Light Rail is Here

The light rail has come to Arizona in Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa. Bob and I rode the train on Saturday, December 27, from Tempe's Veterans Way and College Station to the Phoenix McDowell and Central Station. There we joined Alex for lunch at Cheuvront's.


Free parking was provided in a parking structure across from Sun Devil Stadium. The Veterans Way and College Station is Tempe's main stop. Activities included fireworks, festival booths, Fifth farmers market, green-scene booths, archaeology displays and live music throughout the day, including Tempe's own Roger Klyne & the Peacemakers.

While waiting for the train, we saw hikers climbing "A" Mountain. At the top of the mountain, we could see a huge Manora and the star of Bethlehem with the three wisemen.

Two war protesters held up a banner that said, "YOU CAN'T WIN AN OCCUPATION." Another cardboard sign below the banner said, "4215 Dead."

We had to wait for a second train because the first train was packed like sardines. After waiting 25 minutes, the train arrives. We became sardines packing our bodies into any available open space. An hour and 13 stations later while taking deep breaths and holding in our stomaches, we arrived at our destination. Alex drove us back from Cheauvront's to the garage to pick up Bob's car and drive home.

Phoenix is Growing Up

Light rail is making our city a major city. One of these days, Phoenix will be growing up like a kid into adulthood. The costs are great but we have many adult cities to learn from, i.e. Boston, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco to name a few.

Thursday night, the new train was tested on Washington Street "Things went great. The train performed the way it was designed to perform and that's all good," said Joe Murie with Valley Metro.

The Train will be tested many more times before its maiden trip in late 2008.

Light Rail Needed

The Valley of the Sun is a sprawling megalopolis. It needs light rail and other modes of transportation to keep up with modern big cities. Light rail is a start but it also needs to grow along with the Valley. And it should include a line from the Valley to Tucson.

Read about the recent tests...

Response to Senator Gould re: light rail

How can Sen. Ron Gould be a chair of the Senate transportation committee? Shouldn't he have an open mind? He is against light rail because "it is a debacle". Maybe that is true, because government is involved. But we have no better alternative, and we seem to work through the greed and misappropriation of government spending.

Today's cost is small compared to say seven years down the road. I remember when bay area residents were against BART because of the expense. In today's economy, the BART cost is now a pittance. Costs will increase. Now is the time to start with the light rail system even with government handling the funds.