METRO light rail

It’s ok but I don’t understand why the bike riders don’t use the bike racks (they need more racks) makes it hard as they congregate at the exits and makes it difficult to get on/​off. Since they are connected some kind of wifi would be nice.

1^st time riding the light rail.
Surprised my kids and we took the light rail downtown to a Diamondbacks game, compliments of Camp Soaring Eagle. Arrived in the park and ride lot and a nice worker helped us purchase our tickets and we boarded the rail. Come to find out he was the driver, he was so friendly to everyone. He really enjoys his job, as we traveled from Mesa, I watched him wave to oncoming buses and patrons standing at the stops. It was a full ride as so many were headed downtown.
Only irritating part is the people that scan your tickets, don’t stay on the entire ride and we had to have our tickets scanned 3 times by 3 different people.
Our ride back was a little more interested. It was Saturday night at 11pm, what was I expecting! I told my kids to stay together and hang onto their belongings as it was a little scary riding back with some free entertainment. The young man with the really loud boom box playing rap music, which I didn’t mind, it was enjoyable, but as he exited a drunk man entered and he had many people laughing as he was way over intoxicated and singing and swearing, it was wild!
It was manly males on the ride back, some sleeping, mostly alone.
But overall a great affordable experience to travel across the city.

I have ridden the Light Rail train a few times since its inception, beginning with the debut free all-​day ride. My favorite moment is attending a Fleetwood Mac concert to US Airways Center (now Talking Stick Arena), a round-​trip generously paid for by US Airways. No traffic or parking hassles (!) with alot of fellow concertgoers joining the rides. For disabled riders, it’s $ 2 all-​day pass. Use of this mode of transportation is a hit or miss. I appreciate its invention and convenience. However, something’s not enough or too much: getting around– even while usually better than that dreadful slowpoke city bus, is still limited. You can’t actually ride around the entire city of Phoenix. Yet, still, you can get to downtown Mesa all the way from north-​central Phoenix and vice-​versa, on a pre-​designated straightaway middle-​of-​road path. But, it attracts vagrants and some riders who grab a ride for free and hope to not get caught if a ticket checker hops in the last minute before the train moves, to catch ‘em. While the train is wide enough to move around, wheelchair users, cyclists, strollers, obese, and poor/​welfare have taken up so much space, thus causing discomfort among the inexperienced/​sporadic riders. Just think with your mindset that anyone from all walks of life have ridden the Rail. The trains are, at times, clean– and get cleaned up per break stop. As is typical of «public» transportation, something is bound to be dirty or gross along the way– whether a spill or smelly riders. Just stay patient and positive, and ye shall survive– nobody bothered me ;) I see the city expands and improves the routes (I wish the Rail started when I was in college in the ‘80s, when I had to ride buses ;)) Thanks for the (experimental) trips!

No need for it personally. No purpose when Über is easy and this doesn’t quite take you that far. Liked we are growing AZ. Progress is great and it helps some ppl I chatted up. So… I recommend you at least try it simply because we have it and we live here… Personally I prefer Qatar and the surgically clean and sanitized airport indoor transportation. They ruined our little light rail for me lol!

I was trying to get ticket but machines at rural rd didn’t accept my card so I took the train and the security guy just kicked me out. instead of helping me. I was crying because I was late for my flight but he said to get out buy ticket and wait for next train. So I got out crying and machines didn’t accept my card again. So I am here again with no ticket waiting for another person who doesn’t have any heart. Don’t you ever get to my flight or to my airline valley metro workers! Nothing like humanity left in you

Smells like urine, but it’s efficient and affordable. The length of the route is still pretty small, although they are in the process of expanding.

I ride it often — mostly going to and from work. A general rule I use is «wear earbuds and listen to music». Like all big cities, there are loud and sometimes drunk/​high people on board. True — anyone can get on without paying, but they do have security checking tickets. For $ 4.00 all day — you can ride unlimited (unlike the PHX busses). The trains are always on schedule, and you can get home from Tempe or Downtown as late as 11:45pm on Weekdays and even 2:45am on Friday and Saturdays.

I’ve been to cities where the light rail system was large and throughout the city. Phoenix is at the beginning of rail but has the potential to grow into a large system that may compete against other large metropolitan cities. The rail cars are clean, rail stops are pretty clean for a city and connects to several cities. I am not the fan of the advertising on the rail since you can hardly see out of the windows but I guess something has to pay for the system. I am excited about the 2016 expansion and beyond. Good system, easy to navigate and clean.

