One thing we're struggling with in Phoenix is that the lights are set up to have predictive signaling for the light rail; however, the city of Phoenix refuses to activate them. Our light rail could be immensely quicker, but the city is choosing not to. The city is choosing not to prioritize the light. Additionally, another challenge we face is the constant attack on our public transit from legislators and outside sources. Despite these attacks, we have managed to keep our transit system, which gives me hope that Phoenix residents are more supportive of transit than it might appear! Specifically one legislator Jake Hoffman wants to make intercity rail illegal in Phoenix, which would hurt our goal of Phoenix to Tucson.
@@TransitAndTeslasthat’s good to hear, but why wasn’t it enabled in the first place? Especially if the infrastructure is there already? Do we have a Katie Hochul in our state?
@@CJbrinkman602 It is enabled but it’s turned down. The software dates back to 2005, so it’s really just a time to upgrade more so than it not being enabled.
It's that way where light rail is running on the streets in Los Angeles. But the problem is the trains still need to cross streets/intersections in places. With how streets in Los Angeles get congested, train trips also are slow.
"Not aesthetically pleasing" Oh but yeah all the fucking Walmarts and their mile wide parking lots and stroads are just gorgeous ehh? What's the ratio of non-blind and blind Arizona politicians?
There are so many points politicians can and should discuss when it comes to transit, such as noise emission, environmental protection, construction time, use of space, long-term cost, etc. But no, they choose the dumbest argument I've ever heard
Had to make an (illegal?) left on 7th ave during rush hour delivering for amazon flex. Its absolute INSANITY especially since delivery routes will make you stick around the main road for a little while, so i ultimately had to make several more lefts off 7th
I went to MacAlpines Soda Fountain and came across that drag strip unknowingly... WTF. Was literally a shooting range firing cars down the street. Traffic engineers have blood on their hands.
That would be great! Especially with the pseudo entertainment district being built there with the addition of Andretti’s and VAI/Mattel Adventure Park.
the main hurdle Phoenix has to overcome is a very pedestrian hostile walking environment in much of the city... it is not just the stroads, so many areas are just barren, with no shade and wide empty car-oriented spaces simply bad for walking... and to those who tell me you cannot build a pedestrian friendly urban sprawl in the desert, I live in Israel, and there are urban areas in the desert here that are pretty spread out, and yet, where walking between neighborhoods still feels natural. OK, it might get somewhat industrial, & you avoid the hot parts of the day, but... with the open views, a late afternoon walk or a morning walk is rather nice, because there are pedestrian oriented walkways separate from the places where cars are.
Awesome video, Ethan! I love that you talked about the original Streetcar network (RIP :’() and the buses that feature the Tico mascot on them. Im excited most for the downtown hub / south Phoenix extension that will bring us two light rail lines (finally!). There are so many exciting projects planned, though, like the Mesa Streetcar Extension and the City’s first BRT line on Van Buren Street and 35th Avenue.
I went to high school in Tolleson and lived in Avondale AZ, in the heart of the west valley, for 8 years. The west valley needs transit VERY BADLY. Regional rail connecting Desert Sky to DTPHX would be absolutely massive. Running along I-10 really isn’t that much of an issue considering the main arterial streets thru the west valley feel like 8-one freeways of their own anyway. It’s truly miles better than what exists now; buses that are often late, run every 30+ minutes and stop running in the evenings. This would change the game!
I go to ASU and I use the light rail to go to downtown phoenix pretty often. One issue though is that countless times the line stops running a good hour before it says it does (which is already pretty early compared to other cities ive been to). This makes it hard to use it to go to concerts or other things that typically end late. The Tempe streetcar is such a gem and I use it all the time but with about 20 minutes between each car, and the fact that it still a generally pretty sprawled out area, it often is faster to just drive
In 2013, I had the chance to tour the Valley Metro maintenance facility and speak with some of the people there. There was generally an air of enthusiasm and momentum that I believe to be critical to the success of Valley Metro, and lots of excitement for the future. One interesting thing we discussed in depth (this was for a traffic engineer conference) were the roundabouts along the rail alignment that they had to figure out how to run light rail through. For example, see Main St/Horne in Mesa.
