Phoenix is ramping up its light rail system despite record-breaking declines in ridership spurred by COVID-19.
Light rail ridership is down a little over 50% from where it was pre-COVID-19, according to Valley Metro CEO Scott Smith. Bus ridership is down about 40%.
Light rail construction hasn't slowed, however. In fact, Valley Metro has accelerated some projects, taking advantage of less vehicle traffic on the road while more people stay home.
But with ridership at all-time lows and no indication as to when ridership will return at pre-pandemic levels, is it smart to continue with pricey expansion of the light rail system?
"I think if we used that same logic, we'd say 'Let's go tear down all the movie theaters and all the stadiums.' Nobody expects this to be around forever. We're going to at some point in time, whether it be in the next month or the next year, return to some normalcy," Smith said.
The projects Valley Metro is currently developing in Phoenix — a new downtown transfer hub, an extension into south Phoenix and an extension to the now-closed Metrocenter Mall — won't be ready for passengers until 2024.
"These projects don't happen overnight. They take many years to happen. So we're going to plan accordingly as if we come back to some sort of normalcy within the next one to five years," Smith said.
Ridership is down during COVID-19
Public transportation ridership has dropped in every city across the country since March, when stay-at-home orders, school closures and remote work began in many states.
In metro Phoenix, the ridership drop has not been as severe as in other major U.S. cities, where there were more stringent shelter-in-place orders.
In New York, for example, ridership on the subway dropped 90% in the first three months of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the New York Times.
Valley Metro spokesperson Hillary Foose said both the light rail and bus system serve an "essential group of riders" — people like health care workers, grocery store clerks and janitorial workers, who continued to go into work while others stayed home.
"We were grateful to not have had to reduce our service that much and really keep as much service on the streets as much as possible in order to serve this essential audience," Foose said.
Light rail frequency has been reduced to every 15 minutes instead of every 12 minutes, and some bus lines have reduced capacity. Otherwise, the system is basically operating at the same level as it was before COVID-19, Foose said.
Face coverings are required on public transportation. On buses, passengers board through rear doors to minimize contact with drivers, and the city of Phoenix and Valley Metro have installed physical barriers between drivers and passengers.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said the city knows it will have to "earn transit ridership back" by ensuring safety precautions, like enhanced cleaning and required face masks.
"There are many people who are going to want to know it is safe before they come back, and so we have to be very intentional about that," she said.
About 1/3 of transit riders are students going to and from school. Gallego said that once in-person school resumes, she expects that group of riders will return to the system.
People who use the system to get to work likely will return when companies begin transitioning back to traditional work environments as well, she said.
"We know that our transit system is the backbone of our economy and lets people get to work and school and other essential parts of their life," Gallego said.
Downtown Hub
Major roads in downtown Phoenix are under construction right now as Valley Metro prepares to create a light rail hub on Washington and Jefferson streets and Central and Third avenues.
The new hub will allow riders to transfer between the existing light rail line and the line that eventually will head down Central Avenue into south Phoenix.
In normal circumstances, the hub construction on multiple bustling downtown streets would be nightmarish for traffic. But because more people are staying home from work and downtown sports and special events are cancelled, construction on the hub has been less intrusive.
"I don't ever want to say anything like COVID is a blessing, but from a construction standpoint we've been extremely fortunate," Smith said. "We've been able to keep people working, wages paid, and we've been able to take advantage of the change of traffic flows to really do some things that we wouldn't have been able to do."
When complete in 2024, the downtown hub will create a light rail loop around Phoenix City Council chambers, the Calvin C. Goode building and a portion of the CityScape development. The hub will include four new light rail stations for transferring lines.
The goal is to create a more pedestrian and transit-oriented feel in the centerpiece of downtown, Smith said. There no longer will be vehicle traffic allowed on Central Avenue between Washington and Jefferson streets — only pedestrians, buses and light rail.
South Central
The most anticipated and controversial light rail extension will start at the new downtown hub and run south on Central Avenue to Baseline Road.
The extension will whittle Central Avenue to two vehicle lanes from four, which has drawn ire from some nearby business owners and residents.
Last year, a group of light rail detractors tried to stop the south central extension — and the entire light rail program — by putting the rail system back on the ballot.
