Proposed transit budget cuts in Downtown Phoenix
Posted on 28. Jan, 2010 by Tony Arranaga in Featured, News
A list of proposed budget cuts in the city of Phoenix is now online and a significant reduction in service could be in store for the light rail. Among some of the proposed cuts:
- Reducing peak lightrail service from 13 hours to 11 hours by running trains every 20 minutes between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- Trains will run every 12 minutes during peak hours
- Eliminate late night light rail service on the weekends
There will be public hearings on the proposed Phoenix and Tempe budget cuts starting in February. Click here for a list of dates in Phoenix and here for a blog post with a link for the dates in Tempe.
On a personal note, the proposed reduction to the late night light rail service is probably the most disappointing news. Especially when there has been such an incredible vibe in our urban core recently. Granted, that cool vibe doesn’t center around downtown nightlife, but it certainly is at least part of what has injected a new energy in our city. This will certainly be a disappointment. How do local business owners along the line feel about this news?
David Bickford
30. Jan, 2010
I was expecting far deeper cuts, so I’m actually relieved that the proposal currently on the table is milder than I anticipated. Of course things could get worse if the economy continues to be weak. One point not addressed is the use of unitrains, something that just doesn’t seem right except during really, really off-peak hours.
Regarding the late hours, if read the budget document correctly, those hours would be cut by 2/3 but not eliminated entirely. Trains would continue to start runs up until midnight, an hour later than the 11 PM final runs on weekdays. That’s only an hour, but still helpful. Think of it this way: Many concerts, plays, and sports games end some time between 10 and 11. If the event is a long one, anyone in attendance has to make a difficult choice between leaving early or possible missing the last train. Have trains depart up until midnight ensures that trains will still be running after most Downtown events.
The one need that won’t be met with a midnight curfew, though, is transport for those staying in bars and clubs until 2 AM last call. Service this late has been justified as a way or reducing drunk driving, but I think it’s impact has probably been minimal. The only drunks taken off the road are those who live within walking or bicycling distance of a station. For everyone else, there’s the prospect of returning to a car in a park-and-ride having had only a 30-minute train ride during which to sober up. in most cases, that’s not going to happen.
As a result, I think midnight is probably late enough for the last train to leave, particularly in light of two other circumstances:
First, Phoenix’s brief experiment with 2 AM runs has made it the city with the latest rail service in the western U.S. Cutting back to midnight will bring us in line with the standard in most other cities west of the Mississippi. We have nothing to be ashamed of.
Second, service actually runs later than a lot of people realize — as long as passengers don’t cross the Phoenix / Tempe border. The 2 AM time actually describes the time the last train leaves each terminus. If a train leaves west Mesa at 2 AM, it arrives at Christown, the other terminus, at 3:05 AM. The train doesn’t spend the night there, however. Instead it heads back to the Operations and Maintenance Center near the Airport. While it’s making that trip home, it continues to pick up and discharge passengers all the way to 44th St. / Washington, the last station before the Operations and Maintenance Center. The result is trains running until 3:49 AM, although they don’t cross the Phoenix / Tempe border in either direction.
Taking into effect the new earlier time for the last run on weekends, this all means that there will still be at least some level of train service until 1:49 on weekends. There’s already service until 12:49 on weekdays due to these factors.
ben bethel
31. Jan, 2010
They could reduce the operating expenses and still have the metro operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Just decrease frequency a few minutes on non-peak hours (including 8a-4p) and keep a train just once an hour at 12a, 1a, 2a, 3a – that would make it 24-hours with “night owl” service, reduce costs, and still increase ridership.
Khamis Hammoudeh
03. Feb, 2010
Ben, a 24-hour system isn’t possible with the infrastructure we have in Phoenix. An extra track (maybe 2) and more cars are needed to be able to safely take trains out of service for maintenance, which they get every night. 24-hour systems like those in NYC and Chicago utilize 4 tracks to make this possible.
One thing I think you’re missing Tony is the cuts being made to staff that are critical for the build out of the entirely Phoenix-funded Northwest expansion. Which includes laying off an Economic Development Program Manager (responsible for attracting economic development around the light rail line), a Principal Engineering Technician position (responsible for assisting with the impacts of the Northwest Light Rail). And I believe there are more positions such as secretarial assistants being cut. Phoenix is also considering merging its LTR Project office with its Public Transit office.
Of note to those living car-free lifestyles like myself, is that Phoenix has proposed the entire elimination the Bike Lane Program. That program has funded the construction of 158 miles of additional bike lanes in Phoenix alone.
I think it’s important to include Phoenix’s projected effects on ridership numbers in this post to highlight that these are not just milder than expected cuts, but are substantial. Reducing the peak hours of operation by two hours daily will equate to the loss of 319,000 passengers per year, changing the headway by just an additional 2 minutes to be at 12 minutes will mean the loss of an additional 761,000 passengers per year, eliminating Friday’s late night service means losing 52,000 more passengers per year and Saturday’s late night service is another 158,000 passengers per year lost. That’s a total of close to 1.3 million rides, which approaches the entire 1.5 million population of Phoenix. Security will also be reduced, with more crimes bound to happen, be publicized and lead to further loss of riders.
I personally feel that the additional delays to an already severely underfunded & tardy Northwest extension will spell its doom for being completed any time during this upcoming decade. And that could spell the biggest hit these cuts have on METRO’s long-term success.