Light rail — great idea. Implementation in Phoenix AZ is horrible!!! Caters to bums and thugs!!! Zero law enforcement!!! A breeding ground for criminal activity. If you happen to be a victim, at least you will have a few passengers whip out their phones to make great amateur videos; they will not do the right thing and intervene or assist a victim. If you have a complaint with the light rail system/​service; good luck dealing with their representatives.

My question is how on Earth do they monitor who’s paid, and who hasn’t? A friend and myself rode from Mesa to Chase Field tonight timing it perfectly coming and going simply walking on showing no pass whatsoever regardless of the fact that we both purchased them! The Train was absolutely packed with people both coming and going which I feel is a good thing for the most part! The people with bikes take up a lot of space when they just stand in aisles with them, and don’t hang up them up like they’re supposed to! Seriously though, how many are riding for free, and how are they monitoring that??? I see it as a good mode of transportation for people that really need it, but a huge $$$$ loss for the city as whole with people just walking on! At least you have to always slide your pass when riding the bus! Am I missing something?

I read very negative reviews of this system from 2009 to 2011, but suddenly they all got positive. I wonder what Unilocal is doing with the reviews… or did the light rail suddenly ‘get better’ all on its own. Here’s an honest, sober review from someone with a lot of experience taking public transport all over the world.
Light rail, like most public transportation in America, is a waste of time and money and provides ‘services’ only to the homeless. I’ve ridden light rail/​trams and metros throughout the world, from Poland to Tokyo to the NYC subway to other cities in America, like San Jose, San Diego, and Seattle.
A stop near the airport is actually pretty convenient (although there’s no reason it couldn’t stop AT the airport instead of near it). So you can get to Chase field pretty cheaply and quickly from the airport, as I did to catch the DBacks. The ride was smooth, although through a very ghetto part of town.
However, what really ruins it are the large amount of vagrants who are actually quite menacing. Phoenix has a lot more homeless than I thought it would and the light rail is their mobile air conditioning shelter. There are rarely inspectors as far as I can see… this system really makes it worse. I would be afraid and ashamed to take my wife and children on this thing. Thank god for Über.

Why does nobody object, to the mentally deranged, retarded, ugly bums, that go around, begging for change, & cigarettes? Constantly threatening other people, calling them ‘bitch’, & illegally drinking, at bus stops? And, constantly pinching, tiny bits, of tobacco, & placing it, on top, of a tiny, white piece, of paper, & licking it, twisting it up, then placing it, in their mouth, & lighting it up? That pretty much, sums up, the light rail experience. The 2001 Diamondbacks, would be ashamed.

First trip today from the Sycamore Mesa station to the Central and Washington station due a jury duty summons for the cattle call on Jefferson and 1^st Ave Maricopa Superior Court. I did not want to drive in rush hour traffic and take the shuttle bus from the Madison street parking garage, so the light rail seemed to make sense.
The light rail stops at every single station (whether there are people getting on or off at that particular station). This made the trip from Mesa to Downtown Phoenix about the same amount of time as driving it in rush hour – so no real time savings. It costs $ 4 for a full day pass or $ 2 per ride. Using Mapquest and entering in my car info it would have cost $ 1.20 in gas each way, so no real dollar savings there.
The light rail stations and trains were clean and on-​time. The down side is that some of the people using the light rail have no common sense nor manners. For example, the young man sitting across from me decided to whip out his cell phone and have a loud conversation for about half of my ride back to Mesa. Another clueless young man decided that it was too much effort to put his bike in the rack designated for that purpose and chose to block an entrance/​exit instead. He was not alone – I saw 4 other people do the same thing over the course of a single round trip.
I am a fan of the concept of mass transit, but I do have mixed feelings about fixed rail solutions. If population centers or work corridors shift in any way you are stuck with an albatross of expensive, non-​flexible public transit like many of the older rust bucket cities. Interestingly, the trains were only about half full during rush hour traffic today, so even with the current train alignment the system does not appear to be highly utilized.

This really is a nice system. One ways are two bucks, all day is four. Clean for the most part and certainly convenient to get into downtown or east of there. Good location stops, including the professional sports facilities, lots of restaurants and the heart of downtown. I asked a couple of officers about good restaurants and they gave me some great advice. Very nice people and a pleasure to walk in downtown.
Another great thing about this system is that they put out a booklet that shows all of the restaurants and other stores and sites along the system. Excellent idea.
I like that it goes to Tempe and Mesa But I do agree with others that this system should be extended to Scottsdale. Do not know what the plans are for going west, but because of the explosion of the population there and the openness of the desert, that would be a wise choice. Especially before it gets even more expensive to do. Just ask L.A. Idiot politicians there, hopefully Phoenix has its act together.
Next time I am in Phoenix, I hope to stay at a hotel near this system. It is very user friendly.

