http://www.azrail.org Let's Get Arizona On Track To The Future Sat, 24 Dec 2011 14:21:44 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 http://www.azrail.org/2011/phoenix-metro-march-2011-ridership/ http://www.azrail.org/2011/phoenix-metro-march-2011-ridership/#comments Tue, 12 Apr 2011 14:13:48 +0000 wlindley http://www.azrail.org/?p=789 The Phoenix trolley (“light rail”) system had a good March even as weekday ridership declined slightly. Saturdays now see as many riders as weekdays did at the system’s opening, and Sunday ridership is nearly at the originally-projected weekday levels. Phoenicians are using the trolleys not just as “commuter trains” but as all-day-long trolleys for school, [...]]]> http://www.azrail.org/2011/phoenix-metro-march-2011-ridership/feed/ 0 http://www.azrail.org/2010/mesa-metro-extension-open-house-2010-12-10/ http://www.azrail.org/2010/mesa-metro-extension-open-house-2010-12-10/#comments Thu, 25 Nov 2010 13:03:38 +0000 wlindley http://www.azrail.org/?p=762 METRO Press Release – Draft Environmental Assessment Available for Review One opportunity to review is a public meeting on Dec. 10, 2010 METRO and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) have prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment (Draft EA) report for the Central Mesa extension of light rail on Main Street to Mesa Drive in accordance with [...]]]> http://www.azrail.org/2010/mesa-metro-extension-open-house-2010-12-10/feed/ 0 http://www.azrail.org/2010/transit-in-highway-medians/ http://www.azrail.org/2010/transit-in-highway-medians/#comments Mon, 20 Sep 2010 01:24:47 +0000 wlindley http://www.azrail.org/?p=751 By John J. Gale Imagine standing in the middle of a freeway as cars, trucks and motorcycles rush by on either side. Maybe you have experienced this if you have waited for a train at an in-median station. I have in LA on the Metro Green Line which is located in the median [...]]]> http://www.azrail.org/2010/transit-in-highway-medians/feed/ 0 http://www.azrail.org/2010/metro-ridership-up-buses-down/ http://www.azrail.org/2010/metro-ridership-up-buses-down/#comments Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:19:53 +0000 wlindley http://www.azrail.org/?p=729 A year after bus use followed gasoline prices to record highs, ridership has fallen by the millions on the Valley’s most extensive mode of public transit… While bus ridership was down, more and more commuters climbed aboard light-rail trains in Phoenix, Tempe and Mesa, sending ridership numbers above 12 million for fiscal [...]]]> http://www.azrail.org/2010/metro-ridership-up-buses-down/feed/ 0 http://www.azrail.org/2010/mesa-to-expand-metro-extend-its-downtown/ http://www.azrail.org/2010/mesa-to-expand-metro-extend-its-downtown/#comments Wed, 19 May 2010 15:19:11 +0000 wlindley http://www.azrail.org/?p=639 From the East Valley Tribune: Mesa has struggled for years to make its mile-long downtown vibrant, but a new light rail segment is triggering calls to extend the city’s urban core by several miles. Key city officials say they want to expand the downtown-style streetscape at least two miles to the west, where [...]]]> http://www.azrail.org/2010/mesa-to-expand-metro-extend-its-downtown/feed/ 0 http://www.azrail.org/2010/arizona-planners-envision-new-role-routes-for-light-rail/ http://www.azrail.org/2010/arizona-planners-envision-new-role-routes-for-light-rail/#comments Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:33:24 +0000 wlindley http://www.azrail.org/?p=634 Full story by Sean Holstege in the Arizona Republic, 14 April 2010 Changing demographics, ridership patterns point to different lines in future Regional planners are mapping new light-rail lines in places that were inconceivable a few years ago, as they grapple with how urban Arizona takes shape in the coming half-century. Preliminary studies show that sufficient demand will [...]]]> http://www.azrail.org/2010/arizona-planners-envision-new-role-routes-for-light-rail/feed/ 0 http://www.azrail.org/2010/sensible-metro-station-names/ http://www.azrail.org/2010/sensible-metro-station-names/#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:16:48 +0000 wlindley http://www.azrail.org/?p=622 Proposed METRO Rail Station Name Changes. METRO Red Line Bethany / Chris-Town 19th Ave & Camelback Melrose Uptown Central High Indian School Park Central Midtown Heard Museum Library Cathedral Central Station City Hall Convention Center Eastlake / 12th Street 24th Street GateWay Airport Papago Park Mill Sun Devil University Dorsey McClintock Smith-Martin Loop 101-Price Dobson Transit systems in every city in America and across the world have stations named for landmarks, to help visitors and residents find their way. If Washington DC named their [...]]]> http://www.azrail.org/2010/sensible-metro-station-names/feed/ 0 http://www.azrail.org/2009/metro-adds-permanent-weekend-owl-service/ http://www.azrail.org/2009/metro-adds-permanent-weekend-owl-service/#comments Wed, 27 May 2009 10:24:38 +0000 wlindley http://www.azrail.org/?p=550 PHOENIX: “Metro will start late night service on weekends in July… [using] some of the savings that cities accrued when the feds paid back early… [this is about double the cost of] Owl trains… about $256,000 a year… Metro won’t run a one-year experiment. [Huzzah!] Late trains will be part of service from now on. [...]]]> http://www.azrail.org/2009/metro-adds-permanent-weekend-owl-service/feed/ 0 http://www.azrail.org/2009/on-closing-metro-for-a-footrace/ http://www.azrail.org/2009/on-closing-metro-for-a-footrace/#comments Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:28:06 +0000 wlindley http://www.azrail.org/?p=520 A Resolution of the ARPA Board of Directors, approved 2009-1-17. On behalf of the Members of the Association the the Citizens of Arizona, ARPA opposes and finds it unacceptable to interrupt regularly scheduled rail service for marathons, parades, or similar events which transit should serve. These events must be routed to permit regular rail operation. (On 18 January, [...]]]> http://www.azrail.org/2009/on-closing-metro-for-a-footrace/feed/ 0 http://www.azrail.org/2009/phoenix-plans-to-extend-light-rail-up-19th-avenue/ http://www.azrail.org/2009/phoenix-plans-to-extend-light-rail-up-19th-avenue/#comments Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:53:34 +0000 wlindley http://www.azrail.org/?p=497 Construction on the 3.2-mile northwest extension of the Metro light rail line could start by April if everything goes according to plan. The only caveat is the price tag, which won’t be known until late January or early February… [Meanwhile in Mesa] …Although the final reports have yet to be written, Mesa is leaning toward extending the light [...]]]> http://www.azrail.org/2009/phoenix-plans-to-extend-light-rail-up-19th-avenue/feed/ 0