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Phoenix may study adding light-rail stops

By Sean Holstege The Republic | azcentral.com Mon Dec 17, 2012 10:47 PM

Phoenix City Hall’s ambitions to expand light-rail service are no longer confined to building new lines. On Wednesday, the City Council is expected to approve spending $120,000 to find out whether two new stations on the existing 20-mile line would work.

City leaders want to know if new stations near 16th and 48th streets would attract enough new riders without bringing service to a crawl. This section of track, along Phoenix’s Washington and Jefferson streets, has the most widely spaced stations on the system, taking trains past mostly light industrial areas.

But they also pass emerging business parks, historically underserved neighborhoods, proposed housing and medical-center developments, and a new resource center that helps hundreds of disabled people find jobs, get counseling, fill out paperwork and gather socially.

The idea of new stations on an existing light-rail line is somewhat novel. Few, if any, have been installed nationwide over the past 20 years, though three are planned in Minneapolis. Disability advocates and Phoenix Vice Mayor Michael Johnson proposed the additions. But before they become a reality, Metro light-rail planners will have to balance the need to improve access with the need to run the system smoothly.

Calls for new stations also come amid the growing popularity of the light-rail system. On an average weekday, Metro light rail carries close to 50,000 people, a number that had not been projected to be reached until the end of the next decade.

Metro is advancing on five extensions, with one under way in Mesa and another to be started next month in Phoenix. Two were not part of the plan approved by voters in 2004.

“People wouldn’t be clamoring for more access if it wasn’t something they didn’t want access to,” Metro light rail spokeswoman Hillary Foose said. “It’s a good problem to have.”

Wednesday’s vote is expected to go in favor of conducting the study. A council committee voted for the idea 4-0 last month. Next month, the Metro governing board is expected to agree to undertake the study.

David Carey, an advocacy specialist at the Arizona Bridge to Independent Living, has long pushed for a station at nearby 48th Street, having seen the toll the journey took on his clients. On weekdays, a bus runs every 45 minutes. On weekends, it’s every hour.

If he or a visitor to ABIL misses a transfer from light rail, he or she often has to travel close to a mile on the street, under a freeway overpass. Many are deaf or blind.

In addition to increasing access, the added stations may drive development. The proposed 16th Street location is attracting interest for an apartment complex, said Phoenix light-rail project manager Albert Santana, and St. Luke’s Medical Center has development plans, as well.

Former Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon labeled the area east of downtown Phoenix along the tracks “the opportunity corridor,” but development didn’t occur there as fast as it did along Tempe’s Apache Boulevard. Most of the widely spaced stations in Phoenix are among the least used on the line.

“We can’t have people asking for a station on every block,” Santana said. “But these two, in my opinion, are the two that are most promising. Everywhere else we have pretty good coverage.”

Metro planning chief Ben Limmer said, “Our stance is to provide as many options to as many people and as big a cross-section of the public as possible.”

That doesn’t mean stations will be built soon.

The study will take 18 to 24 months. Phoenix is paying for it with revenue from its local transit tax.

Each station will cost $8million to $13million, Metro estimates. No source of funding has been identified. The same is true for the extra cost of maintaining the stations and operating extra service.

Each station has to pass muster with Metro. Last year, Metro enacted a policy for weighing new stations.

To be considered, they must:

Not interfere with current operations.

Be expected to attract 3,000 combined daily boardings and alightings within a year of opening.

Not add more than two minutes to the total travel time.

Today, a typical journey from one end of the line to the other takes 65 minutes. Metro brought that down from more than 70 minutes, the average time in the early days of service. Still, the trip exceeds the original estimate of less than an hour.

Metro operations managers estimate two stations would add two minutes to the total transit time.

Already, transit experts, including Metro planners and managers, concede that the system’s 28 stations are more than the ideal number. Light-rail systems around the country work best with stations every half-mile to mile. On average, Metro meets that standard, but in downtown and midtown Phoenix, stations are closer and the trip is slow.

Neighborhood activists such as Sean Sweat have called the study a “waste of money” because new stations would make the trip between downtown Phoenix and Tempe “slower than it already is.”

Nor is it certain thatthe stations can draw the requisite ridership. During construction, Tempe persuaded Metro to add the Center Parkway station. After a year, it attracted fewer than 300 boardings and 300 alightings. Only 10 stations met the 3,000-passenger threshold at the time.

Despite the technical hurdles and the long timeline, Carey is upbeat.

“I’m very optimistic that the money can be raised,” he said.

Republic reporter Dustin Gardiner contributed to this article.