Transportation Issues on Here and Now

June 28, 2006

Marty Shultz, Co-chair of the Transportation Task Force (Left) James Cavanaugh, Mayor of Goodyear (Photo Credit: John Tynan)

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( Phoenix, AZ ) Congested freeways, rude drivers, photo radar. Add in high gas prices and Arizonans have more incentives than ever to abandon their cars for other options such as buses and light rail. But will they? Also, what's being done to ease traffic congestion?

Here & Now “Fast Facts” -- Life in the Fast Lane

The Car

There is no denying that Arizonans love their cars. Just as cowboys relied on their horses to get around the desert in the old West, Arizonans rely on their cars, trucks and SUV's to get around the valley and state. One problem. The number of people driving cars continues to outpace the amount our freeways can handle, leading to more traffic congestion, air pollution and frustration. Arizona recently ranked second in the nation for the worst road rage by the membership club Autovantage.

Gridlock by Growth

Population estimates project the number of people living in the metro Phoenix area to double in 25 years to a total of 6.24 million people. The vast majority of new growth will occur in the west valley. Buckeye could become the area's second largest city with a population topping one million people.

Sources: Maricopa Association of Governments Regional Transportation Plan, 2003; WESTMARC Annual Meeting and Economic Forecast, January, 2006

Help is on the Way

$3.7 billion dollars will be spent to build approximately 490 additional new lane miles to the regional freeway system. $4.4 billion will be spent to widen freeways adding 530 miles of new lanes and 300 miles of HOV lanes. New interchanges to relieve bottlenecks are also in the works, including addressing problems with Grand Avenue.

Mass Transit

Bus rider ship continues to increase in the valley and interest in car and van pooling escalates, due in part to rising gas prices. Here's a breakdown of bus ridership.

Valley Metro Monthly Bus Ridership
				Percentage Increase/Decrease
	2004	2005	2006		2004/2005	2005/2006
Jan	4,510,212	4,579,568	5,029,162	Jan	1.5%	9.8%
Feb	4,418,021	4,522,683	4,822,888	Feb	2.4%	6.6%
Mar	4,863,481	5,065,284	5,169,902	Mar	4.1%	2.1%
Apr	5,003,306	4,916,619	4,874,768	Apr	-1.7%	-0.9%
May	4,471,234	4,663,982	4,987,925	May	4.3%	6.9%

In May 2006, Valley Metro coordinated 286 vanpools compared to 229 in April 2005, a 20% increase.

Valley Metro takes phone calls and operates a website allowing people to search for others who live in nearby areas and commute to the same area. In May 2006, Valley Metro received 1,566 requests compared to 1,159 the month before. The 35% spike in interest is due in part to the price of gasoline topping $3 a gallon in May.

Light rail is under construction and when complete will take people from 19^th Avenue and Montebello in Phoenix through downtown Phoenix, Tempe and on to Mesa where it will end at Sycamore and Main. Proposals to extend light rail to Glendale, west Phoenix and northeast Phoenix are currently under study.