The Light Rail after 6 Months

It has been 6 months since the light rail opened and it is as busy as ever. An article in the Arizona Republic reviewed the Metro light rail system and had many positive things to say about the system. Ridership rose each month and of the 27 accidents Metro has been involved with, damage was mild and also Metro was not at fault.

After reading this article I began to remember conversations I had last semester with many of my peers commuting on the light rail and hearing their opinion on the whole operation. Many of the Downtown students use the light rail to commute back and forth instead of paying for parking or driving. Reflecting back on those conversations I realized that many of the student opinions I encountered were not always that positive. Many students disliked being crammed into train with a ton of people due to a baseball or basketball game. Some students also felt uncomfortable with the occasional encounter with a “sketchy” rider. I also remember many students complaining when the train was late due to an accident and because the train was late, they were late for their class. Now I realize that nothing is perfect but after reading the article in the Arizona Republic I found that the positives outweigh the negatives.

One awesome benefit of the Metro light rail is the money saved on gas and parking. As ASU students we all know how expensive a parking permit can be and if I can find a way to say a couple hundred bucks I’ll take it! Also rush hour traffic can be a pain to deal with especially if you’re driving back and forth from Tempe to Phoenix. The light rail avoids all that I-10 traffic and gets you from point A to point B without sitting bumper to bumper. By riding the light rail we also pollute less! We don’t use our cars with means less pollutants in the air. One other benefit of riding the Metro is meeting people. Yes it can be a little crowded at times, but I have met many interesting people and students while riding the train.

I have to say that the light rail is great for us students. It looks like the Metro light rail is here to stay and hopefully the longer it runs the better it will get! Any comments or concerns about the light rail feel free to let me know! Have an Awesome Day!!!!

Lonni Summers