This system is an above-​average way to get a quick look at Phoenix for basically nothing (day passes are only $ 4 from ticket vending machines). If you’re stuck on a long layover at Sky Harbor, take the Air Train to the light rail connection at 44^th and Washington and head west, towards 19^th/​Montebello.
Heading into Downtown, you’ll pass by a few sites including the homes of the Diamondbacks (Chase Field) and Suns (US Airways Arena), see some everyday Phoenician businesses and avoid having to deal with parking. A few stops offer food options as well, within a short walk in most cases. End-​to-​end, the line is about an hour’s trip.
There’s art, some shade and even a few placards about the area’s history at stations too (interested in reading about suburban development in the Phoenix area? Central/​Camelback station, towards Sycamore/​Main). That the system seems to run on time, is clean and offers handy bike transport is great.
Note:
* Valley Metro’s system map is available here (
). The heavy gold stripe in the middle? The limitations of the system.
* Want to get some ideas of places to visit via bus + rail? Valley Metro offers a Destination Guide (
).

I love the light rail. How could I not, it stops where I live, and I am DUI insulated. Suns games, d-​backs games (if i ever went), ASU games, concerts, Phoenix downtown, and Mill avenue. With the exception of not having a spur to scottsdale, its great! And that is why I didn’t give it 5 stars, it needs to go down indian school or scottsdale road or both and tie the three main cities (Phoenix, Tempe, and Scottsdale) together.
Cheers,
D

I do not have a lot of public transportation experience so take this review for what it is worth as I’ve only ridden a few times… but my experience has always been good. Just so you know where I am coming from I’ve ridden rail systems in Boston, Philly, Phoenix, and Germany.
I would venture to guess that anyone from a city with a well established public rail system (Boston MBTA, DC Metro, NYC Subways, Chicago L & METRA, Bay’s BART, etc) will think that the PHX lightrail is a joke. And to be honest in a way it probably is. However, I would say that it is not all that bad! Phoenix is a huge SPRAWLING city. Just for comparison, NYC is 468 sq miles and Phoenix is 517sq miles (not including suburbs on either). Take into consider population density and you will see that Phoenix drops way-​way-​way down the list.
What this essentially means for the rail system is that less people live close to the rail/​subway than in other cities (comparison, NYC has a population density of 27,779 people per square mile versus Phoenix at 2,797. Yes, NYC is 10x more dense). So to have a rail, any rail, that works, to me, is a feat worth mentioning. Sure, it could be better, but for what obstacles it must overcome to work it has done very well in my opinion.
To put things in even better perspective… in many of the big metro-​rail cities… a lot of people solely rely on the rail for transportation. Here in Phoenix I would guess that a higher proportion of people have cars. So people are voluntarily riding here. Furthermore, Phoenix is hot as hell in the summer — so those of us riding voluntarily are waiting for the train in the heat (which I truly think that most Phoenicians are absolutely addicted to their A/​C). Not so much in other cities.
The train always seems clean to me. In general, I don’t see bums or people masturbating on the cars. The cars are always on time despite having to drive in traffic instead of underground or on suspended rails like other cities.
I mean, I’m not sure what people who vote this system down for? Do you want Phoenix to spend vast amounts of money to bring the train to your suburb where it would only pick up 3 people a day because everyone is in their personal car (again, it is my belief that most Phoenicians will not tolerate waiting for a rail car while standing in the heat). The only thing I wish that the rail had was later hours, at least on the weekends… or maybe a more direct route to the airport.

When I give a star rating, I give 5 stars when I feel that there’s nothing to improve on. The light rail is clean, efficient and it stops right at my building. Yes, there are scary passengers, but those people are just my crazy neighbors.

I have been on a lot of light rails before and this one is favorite one. You can go from Phoenix to mesa, in a couple of hours. It is pretty new and the city does a great job at keeping it clean. I like taking the light rail to Tempe; it is just a 45 minute ride from downtown Phoenix. It is nice that they have bike racks, and is accessible for handicap people on the rail. I’m excited that they are going to extended it to north Phoenix and Scottsdale.
You can ride 1 time for $ 2.00 or just do an all-​day pass for $ 4.00. Either way it is a great deal. They even have a monthly pass for $ 64.00 and you can ride the busses with the monthly pass. While if you are looking for a ride and don’t really feel like paying for a taxes. You should take the light rail.

