Quote:
Originally Posted by biggus diggus
I wouldn't have a reason. Light rail is not an effective mode of transportation for trips longer than a 5-8 miles in my opinion.
Here's what I learned after a full NBA season of riding public transportation in the past year:
The city bus, in some cases, is faster than the light rail. I got on the bus in front of my house for the first dozen or so games last season, I'd get off at Camelback and switch to the light rail because I assumed it would be quicker. Eventually I decided to just stay on the bus, I found that I arrived much quicker every time. I'm sure part of that is due to the transfer time but I also did notice a few times we were next to a train during the trip and that train would get to Jefferson and 1st Avenue long after my bus arrived.
That obviously is not proof that the bus is faster than rail, but it is a really clear sign that light rail is just not a significant enough upgrade over the bus to make me excited about using it. Light rail in Phoenix just feels like a luxury bus, it's the difference between a coach ticket and business class.
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Both light rail and bus definitely suffer from the fact that any transfers inevitably seem to make them take too long if you have any other options. My main use of the light rail is from downtown Tempe to downtown Phoenix, where the places I need to go both happen to be immediately adjacent to stops. If I didn't have those perfect circumstances, I'm sure I would use it less often.
Speed-wise, light rail may just be a "business class bus," but I think that's a problem with all rail-transit, even subways/elevated trains, that's not unique to light rail. It's hard to get firm numbers on average speeds, stops included, but
this article, for instance, cites a person's unofficial measurements of various heavy rail systems in large US metros. NYC's subway averages just 17.4 MPH, Chicago's El 22.9 MPH, etc. And even those average speeds are inflated by express routes in both metros--most lines run slower. Valley Metro has
officially public facts that put the Light Rail's average speed at a similar 22 MPH, all stops included. A study I dug up shows local bus service
averaging 15 mph. Whether the ~7 mph increase, among the other benefits of light rail, justifies light rail is of course going to be a matter of opinion. And by definition the average local bus speed is not going to be true of every route, and your bus trip to games downtown may well be faster than light rail.