Tell a friend about Phoenix light rail extended hours
Posted on 28. Jul, 2009 by Tony Arranaga in Featured, News
Railfans and business owners along the new light rail system in Phoenix got their wish – trains running until 2 a.m. on the weekends. However the extended hours haven’t brought the crowds once expected. OK, so, now what?
“Late night ridership has been light,” says METRO spokesperson Hillary Foose. ”We look forward to it picking up with people returning to the Valley in the fall and schools getting back into session.”
You may recall the transit board approved late night hours for light rail trains which I blogged about here. Supporters of local business along the line were ecstatic the trains would run longer hours and potentially bring in some much needed customers during tough economic times. Almost a month has passed since the first trains carried the passengers past midnight, METRO says the crowds are light, so now what?
Whenever I ask people who take advantage of the late night hours about the crowds – I get a mixed reaction. Some establishments are hopping crazy busy while others are getting ready to call it a day before the anchors on late newscasts say goodnight.
Are people trying to save money by staying home to eat? Or is this another typical summer in Arizona, when ASU students and many residents take a break from the heat during June, July and part of August? Will passenger numbers get back on track come September when those same people return t0 create a spike in late night ridership?
What if people really don’t care about business along the light rail? I hope that’s not the case.
Fellow blogger Nick Bastian of Rail Life is stirring things up a bit and creating some buzz by organizing an event to raise some light rail awareness.
“Some people aren’t even aware the trains run late,” says Bastian, who is rallying the troops of local bloggers, Tweeps, and many others who are passionate about downtown Phoenix and our light rail system. They’re organizing an event called Night Rail this Friday night. The goal is to attract attention and let people know there is something to do downtown besides go to First Friday. You can learn how to get involved here.
“It’s not really me doing anything as much as it is us,” says Bastian when I talked to him about the participation which involves not only passengers but also businesses along and near the 20 stretch of tracks. ”If we want to grow up and be a big city, we need to have more things to do after 10 o’clock.”
Bastian says all this is not just about creating a business for the bars. There are many things to do downtown that don’t require drinking or spending alot of money. For example, have you ever been to Copper Square and window shopped? (check out what to do here) Or when was the last time you checked out our fabulous public art display at the Downtown Civic Space Park? And besides being artists, did you know Claude Monet, Norman Rockwell, and Rembrandt van Rijn all have a Phoenix connection? (Their work has graced the walls of the Phoenix Art Museum)
This week, recommend a cool place along the line to a friend or coworker in search of something to do on Friday night. And then tell us about your recommendation below. After all, this Friday night is about raising awareness.
3 Responses to “Tell a friend about Phoenix light rail extended hours”
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Clintus
28. Jul, 2009
I had no idea the rail ran that late on the weekends. It’s great to know when making future plans. Thanks.
Adron
28. Jul, 2009
Even in Portland, which is a late night city, finds it hard to run transit later in the night. Our services pretty much stop cold by 1:00am and the majority are done running by midnight. The simple fact is, most of the nightlife in PDX is bike & pedestrian which is awesome, but frustrating for those in the burbs or even a little outside of downtown to enjoy the night life via transit.
The other frustrating thing is, on Friday & Saturday the typical cookie cutter frat boy American crew rolls into downtown to hit the clubs with their fake n bake tanned girls that contribute zero to the city except a little booz money. That’s all awesome but the same night life goes on around and avoid them all around Portland. The crux being, these doofuses don’t use transit (they’re the “drink n drive” crowd) and the downtown urbanites, as before, just don’t use transit for the night life because they’re all downtown already.
…it’s a tough battle. I wish you all fortune in getting people out and about in Pheonix!!
David SB
31. Jul, 2009
When contemplating late night transit hours, it’s important to realize that the last train or bus is almost never going to be crowded. Very few people are willing to risk trying to make the last ride home, missing it by minutes, and winding up having to take a taxi or call a friend.
Instead, late hours tend to make the second-to-last, third-to-last, etc. train or bus more crowded. People feel comfortable shooting for those options because they know there’s always something later if they miss their target ride.
In my case, my first occasion to take advantage of these hours (aside from tonight’s Night Rail event) will be for the Green Day concert on August 22. I very much doubt that the band will play until 2 AM, but without the late hours, I would hesitate to take light rail to the show lest I find myself having to sneak out early during the last encore around 11 PM.
In other words, knowing that the train runs until 2 AM makes me more likely to use light rail to go to an event that might end around 11 PM or midnight. I hope METRO keeps that in mind when evaluating these extended hours. Officials should look not only at the passenger loads during the very last hour of service, but also at passenger loads from 11 PM until 1 PM. I expect that time period may be when the biggest increase in passengers is experienced.