The proposition failed overwhelmingly, which kept the light rail on track to expand into south Phoenix.
The extension is expected to open to passengers in 2024, but a substantial amount of work is already underway. Workers are removing medians on Central Avenue and starting to relocate water pipes and utility lines to get ready for the rail system.
Smith said Valley Metro recently relocated about 30 large palm trees from the Central Avenue medians and a local nonprofit will replant them in other places throughout south Phoenix.
"The community felt very strongly with those palm trees. They have a connection with them," Smith said.
Gallego said Phoenix is working closely with businesses along Central Avenue to help them through the impacts of both construction and COVID-19. Several businesses in the area received grants to help them through revenue losses, she said.
"We want to make the light rail extensions a win for the people who are already in the community," she said.
Metrocenter extension
Valley Metro is also expanding the western endpoint of the existing light rail line.
The line currently ends at Dunlap and 19th avenues but will be expanded another 1½ miles over Interstate 17 to Metrocenter Mall.
Metrocenter Mall closed in June after 46 years of business.
"One of the question's that's been asked is, 'For heaven's sake, why would you run a light rail line to a mall that's just closed?'" Smith said.
He said the point of the extension is not to bring riders to and from the mall. He said Valley Metro believes that piece of property will evolve into a new commercial, residential and employment hub that will center around light rail.
"Any of these investments are not snapshots. They are generational investments. So when we decide to take transit here, of course we look at the existing landscape, but we also look and see what the future will hold," Smith said. "I think (Metrocenter) will transition into one of the most exciting new developments in Phoenix history."
Gallego said she's confident Metrocenter will be bought by a developer who will invest in the property and bring it into the 21st century.
"What we're hearing now is that the malls of the future will likely have to be even more of an experience, and it won't just be picking up your goods but do you have a good time while you're there," she said. "I'm hopeful that the Metrocenter of the future will be a very active destination with a lot of amenities for the northwestern part of our city."
The Metrocenter expansion will feature Phoenix's first elevated light rail platform. Smith said that the plan is to make the end of the line a transit hub where buses will congregate, allowing residents in the northwest to access more public transportation options from the light rail station.
Early construction began in September. Construction of the bridge over Interstate 17 should begin in the next few months, Smith said.
The Metrocenter line will open to passengers in 2024.
Flexibility in transportation
Light rail projects are funded through a variety of sources, including city transportation taxes, county transportation taxes and federal grants.
Maricopa County voters have approved a half-cent sales tax for transportation in multiple elections, but the current tax is set to expire in 2025.
The tax funds not only public transportation but also freeways and other street transportation projects.
Leaders in the region are already working on a renewed transportation plan to bring to Maricopa County voters in the next few years in hopes that they will agree to extend the transportation tax for another two decades.
Both Smith and Gallego said they hope the transportation plan will include flexibility that will allow the region to take advantage of new and still-unknown transportation options.
"To see how first, ride share has disrupted transportation and secondly, how the mere mention of the potential of autonomous vehicles has continued to further disrupt — that's where I see we have to maintain our flexibility," Smith said.
Smith said he can envision both ride-share services and driverless cars connecting more people with the light rail and bus systems. He said he hopes the next transportation plan allows for some room for creativity as new technologies become real possibilities.
"In the next iteration, we can't simply plan to build more freeways and more rail lines like we have in the past," he said. "These high-capacity corridors are important, but we also have to make sure that we don't expend all our resources on this tech without recognizing that there is new technology that will come and enhance our transportation, but not replace our transportation."
Gallego said voter approval to extend the regional transportation tax is essential just to maintain the current level of public transportation service and freeway maintenance in metro Phoenix.
She said she also hopes the plan includes funds for transportation innovation that will allow the region to adapt to new technology.
"It's really fun to think about how you can build a Maricopa County of the future and keep investing in this amazing place to live," Gallego said.
The first major transit tax was approved by Phoenix voters in 2000. Since then, voters have approved funding for light rail, buses and other transportation projects many times over.
"It's Important to recognize that within a generation, we've really changed the city," Gallego said. "To me, that's one of the exciting things about Phoenix. We are building it right now, and people who laid the groundwork are still here to help us."
Reach the reporter at jessica.boehm@gannett.com or 480-694-1823. Follow her on Twitter @jboehm_NEWS.
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