The Phoenix Metropolitan Area opened its brand spanking new Light Rail line to the public yesterday.  The $1.5 Billion dollar transit system runs from northern central Phoenix to the downtown business district of Arizona’s largest city,  then heads out to the suburbs of Tempe and Mesa, covering 20 miles of track.  An additional 30 miles of expansion are planned through 2025 expanding the system into Glendale and further throughout Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa.

Riders can check out the new Light Rail in Phoenix for free through Wednesday of this week.  Going forward the fare will be $1.25 per ride on America’s newest mass transit system.  I’m flying out to Phoenix tonight and plan on checking out the Light Rail during my trip.

Anyone who’s been to Arizona and the Phoenix area knows that it is perhaps one of the most sprawled and stretched out urban areas in the world.  Constructing a transit system to cover such an enormous expanse is obviously going to be a monumental challenge for urban planners throughout the area.  Indeed the very function of the system in the midst of such sprawl will most likely never be able to mimic the the systems in super dense cities like New York where public transportation can satisfy virtually all the travel needs of many residents, but rather serve as a complement to automobile transportation to reduce longer drives and congestion to popular destinations like Downtown Phoenix and Arizona State University.  However the Light Rail is unquestionably a terrific move in the Phoenix area in order to increase sustainability and reduce gasoline usage in the future.

You can takepart in pushing for better public transit throughout the Grand Canyon State by logging onto the Arizona Transit Association.

LINKS:

Reuters UK: Phoenix opens $1.1 Billion light-rail system

AP: Car-crazy Phoenix opens light rail line

Arizona Daily Star:  Phoenix debuts state’s first light rail system