Ever since visiting Chase Field a couple years ago, I had always taken my vehicle to watch the ballgame. Although traffic is not as bad as Los Angeles, I just wanted to relax to and from my games. The Valley Metro Light Rail is the perfect way to get to and from Downtown Phoenix.
For just $ 4, you can get an All Day Pass and travel on the rail. I am not sure if the Day Pass works for the buses as well. Most of the time, I park my vehicle at the Montebello & 19^th Station near the Christown Spectrum Mall. There are very few stations with Park & Ride Lots that you can use.
The Light Rail Trains (LRT) are very interesting. Although the doors are closed, you just press a button to open the door and walk into a very COOL and well maintained air conditioned train. With a lot of transients, it was very hard to to see any graffiti or any damage inside the train. That shows you that Valley Metro takes care of their trains. There are bicycle racks on the train to provide space on board the trains. However, it can get too packed on very busy days
The LRT stops at the important stops such as malls, airport, and more importantly for me, Chase Field for any baseball game. Whether you are watching the Phoenix Suns Game or Arizona Diamondbacks Game, the LRT will get you there faster and cheaper. If you are waiting at LRT Station, there are some parts of the station that there is a button. That button is an AC Cooler. It is very interesting. Just push the button and you can be cool for a few moments. I like how Valley Metro is thinking for their customers and making sure they are cool on hot days.
Like my Dodger Games, I try to take the train whether its in Atlanta, Los Angeles, or Phoenix, I’ve got to experience how other people get to their games. I want to tryout the New York Games and see how people get to their games on packed subway cars to the Mets or Yankees Game. Like our motto in Los Angeles, this should apply to all public transportation system, «Go Metro!»
Unilocal! The One Stop Place For Your Everyday Research!

I’m a huge public transportation fan and prefer to take it rather than driving, as long as it’s fairly direct. The light rail gets me to places I need to go (Festivals in Tempe, Central Phoenix for dinner and drinks) and with trains coming every 20 minutes or so, you don’t have to wait forever.
Yes, Phoenix is a huge city and this is a fairly new addition, so it doesn’t and will probably never compare to the rail systems in other large, metropolitan areas. For what it is though, it’s pretty great, and gets nowhere near the amount of respect that it should. Bike hooks so you don’t have to stand and try to move your bike for passer-​byes? That’s awesome. Buttons on the outside so the doors can remain closed before the train takes off and you don’t die of heat in the summer months? That’s pretty awesome too.
The payment system is a little obnoxious if you have never ridden it before and yes, it could be extended further into Mesa and Northern Phoenix (but that comes with time and more money, people), but once you get it down, you’re all good. Now you’ll save money by not having to pay a huge fee to park your car and you can spend that extra cash on more beer… then stumble down to the train station where the light rail will bring you home (or close to it). Brilliant!

Awwww, PHX folks, you are so spoiled. Endless outdoor dining options, beautiful landscapes, incredible views AND affordable public transport!!! So jealous. Whenever I travel outside of Indy, I ask myself «Why do I not live here?» And Phoenix, that is how I feel about you.
For $ 4 you can ride all day unlimited and easily access so much of the town via the Light Rail — even for a tourist, this is a very easy way to navigate the city and see a lot with little time. It runs every 12 minutes throughout the business week and every 20 on the weekend.
I have a feeling that although some locals don’t LOVE it, there is something to be said for a growing economy in PHX popping up around the rail. So many cool ways to go downtown, eat and drink in the city. It’s reasonably safe as I never felt awkward or out of place, though it did get crowded on First Friday. We were still able to squeeze in with the locals!
The daytime ride included being joined by local students which were amazingly well behaved, despite the lack of adults around (we don’t count ourselves).
For a mere $ 4 ride all day! I love it. I am jealous — that is all.

It’s the People
Mass transit puts us all together. The artist, unemployed, elderly, disabled, office crowd, sports-​goers. I’ve met God and Jesus several times on the buses, no insult intended. They told me with all sincerity that’s who they were, continuing the conversation with themselves.
Amazing place to see the diversity of us, smell perfumes, look at tats, wondering what story is inked into that body’s skin. The small conversations, huge and tiny, hot and cool we aren’t listening to, but hear. Feel the smooth and dips along the road, forced some times to bump, politely, into beings we’ll never know.
It’s a long amusement park ride through an art gallery. What stories do those created objects tell?
In a locale fighting any fast or mass transit for decades, it’s miraculous the freeways, interstates, buslines and light rail exist.
Glad to have it.

I don’t understand why so many people whine about the light rail having bums etc.
You people need to get off your high horse! There are homeless people everywhere. Be grateful we have a rail system in Phoenix. It’s better than the ones I’ve seen in other cities. (I’ve seen rats in Philadelphia and trash in New York)
I like the one in Phoenix. I take it all the time to work and it sure beats the traffic. I think it’s a nicely designed rail transport that is equipped with bike racks. If it weren’t for the ligh rail, it would have cost me $ 30 bucks for a taxi to go to the airport.
Thank you Metro Light Rail!