We had a bunch of people, the kind who know sooooo much more than the rest of us, tell us that we need a light rail system. Gotta have it. We are the Government, we know what you need. Now.
We spent 1.5 BILLION dollars on a train that runs from Mesa to downtown Phoenix. Actually, it runs through downtown to the moderate west side near a mall named Chris Town.
It takes a stop near where all the Gubment bildings are too.
So - and this is cool....
- They have no way of knowing if anyone purchased a ticket. There is no turnstyle or ticket verification.
- Students from ASU and Government wonks ride free, or with public money subsidization. That means the train could conceivably run at huge capacity while making no revenue, just taking revenue to pay for the student and government riders.
- No Shade. The platforms are in the sun. No covers. Lawsuit waiting to happen.
- No water fountains... Platform in the sun in 118 degree sun, no water.
- No restrooms. None. Not on the trains, not on the platforms. ADA lawsuit right around the corner on that one.
- While you can tether your bicycle, you cannot tether your wheelchair... instead, you have to hang on for dear life.
- It takes nearly an hour and a half to go from Mesa to Christown (I believe that is 28 miles... maybe a bit more... so we can leave out convenience.
- No parking near stations. Yes, that's right. There are Metro Stations with no parking.
These people really believe they are the smartest among us.
BTW, Arizona is 1.5 Billion in the hole. If that number sounds familiar, read above.
1 comment:
Don - FWIW we actually voted for this thing. Sure it was sold to us as the end all and be all, but at least it was put up to a vote. The alternative being offered at the time was to put more money into the lousy bus system to add buses and stops and add more express routes. That's the one I voted for. Sadly we ended up with light rail.
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