I visited Phoenix last year and as a hardcore native New Yorker I only got around with walking and public transportation. Not once did I use an Uber during my short stay there (4 days) I went hiking, to the zoo and visited a couple museums by bus/light rail. To be extremely fair I was staying in the heart of downtown near central avenue. Forgot the number of the bus but one brings you all the way south along central Ave by baseline road which is where I walked from to get to south mountain ⛰️ park to do my hiking. I heard they’re extending the light rail south along central Ave which would be dope ! I like their light rail system for a car centric city because it has a unique feature that our nyc subway system doesn’t have and that’s a 1 seat direct rail link from their airport to their city center/downtown and it’s a quick ride ! Took me only about 15 minutes. Our subway system does not directly connect with the terminals at JFK airport and LGA airport is only connected via bus. Grant it it’s a small system but if it’s extended even more I can see hope for PHX in the future transportation wise. You can live there without a car but of course that’s if you work in downtown and live in downtown or extremely near it. They’re also gentrifying the downtown area and areas near it with those luxury high rise apt buildings (same thing going on here in Brooklyn,NY) and they’re expensive. Idk how people do it out there man with the rapidly high cost of living. Also took a bus East to the zoo which also allows access to trails in Pago Pago park where I also did some hiking. Hopefully they can have a light rail line built to service that area directly as well.
too soon for high speed rail, lets get the Amtrak train like you see in the San Juaquin that does top speed of 79 between Phoenix and Nogalas AZ. with stop in Chandler, Casa Grand, Tucson, Sahuarita, and then Nogalas.
Thanks for the video! I am born and raised here in Phoenix, and can agree with all the points you made. The only time I've left is to go to college in NYC. I have dreams that one day AZ and Phoenix will have a state and regional rail network on par with states like NY and Pennsylvania. It would make our state a national force to be reckoned with.
Two things to add. A light-rail or commuter should go to State Farm stadium but some years ago the Glendale city council opposed the light tail going through their town. There should also be a commuter line connecting Phoenix to Tucson coming out of the Amtrack station in downtown Phoenix. However, this is just another transit dream as it's in the endless study loop.
This is an awesome video -- thank you for covering the amazing work being done in the Phoenix metro! I ride Light Rail and am sitting at my desk writing this and looking at a Light Rail station. The system is far from perfect, but it's really a great connector to key destinations (the airport, sport and recreation venues, restaurants and entertainment, and one of the nation's largest Universities). I cannot wait to see the network continue to build-out! ...also, loved seeing the cameo of Tico!! 😃
As someone living in the Tucson area visiting Phoenix is always exiting seeing how their transit systems are being built out. It's very different compared to Tucson which has been trapped in dated car culture and urban sprawl since the 1970s.
@7:29 Objections to public transit over aesthetic concerns are always hilarious because the alternatives are vast parking lots and massive roads, which of course are well known to be TRUE aesthetic beauties 🙄
Very exciting! I had no idea Phoenix was so progressive on transit. There is always inertia and retrograde forces to be overcome, but it looks like rail transit in Phoenix is winning.
There are also plans to expand the Tempe Street Car to Sloan Park in Mesa and then south on to Dobson. They are planning on stopping the line at the Dobson/Main light rail station, but it would be nice if they brought it a couple miles further south to Mesa Community College/Banner Desert Medical Center
Good, I'm a big streetcar fan but I rode it several times and was the only one on it and was thinking "what's the point" given how much overlaps with light rail
Watched this one on Patreon. I love your Phoenix coverage, as most transit RU-vidrs seem to skip over our city! I am glad you cover it, so people know we DO have trains out here!
You forgot to talk about the new proposed extension that was approved back in May by the city council. The Indian School extension would take light rail all the way down to 75th ave turn south to Thomas and connect to the Desert Sky transit center. So the west valley is looking at 2 light rail lines! On top of that the area of Grand/Indian School/35th ave is getting a completely new layout to make it safer.
Not to mention a new BRT line in 35th Ave that would ultimately connect the new northwest extension to downtown plus potentially the new Indian School route. Valley Metro and PHS Streets are definitely making strides and building excitement but they've got a steep hill to climb.
