Ever since I first heard about the light rail years ago, I thought no one would ride it, but it seems I'll probably be riding it once it opens in December.
I was always fortunate enough to live close to my school, close enough to walk or get a quick ride from my parents, and I never had to take the bus. However, with the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication moving to the Downtown campus next semester, I'm going to have to find a way to get there because I will no longer live within a couple miles of campus for the first time in my school career. Come December, instead of taking multiple buses or wasting all my gas, I might as well take the light rail.
The Valley isn't designed in a way for public transportation to be the least bit convenient, and I've never been a fan trying it around here. But I envy other cities I've visited that actually have a decent and often-used transportation system such as Washington, D.C., and I was absolutely spoiled by the extremely efficient Japanese transportation system over the summer.
Despite the layout of the Valley cities, it seems the light rail and its future expansions may actually work, or at least be a good first step to provide public transportation for the city. It's definitely better than the Metro buses at least.
For students without cars, the light rail may be the best option to get off campus for fun or work besides bumming rides from friends. I definitely wish this could have been an option for me during my freshman year at the dorms.
The light rail does actually go by many places of interests, including Chase Field, various concert venues, museums, the airport and ASU, so it has to be able to get people to where they want to go.
There are park-and-ride stations, which will be free according to the Valley Metro Web site, and as students, we will most likely be able to ride the light rail for free just as we can ride the Metro buses for free. If you already park in Lot 59 and take the Flash to get from the parking lot to campus, taking the light rail will be pretty much the same procedure, except you don't have to shell out a couple hundred bucks a semester. You could also save a little gas by not driving all the way to campus and back.
I can't stand driving in downtown Phoenix, but occasionally I find myself braving the confusing one-way streets and often getting lost for about 20 minutes. Parking at concerts and other events is a pain, and I think taking the light rail there and back would be much easier, and I'd save 10 bucks for parking.
Light rail-like systems have been successful in other cities, and especially successful in Europe and other countries. Utilizing public transportation could also cut down on our country's dependence on oil and help reduce air pollution.
Valley residents seem to be especially set in their ways of driving because the city has never really had any efficient or useful public transportation, but with more and more people pouring in, the air quality is just going to get worse if we don't try to do something to cut down on people driving in cars by themselves and contributing to the congestion of the streets and pollution in the air.
And if you're still really against the idea of taking the light rail, then at least you can look forward to the end of all the construction around town. As it turns out, there's something in it for everyone.
Monique hopes there won't be as many scary people on the light rail as on the Orbit buses. Sympathize with her at: monique.devoe@asu.edu.
