Public transit options few and far between for most people

For most people in the Valley of the Sun, mass transit is a mixed bag.

Mel Hannah takes the RAPID bus downtown on most work days, reading and catching up on work instead of stressing out over traffic and gas prices.

Sam Schoch figures that his $45-a-month pass saves him about $200. He takes the bus most days from Chandler and 48th Street to near Papago Park where he works at a credit union, a 22-mile round trip.

Ahwatukee Foothills resident Joe Debbins takes his bike and RAPID to get to St. Josephs Hospital and Medical Center where he works as a biophysicist.

• Read Part 1 of the AFN's series on transportation: Mass transit plans could help Ahwatukee Foothills
• Read Part 2 of the AFN's series on transportation: Fuel prices push drivers to rethink how they get around

Options few for some

But for most people in Ahwatukee Foothills and surrounding areas, there are few options when it comes to escaping their car, $4-a-gallon gasoline and congestion during rush hours.

"I work kind of strange hours and there isn't a bus that comes even close to my job," said Erick See, a paralegal in central Scottsdale.

Mass transit also isn't convenient for John Carpenter, who works for a printing company.

"I looked at it once and then I looked again a few weeks ago, as the price of gas kept going up, and it would take hours and a couple transfers to get to Mesa where I work," Carpenter said.

While interest in finding an alternative to high fuel prices has sparked a second look at mass transit, the ability of cities to put new buses in service has stayed flat, especially since sales tax revenues used to help pay for new bus and mass transit is down and costs are up.

"What we are doing is maintaining our current level of service," said Marie Chapple, a spokeswoman for the Phoenix Public Transit Department.

And while that doesn't sound like much, a decade ago Phoenix had no Sunday bus service, no RAPID service or a park-and-ride lot at 40th Street and Pecos Road and no free ALEX bus to transport people around Ahwatukee Foothills.

Some new service still to come

While new service is limited, it's not unheard of.

Tempe and Chandler are currently looking at expanding express bus or light rail service from Arizona State University and Tempe's downtown south, possibly as far as Chandler Boulevard. That would allow commuters from Ahwatukee Foothills and Chandler to drive to a park-and-ride lot and then take light rail or a bus north to their final destination in Tempe or to connect with the light rail system that will begin service from Mesa through Phoenix in December.

ADOT is studying the feasibility of heavy rail from Tucson to downtown Phoenix, which could include a stop in the East Valley.

Future plans

Today's bus service, along with light rail that begins later this year and will expand north over the next 20 years, and some type of mass transit in Tempe and Chandler, scheduled to begin in 2015, are all funded by cities, Phoenix voters who passed Transit 2000 and Maricopa County voters who passed Proposition 400.

But for public transit options, from more urban light rail to commuter rail connecting various points in the state, voters must pass the Arizona-wide one-cent sales tax hike to provide money for the 30-year plan to expand roads, highways, public transit and rail.

Otherwise, Arizona Department of Transportation officials say, the amount of money generated from the gasoline tax and sent from Washington D.C. will barely cover the cost of maintaining the existing highway system by 2020, let alone expand the system.

Even before the proposition officially gets on the ballot, groups like the Sierra Club have come out opposing the plan, saying it relies too much on highways. While conservatives like Rep. Russell Pierce (R-Mesa) say they oppose it because it has too much public transportation and not enough highways.

That schizophrenia reflects public attitudes toward public transit. Those who use it love it. But for most people, money for mass transit simply means less money for roads.

The question for the future will be if fuel stays above $4 a gallon, will it change public perception for mass transit?

Contact writer: (480) 898-7914 or dmurphy@ahwatukee.com.