I like the light rail here it is so much easier to deal with when going to baseball games. What i would love to see is a tempe like street car line linking downtown Mesa to Chandler.
It has been crazy here in Phoenix to see the small wealthy groups launching all these campaigns against light rail. Thankfully most citizens see through the propaganda and have voted to continue improving light rail and other transit systems here, not just more roads. I have ridden the light rail a few times, it's pretty nice. It would be nice to get more trains running to shorten the times when going a long distance on the light rail if that's possible, or some type of express line during rush hour. I don't know if that's been thought of or is even an option.
I grew up in Phoenix and escaped to Flagstaff. What is not addressed is how unlivable Phoenix heat is. I just went to the Harris Rally in the Phoenix area, and I was reminded of how horrible the heat is. I will do damn near anything to avoid walking in the heat, and so I can't imagine taking transit, unless it deposits me within a half block of my destinations.
If anyone wants to see the benefits aestheticly among other actually important things such as business development; check out street view in Mesa where the light rail is versus what was there, and what still is after the end of the line.
This reminds me that 1. my sister lives here, 2. I have hope that you will do a Rocky Mountain city tier list after you did all the other regions, and 3. Phoenix is about on par with San Diego and Albuquerque, above Las Vegas and Houston and below Dallas in terms of combined walk/transit/bike scores. I would put Phoenix in the C tier. Yeah, it's still practically dystopian in some areas, and in some ways as a certain cartoon said, should NOT exist ("it is a monument to man's arrogance!")... but like Los Angeles one cannot say they are not trying to make some effort to move away from their car-centric past, difficult as it may be, with the light rail being a sign of this progress.
I live in peoria. The only time I take light rail is when I am going to sky harbor. Get dropped off at metrocenter, and take it the rest of the way . I see a line to arrowhead mall as really useful. Go from Metrocenter, to 43rd, down to tbird, and hit ASU West, and the hospital there, then go to 59th then go to bell and then down to arrowhead, I think that would be a very useful line. Another line I see as something to help with major events would be to go to westgate, so if there is an even in downtown phoenix people could park at westgate and go to the event, and when there is a game at westgate they could park downtown and travel to westgate. During events they would run many many extra trains, as many as one every 2 minutes or so. They could also make the station at the airport bigger and make line that starts there and goes to scottsdale fashion square and then up scottsdale rd to the 101 or so. Another very useful line.
There are many great things happening in Phoenix! We just built the first car-free neighborhood built from scratch in the U.S. off the light rail in Tempe :)
They just need to keep extending the lightrail and add more as many lines as possible. It would be nice if the lightrail went to Downtown Chandler and Gilbert as well. Eventually it should also go near Westgate in Glendale.
They need to eventually expand it as far west as they have east, with it reaching some of the fastest growing cities in the entire NATION, like Goodyear, Surprise and Buckeye (which was recently the #1 fastest growing U.S. city)!
5500 people and multiple streetcar lines. This is the kind of shit that makes me furious when people say “oh, the U.S. is just too spread out” or “well, our cities just aren’t big enough for transit”. Then why didn’t work so well in the freaking 1880’s with waaaaay fewer people!?
Why can’t Union Station be cleaned up and reopened for light rail operations including Amtrak. Has anyone visited Denver lately and seen what’s happened to downtown Denver as a result of utilizing their original railroad station, namely Union Station. Phoenix should do the same thing. Make Union Station the hub of Phoenix transportation.
The 1988 Valtrans proposal was basically that, elevated rapid transit, plus a regional rail line. Got shot down by the voters. To think what could have been😢
Another example of a city jettisoning something important, and decades later realizing that restoring it at great expense is just what is needed to solve the problem they created.
We definitely need commuter rail our city is too big for only light rail also elevate the light rail so that it can move across the city more efficiently no street lights cars etc great video I use valley metro daily and been riding public transportation my whole life all across the country
The extension I'm most excited about is the I-10 West Extension because I live close to one of the future stations. Also there are TOD Workshops currently happening this year. Also the Phoenix BRT will be the first BRT line in Phoenix.
