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Of course most of the passengers that fly into or out of Sky Harbor Airport won't use the Sky Train, which will make the per trip cost of each Sky Train ride cost something like $10, $15, $20 or $30 per trip. And that is a lousy trip of about two miles max from one end of Sky Harbor Airport to the other end.

The Sky Train boondoggle is a lot like the Phoenix Light Rail boondoggle. It costs passengers a measly $1.75 for a single trip on the light rail. But it cost the government around $17 to provide each trip a passenger pays $1.75 for.

Source

PHX Sky Train opening near; mayor offered first look at station Tues.

by Catherine Holland

Video report by Ryan O'Donnell

Posted on November 13, 2012 at 9:56 AM

PHOENIX -- It's not slated to open for at least a couple of months yet, but Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton gave us a preview of the new 44th Street PHX Sky Train™ station Tuesday morning.

The PHX Sky Train will open early next year, serving as a new gateway into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport and creating a seamless connection with METRO Light Rain from the station at 44th and Washington streets.

In addition to the Light Rail station, the train will also have stops at the East Economy Parking Lot and Terminal 4, which is the airport's busiest terminal. The ride from the Light Rail station to Terminal 4 will be just five minutes.

With trains running in both directions every three to four minutes, the PHX Sky Train™ will operate seven days a week, 365 days a year, and will be free of charge.

"It's going to be really convenient," Deputy Aviation Director for Public Relations Deb Ostreicher said last year when the framework was finished. "You can do it now on the free shuttle ... but soon, it'll be a train."

In addition to getting to their planes, passengers also will be able to check their bags at the 44th Street Station -- before they even get to the airport.

"This facility, the 44th Street Station, is going to go a long way to advancing the long-term goals of our airport and make life more convenient for the literally millions of passengers who use Sky Harbor every day," Stanton said during Tuesday's media tour.

While the first phase of the $1.5 billion is nearly ready to open, the PHX Sky Train™, which is electric and automated, will expand to serve Terminal 3 with a walkway to Terminal 2 by early 2015, and will continue to the Rental Car Center in its final stage.

The implementation of the PHX Sky Train™ is expected to take a significant number of buses and cars off the roadways, hopefully easing traffic congestion into to the airport.

"You're going to just be able to take the train to the plane," Ostreicher said. "It'll be so easy.

"This is going to alleviate so much traffic on the roadways. ... We're building it now because by 2020, believe me, you're going to need it -- not just sometimes, but all the time. ... Your access in and out of the airport will be much, much easier."

Once it's operating, the train is expected to carry 6 million passengers each year.

Construction on the PHX Sky Train™ began in March 2010. The structural framework was completed a little more than a year later. The cars that make up the PHX Sky Train™ were unveiled in August 2011. Each of the 18 train cars has a 53-passenger capacity. The cars will be assembled into two- and three-car trains.

The environmentally friendly PHX Sky Train™ made its first official test run on May 16, followed by a trip over an active taxiway in June.

"The taxiway bridge is the first mass-transit bridge in the world to be constructed over an active airport taxiway," according to the Sky Harbor International Airport website. " It is more than 100 feet tall and large enough for a Boeing 747 to pass below."

The funding for the PHX Sky Train™ project came from fees paid at Sky Harbor Airport, which is a self-supporting entity. [Translation - everybody that flies into or out of Sky Harbor Airport has a $5 tax slapped on their plane ticket to pay for this billion dollar boondoggle]

Stanton said Stage 1 one of the project created 6,000 jobs. The second stage is expected to add 2,000 jobs.