As Phoenix continues its development, Valley Metro and the city of Phoenix Transportation Department are tasked with keeping up with the growth and demand for public transit.
According to Albert Santana, the city of Phoenix’s light rail administrator, and valleymetro.org, Phoenix and its neighboring cities will have nearly double the current light-rail mileage by 2026.
Santana explained that while each of the extension projects are underway in some form, they are at different stages in the planning or construction process. Currently, a 3.2-mile extension is under construction, according to Santana. The extension will connect the current end-of-the-line at 19th and Montebello avenues and continue three stops to Dunlap Avenue, Santana said.
Santana said that the three new stops will increase ridership by about 5,000 people. According to valleymetro.org, the extension will also support about 10,000 family housing units and help 20,000 employees get to work via light rail.
The 3-mile corridor will have a total capital cost of $300 million and is expected to be complete by 2016, Santana said. He also explained that within a quarter-mile radius of the three new stops there are seven schools, one major hospital and about 300 businesses.
Because Phoenix’s current 20-mile light rail line’s ridership has increased from 5 million people in 2009 to its current 14 million riders annually, according to valleymetro.org, cities like Glendale and Gilbert have been vying for extensions to reach their residents, as well.
“It’s a joint effort and we are currently working with Valley Metro and the city of Phoenix on what’s called an ‘alternatives analysis study,’ and that is looking at a number of potential routes and also the mode to determine if light rail is even the proper mode to be using along a corridor,” said Cathy Colbath, the city of Glendale Transportation Department’s Public Information Officer. “So we’re in the study phase right now.”
Colbath said that both Phoenix and Glendale residents would benefit from the connectivity of any light rail extensions that are constructed in Glendale. She said that Phoenix residents would have an opportunity to go to Glendale, and residents of Glendale will be able to access various parts of the Valley via light rail.
“There’s also an economic development component that comes along with that, so opportunities for development and redevelopment along the corridor as well and further advancing the area where the corridor is selected,” Colbath said.
Diane Brown, the executive director of the Arizona Public Interest Research Group, said the ridership along the current corridors has greatly benefited residents and small business along or near the light rail line.
“Continuing to expand light rail across the Valley will provide more Arizonans and tourists the chance to have additional travel options to enjoy events, to get to work, or to see new areas of our state,” Brown said.
A 3.1-mile extension headed through downtown Mesa is underway and will extend from the opposite end of the current light rail line, according to valleymetro.org. The extension should be completed by late 2015, will cost about $200 million and will increase ridership by another 5,000 people per day.
By 2023, another 11-mile extension is expected to be complete, and by 2026 the last two-mile phase should be complete. According to valleymetro.org, the two extensions will cost an additional $1 billion and $160 million, respectively.
The original 20-mile line cost $1.4 billion, but Santana said that the city of Phoenix has seen about $7 billion in economic investment along the light rail, boasting a nearly 1 in 7 return investment.
“After we get the extensions underway, we’ll start tracking that investment as well,” Santana added.
The funding for all of these projects will be coming from a variety of sources, including taxpayer money, Santana said. He added that to operate the current 20-mile light rail line, it costs about $1 million per mile annually.
“From an operation standpoint, each city has to use their local funding to pay for their share,” Santana said. “In our case, in Phoenix, we have the local transit tax. We also have the fares that are collected, as well as advertising.”
Colbath explained that, in 2001, the citizens of Glendale passed a sales tax that supports transportation, including light rail components, and that the money from that will help fund any possible light rail extensions into Glendale.
“In addition to that, there are some regional funds, again, a retail sales tax that was passed. So, there is a funding component there,” Colbath said. “We, of course, also try to demonstrate what we feel will be the importance of the program to the federal government because a lot of these programs also receive federal funding, so we’re looking at federal funding for that as well.”
Colbath added that once an extension is in place, the light rail fares and other sources will also help fund the operation costs of the new corridor.
According to Brown, the biggest complaints that Arizona PIRG receives from citizens have to do with light rail expansion, frequency and longer hours. She said that, to Arizona PIRG, this demonstrates Arizonans’ desire to use public transportation as a way to save money and protect air quality.
“Arizona PIRG is extremely pleased that the light rail experience has been beneficial to many Arizonians and people who visit the Phoenix area,” Brown said. “The fact that Valley Metro is already experiencing record ridership and ridership numbers that weren’t projected to be reached until the year 2020 bodes well for its expansion.”
Contact the reporter at Nina.Barone@asu.edu
