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| - I've got alot of nice and not-so-nice things to say about Phoenix's latest venture into building serious public transportation.
Nice Thing #1: Mainly because it's new, the cars are really clean. After living in LA and using the metro subway there, anything seems cleaner than that. Let's just hope they keep up the cleanliness of the light rail in the years to come.
Nice Thing #2: It gets me from A to B with little to no problems. It gets the job done. Also, it's one of Phoenix's more serious efforts at going green, so it's worth backing.
Nice Thing #3: All of the current downtown stops are well thought out. Once you step off, something is always walking distance.
Nice Thing #4: The price of the all-day pass is worth it.
Nice Thing #5: Unlike public transportation in LA, the light rail is generally on time and makes for a reliable means of getting around. There don't seem to be any car companies that are trying to choke-hold the city by shutting any stations down like they did in the 30's in LA.
The cons...
Bad Thing #1: The only logic in taking the light rail is that it's essentially a car you don't have to park or fill up on gas. It's not that it's slow, but it really only goes slightly faster than the cars driving next to it in the street. Part of the sluggishness of the light rail stems from the fact that it has to stop at traffic lights like the cars you decided not to drive. I think the smarter idea would've been to build the light rail above or under ground so it could have gone faster and not have to stop at lights or risk the chance of some idiot gunning it and T-boning one of the passenger cars.
Bad Thing #2: I know this experiment is still in its training wheels stage, but I really wish that they would build a line that would go to North Phoenix, Scottsdale, or Glendale. I've heard that they are planning a Glendale route, but that's probably going to take another ten years. Even though I live a few blocks from one of the stops, I really wish I wasn't limited to downtown, Tempe, or Mesa.
Bad Thing #3: No airport stop? I mean, there is, but you have to take a shuttle to the actual airport. Why not just build a stop there? It would make more sense.
Bad thing #4: Why does this thing shut off at 11? Is Phoenix trying to kill any chance of building a real nightlife downtown? We're not children. This city shouldn't set a curfew before midnight on this.
In all, the Valley Metro Rail is more yay than nay. It's got its kinks that it still needs to work out and it's kinda tough to judge something that's in what I hope is a very nascent form of what it will eventually become.
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