All these planned extensions for light rail and hopefully regional rail is exciting. There will just be greater hurdles for rail project funding due to the amendments made in Prop 400e that is on the ballot in November. The update Prop 400e that will likely pass excludes all public transit funding from that tax to go to rail projects. I think it is still possible to get funding we will just have find new ways of funding them. The one positive in it is that more funding is available for the Bus Rapid Transit lines that they plan to build in the coming years.
The piece you're missing in all of this is Scottsdale. It's that Northeast hole in your rail map, and is where the rich people who don't want public transit all live.
Great video covering the existing and future projects of Phoenix’s public transportation! Another project is the bus rapid transit route that will be on 35th Ave in west Phoenix proper. It’s meant to connect the light rail from Van Buren St to the Metro Center Station.
I lived in Tucson 2006-2017, but was frequently in Phoenix. Has the best highway network in the country, and if light rail and proposed regional rail is built out, Phoenix would be up there with top US cities when it comes to its entire network. Still too hot IMO 🌵
The Capitol Extension now has different alignments due to the fact that the Capitol doesn’t want light rail to be right at it. My opinion is I want it along the Van Buren alignment since it’d serve the Asian Arts Center, help withe the redevelopment projects along that street, and also provide better connections to that end of Grand Ave which has many local businesses that deserve better transit near them For the I-10 West extension luckily only 1 station will be in the median the rest will be on the northern side of the highway, not that much better but it definitely improves access. Looking at the files for the project too now further down the road the stations will be heavily engineered for countering the highway’s noise and general pollution so I’m excited to see how it turns out. Gone are the days where we build lines like the LA C/Green Line these stations will actually have some thought put into them But yeah those are just some notes I had with your video. Still a great video overall and thank you for continued positive feedback for Phoenix!
I can't wait for both of them! Van Buren will be a good option because of the future BRT line. I live in Maryvale and I'm excited for the I-10 West Extension.
I live in Phoenix, not too far from the light rail station at 19th Ave and Dunlap. I like the light rail. I'm happy they built it. I ride it occasionally, but my biggest complaint is that its just too slow. There are too many stops. About one every mile or so, and it seems as if a lot of the stops are not heavily used at all. It takes me 45+ minutes to get to the airport, 60+ minutes to get to Tempe. Maybe we need an express train!
The Valley Metro bus coverage is massive. It’s not great and is definitely spotty but I can’t help but be quite surprised and happy that we have bus service so far out in the suburbs. It can’t be cheap.
I've ridden the system from Downtown Mesa to just north of Downtown Phoenix. It is alright, but pretty underwhelming, especially considering the size of the city. Walkability and connections are really poor outside of Tempe and Downtown Phoenix. VM didn't have tap to pay until just earlier this year. The mostly street running nature of the system limits traveling speeds to 35mph which seems slow considering the sprawl. It's definitely better than nothing, but probably shouldn't be a model for other cities. Props to the airport connection though, that is way better than most US cities.
Phoenix native here, 25 + years under my belt! You non natives think that "not asthetic enough" is a stupid reason for pushing back against public transportation that would reduce traffic & benefit thousands? Well you should see how those politicians vote on spending our preciouse diminishing water! I swear, there is so much corruption & ass backwards voting here. Its very frustrating when alot of the opposition is steep in classism & racism
One idea I have is making a commuter train from Avondale through downtown phoenix below the airport to Tempe for Tempe I suggest an underground station like the metro stations in dc. where the light rail connects to commuter rail then down to mesa and making a turn and ending in Gilbert or Chandler this way you won’t have to be sitting in traffic for an hour instead the trip would take 30 to 45 minutes
Agree about the need for regional rail to complement light rail given the insane distances of the region. I visited Phoenix and used transit to get around but had to make one trip by Lyft when i was out at Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa, took transit there but took a Lyft back downtown... would have been 1 hr 30min vs 20 min Lyft. Its deep in sprawl but the same applies if you are in suburban downtowns of Mesa and Gilbert.
I lived in Phoenix for a few months without a car, and the light rail was my primary way of getting around. I had to use a bike for my last mile connections, though. Still wish that Phoenix did something similar to Seattle’s light rail where they made the downtown core of the system grade separated. Seattle’s light rail is underground for downtown core and through its university district. I don’t know if the topography of Phoenix allows for tunneling, but fully grade separated, either underground or above ground through the Phoenix downtown, would make service a lot faster. That and priority lights/signaling at the at grade sections.
