident GREEN type.
You are so right. These idiots just make up stories so they can get their hands on taxpayer money.
Maybe as a negative model. Phoenix’s light rail is a 100% completely useless waste of money. It doesn’t connect any of the inputs into the city to the high traffic areas of the city, it stops running early so it’s not useful for travel to and from the entertainment place on the route, and it doesn’t even integrate well with the streets so it’s a nightmare to even be near.
END THE BOONDOGGLE, NO LIGHT RAIL, ANYWHERE, EVER.
And then there’s that “boycott” thing that they’re violating. LOL!
Now, now. Please don't try to derail Choo-Choo Willie with those nasty little facts.
Only $28 million to subsidize light rail in Phoenix? That's a pittance. It's not like the government can't afford it or anything. </sarcasm>
I guess so. After all, we've paid for model planes and model cars. Oh, wait, I forgot. GM built the Interstate system, Ford built the primary arterial highways, and Chrysler built your local subdivision street. (American Motors must have built the alleyways.)
And all our commercial airports are private; why, you can find them listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Light rail is just another form of transportation. Right now, it happens to be one of the more efficient forms. And no, we are not getting another Interstate system.
“Right now, it happens to be one of the more efficient forms.”
Define “efficient” please.
I always thought that Tampa ought to look to Tampax as a model....
I live in the Tampa area. Light rail from Tampa to Orlando makes no sense. It’s cheaper (and easier) to drive.
Save us the hassle and just burn the cash instead.
Mass transit works fairly well in a place like Manhattan where the population density is high, poor people and criminals are largely priced out, commuting from the suburbs is a real drag, and parking is impossible.
Anywhere else in America... not so much. You’re generally better off driving.
We can start thinking about expanding mass transit once we repeal Fair Housing and let normal, productive American citizens and families take back our cities.
I live in the Tampa area. Light rail from Tampa to Orlando makes no sense. It’s cheaper (and easier) to drive.
If you live in the Tampa area, then you should become better informed on this issue.
The light rail system discussed in this article connects downtown Tampa to the Tampa airport. It will provide transfer/connections to the high-speed rail system that goes to Orlando. But the light rail system itself does not go there.
There’s nothing “efficient” about a railway. It’s 19th Century technology no matter how much you dress it up and streamline it. Basically there is a strong anti-automotive sentiment in Tampa and it is driven by a close coterie of enviro-liberal politicos and construction developers who are addicted to Federal Funding and have been hanging around Tampa/Orlando politics for twenty years and probably more and have a thoroughly incestuous relationship. Obama was here recently pledging I don’t know how many billions of dollars for a rail system to nowhere that would allow a vagrant from downtown Tampa to travel to downtown Orlando in record time. I don’t know who else would use it. There are very few Tampa/Orlando commuters and most of them love the convenience of their cars. But the money was all about largesse for the construction trades unions who would get to build this damned tax-sucker. It had nothing to do with real commuter need. If you want to know what that is, try crossing Tampa east-west during rush hour in the northern part of the city and you will be stuck on Busch Boulevard or Hillsborough Avenue for two hours to go 20 miles because you have to use local streets to do it. There is no true east-west beltway in north Tampa. Yet that is where the majority of commuters reside thanks to the explosive development of the surrounding suburbs over the past twenty years. A beltway is what is drastically needed to preserve quality of life for commuters, not a railway to nowhere! It is maddening to see the wilful blindness of the local elected officials to what are the true transportation priorities for Tampa. Extrapolate the experience with the bus system here for a moment. First you have to drive your car to the bus depot, park it there, leave it there all day long unattended. After forking out maybe $25,000 for it. Now you pay a fare for the bus or buy a monthly pass on top of your car payment. You take the bus downtown, then have to walk to your office in rain or shine. Chances are there is a parking garage a lot closer to your office than the bus stop. There’s nothing efficient about returning to the bus depot near your home to find that your auto has been vandalized by punks from the local high school who got out of school at 3pm and didn’t have anything better to do. This was my actual experience with “mass transit” in Tampa. Oh and I forgot, the hour trip during which you get to exchange DNA with every slob who decides to buy a bus ticket and go to work running a 105-degree fever. I will take my truck any day over this insanity. It was why I left New York City for Florida 25 years ago. The vehicle is latest technology. Practically clean-burning with very low emissions. Provides virtual door-to-door service. In total privacy. And no germ exposure.
“PHART”....too, funny!! I don’t suppose they’ve built any restrooms at the stations yet. Last I heard, the businesses in downtown were upset about passengers coming in to use their restrooms because the light rail didn’t have any!
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