Riding the Todd

Those of you that live in Phoenix have been hearing of this idea/phenomena called the Light Rail for, I don't know, the last million years or so. Well...December 27, 2008 - the Light Rail was turned into reality. And we (Campbell's, Babcock's, Jouas', and Gilbert Majercin's) jumped at the chance to partake in the historical weekend opening...not to mention that it was free.

I LOOOOOOVE NEW YORK CITY!! Everyone knows that I do. Everyone. I used to say that I was going to go to NYU - not sure what happened to that pipe dream. But...it's probably good that I didn't go - I'd still be paying off those student loans - right? Well, the Light Rail is just about as close to a subway system that Phoenix will ever get.

Here are the PROs and Cons:

PROs:

Very clean...for now.

Relatively quick - we got from Mesa to downtown Phoenix in 40 minutes (and you have to account for extra time it took us due to the crazy # of people and a bit longer of stops)

Good location for ASU, downtown Phoenix, north on Central

Trains run every 10 minutes

High Occupancy

Cheap - $1.25 or $2.50 for all day pass

CONS:

Limited location - doesn't help us Southeasterners of the valley

Last train - 11pm

Plans to expand...waaaay to far in the future, ie. Westgate 2025??

Name - we voted on the Todd - sounds way cooler, doesn't it?

Anyways - I'd highly suggest waiting until after the 1st to ride - the "free" days are just not all they are cracked up to be. We got on after about a 40 minute wait at the far east stop. No problem. Rode to downtown Phoenix. No problem. Ate at AZ Center. No problem. Did a bit of sale shopping. No problem. Walked back to train stop. No problem. Re-entering train in downtown Phoenix. BIG problem.

I guess we didn't quite think it all the way through. See - the downtown Phoenix stop is pretty much smack dab in the middle of the entire track from Mesa to Northernish Phoenix. So...by the time the train got to downtown Phoenix, it was already full. My dad said it best...imagine so many people on a train that all you see are faces smooshed up against the glass...that's what we were facing. It was a nightmare. So much so that the girls and the kids got off after a couple of stops and Jacki picked us up and drove us to our respective cars at the park and ride in Mesa. Thanks Jacki!!! You are a lifesaver!

I hope the Todd gets used. I hope is succeeds. I hope there are plans in the works to expand it sooner than 2025.

See...I pretty much live in NYC - we have our own subway. It's just waaaaay slower, not as convenient, but much cleaner. For now.