I want to see a new Amtrak station for the Phoenix metro area with cross-platform transfers. Hope there is an easy way for Amtrak to enter the city without a problem.
A train could really compliment the existing light rail serving as an express. The rail corridor is almost parallel and transfer stations to light rail are in almost strategic locations in downtowns and the airport station.
@@highway2heaven91 if I had the place a bet on where the next Brightline west expansion after LA Union, it would be Phoenix. It just makes the most since
It’s unfortunate Scottsdale city council refuses to do much, especially with them complaining about not getting much from Prop 400. I mean, they refuse a lot of projects that would warrant the money in the long run.
Downtown is dead because most a good number of the entertainment districts are scattered all over the valley. In places like Tempe, Mesa, even Glendale has some good spots.
Downtown is dead because a good number of entertainment districts are scattered all over the valley. In places like Tempe, Mesa, even Glendale has some good spots.
It would be more effective off the surface, I feel the VM LR is more useful for local neighborhood movement but not necessarily from one side of the city to another as it takes forever being that it stop at every single stop and interacts with car traffic I wish they would have used subways instead or a commuter system using the freeways medians to avoid the surface streets and then use the LR as a complimentary service.
@@danielportillo9266 yes! But some cities like Gilbert don’t support it even though they already have developments like Verde at Cooley station designed around a potential station. It’s unfortunate the lack of support for it :/
The name of this channel is "Climate and Transit" but you didn't talk about the Phoenix climate. I think it's like two months of 110+ degree days (and even 120 degree days) during the summer, and it's getting worse. The human body isn't designed for this, and is the reason why I don't live there and haven't visited in while. People could perish waiting for their trains in this heat.
People live and walk in hot cities like Phoenix and freezing cities like Nuuk Greenland. Our cities can adapt to our changing climate and if we want to mitigate our climate emergency we need to go multimodal. On top of this I talk heavily about how good Phoenix station design is to deal with hot summers.
Phoenix needs way better land use around stations, because there's little reason to take transit in such a hot, sprawling mess. There are some promising transit oriented developments, but they never properly utilize the transit enactment area of stations - they're all low rise and have ample parking in all directions. I'd also love to see some sort of an express regional rail system developed in the future, as there are ample unutilized ROW's and the sprawl of greater Phoenix would greatly benefit from that kind of a service. Finally, I think Phoenix needs some sort of downtown transit hub, like Union Station, where the surrounding area is made to be dense, mixed use, walkable and bikeable. Also they should grade separate their light rail as much as possible in the future, as there is quite a bit of room for viaducts.
@@danielportillo9266 I'm probably biased because of my own city's TOD policy, but I can't help but notice almost no buildings over six stories adjacent to the LRT. In my city, we've enacted zoning laws for 20+ story towers within a quarter mile of every station, and 8+ story buildings within a mile of every station. Obviously, Phoenix probably doesn't need to go that far as there's lots of land, but having so many short buildings near stations seems like a lost opportunity. It's like 2-6 stories on prime transit oriented land. They can at least build some decent 12+ story buildings near stations.
New development is poor at creating destinations and place. At best its just soulless cheap apartment buildings designed by pro forma and that's the best we can get for 'TOD', barely a single decent ground floor retail space. New development is a fraction of what development was a century ago when things were well designed and built.
Great Video ! LA and California shut down rail and replaced the rail with a lane of Concrete ! A two-way transit line can carry the same traffic as an eight lane highway ! Power the light rail with clean GREEN Nuclear Power then the riders who park there cars and use the light rail can clean the air ! Does the light rail service the University who say they like being GREEN ! Connect the light rail with the High Speed Brightline rail system ! tjl
I-10 west expansion is a terrible plan as it straight up ignores Maryvale to serve... the freeway, I guess? It really should go through Thomas Road or Indian School Road as there are several schools and A community college that would benefit the residents west Phoenix massively
@@gascencio94 that one is not the official one technically, it's a proposed route that will need surveying and community input. As of now, the I-10 one is going to be the one to get approval if Indian School Rd is not accepted.
@@danielportillo9266 yup that's kind of what I was getting at in a positive way - in 20 years Valley Metro could start to look a lot more like the LA Metro, especially with the ambitious new expansion plans. I hope a Regional Rail system ends up getting built out for the region since it's so sprawling
@@himbourbanist Gotcha I would love to see a regional rail system here in Phoenix. I can't wait until the light rail has multiple lines and the new BRT system by the City of Phoenix.
Apparently the Capitol extension part is only to the left of the vertical line. Everything to the right of it is part of the I-10 plan. So really it’s just two stops which is fine. vulcan-production.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/projects/downloads/capitol-extension-project-may-2024_presentation_5.18.24_for-website-capex-only.pdf
I do like the light rail and want to see it expand. I am however very disappointed in the overall valley metro transit system. I dislike the current system because of the buses, specifically because they run very slow. The buses run 30 minutes to an hour, often times the bus ride will take longer because of how bad we have a shortages on bus drivers. They often times arrive late when taking over as the new driver. Now having to Wait for thirty minutes would not be nearly as bad if we did not live in state/city that is very hot during the summer. The bus stops often have no shading, so you have to wait in the blistering heat for thirty minutes. Once you get on the bus, half the times the machine does not work so you can't get a bus pass. The phone scanner that allows you to pay using your phone works pretty well, but this does not accommodate riders with no access to a smart phone. My grand father uses a flip phone so this would not work for him. I do have hope. I think if the people who work on the transit system actually plan the system well the lives of many could be greatly improved. I look forward to the future and a better tomorrow.
Increasing bus frequencies would do wonders, imagine 10 min headways... Would vastly improve the usability of the entire system. The grid layout of Phoenix does work for transit even if the stroad street design, land use and weather doesnt.
@@jonw999999 There are 15 minutes headways on a couple routes in Phoenix, Tempe, Mesa and Chandler. Also, TOD plans are currently happening or are being planned right now.
truw its not the best but at least i can leave the airport and go from phx to mesa in no time for cheap too its like 1$ and they have an all day pass so its honestly better. i find it funny there concernd about aesthetics even though roads are hardly aesthetic even if they put pictures on them. if they dont wanna see the light rail maybe they should invest in a undergroumd subway system afterall its not like arizona has to worey about sea lvl or what ever plus ypu can have the subway lines conect to the light rail lines
@@danielportillo9266 Bla Bla Bla always the same reply to something that happened in the past with the support of the voting public to something you want imposed by fiat.
As a 60-year resident of Arizona Phoenix is the best example of how horrible car centric urban sprawl turns out. And too hot to walk outside 6 months a year anyway. Phoenix is built for the car not for people.
I voted no on prop 400 because I would have preferred more freeway transit. I do like trains but it isn't practical in a city like this. I think if most voters at the time knew that the average speed was going to be 15MPH and that the trains would also have to stop a red lights along with traffic it wouldn't have passed. That being said the people spoke and we have it now. I've used it for sporting events and getting to the airport from park and ride lots but would have much rather that funding have been used on more freeways and improvement projects.
It’s encouraging to see how much they’re investing in rail… but discouraging when you remember that’s it’s in an extremely hot and arid environment that should NOT have anywhere near that many residents in the region. Hopefully they abandon most of the metro area and return to help revitalize the Rust Belt soon. 😢
Were doing just fine here and only have about 3-4 months of hot temperatures and the rest of the year is climate haven for the most part, its much better than the cold depressing winters of the rustbelt and there are beautiful mountains here that surround us and even some that are right in the middle of the cities, not plains for hundreds of miles, and if we want to have snow in the winter all we have to do is drive 2 hours north to our beautiful mountains, so no one is gonna want to leave this region when the rust belt is way worse as well as ugly its up to the people that live in the rust belt to revitalize it, not us honey.
The stations look way empty. I hardly see people riding the light rail. Buddy at work says takes him an hour and half to get to work while me living similar distance only take me 20 min by car. He says it takes so long that he take a lyft in the morning to get to work instead. Hes now saving up to buy a car.
