Fares may increase in 2013

Courtesy of Metro Light Rail Look out! Fares may increase in 2013. Proposed fare increase for March 1, 2013 Valley Metro is considering a fare change that would increase fare revenue to support operations and create greater equity in the fare structure. A fare increase is necessary to preserve service.  The cost of transit operations continues to rise and fare revenue must keep pace.  Regular adjustments will be required into the future in order to keep cost and revenue in the appropriate balance and service on the street. This fall, Valley Metro will continue to seek public comment on a revised fare increase proposal that is recommended for implementation on March 1, 2013. The public comment period is open now through November 3, 2012.  Open houses and a public hearing will occur between October 22 – November 1. Background In fall 2011, Valley Metro initiated a public outreach process for a proposed increase of $.25 to the base fare, taking a single ride fare from $1.75 to $2.00; an Express/RAPID single ride from $2.75 to $3.00. With every fare increase proposal, a federally-required analysis must be conducted to ensure all riders continue to have equal access and pay equally for transit service. This fall, Valley Metro will continue the public outreach process with a revised fare increase proposal that would allow Express/RAPID riders to more equitably share in the cost of operations. The new proposal would take an Express/RAPID single ride fare from $2.75 to $3.25, an additional $.25 from the proposal in fall 2011. Fare increases and service reductions are occurring across the country; a shortfall in revenue is not...

Free energy audits offered on rail route

courtesy of Emily Gersema – Mar. 23, 2012 The Republic Ashley Hardee, 29, prides herself on keeping a tight rein on her energy usage. She lives and works in downtown Phoenix, doesn’t use much gas and now she’s making sure every potential leak in her house is either stemmed or stifled to reduce her utility bills and energy waste. This week, she participated in a well-touted but little-known program, Energize Phoenix, which aims to help homeowners and businesses within a 10-mile area of central and downtown Phoenix improve their homes’ energy efficiency and reduce electricity usage. Her condo’s air-conditioning and heating system seemed efficient, “but it’s really my back bedroom that gets hot,” she told David Byrnes, an environmental engineer with Phoenix-based Green Integrated Design, who on Monday checked the windows and doors in her condo for air leaks. Although Hardee paid $99 for the assessment by Byrnes, she is getting a $99 rebate from the Energize Phoenix program. Managed by the city, Arizona Public Service and Arizona State University, Energize Phoenix has not been as electrifying for residents as it has been for businesses despite the potential benefits of reduced energy usage and lower utility bills. Phoenix has spent an estimated $9.1 million of the $25 million in grant funds it received for the program in April 2010, according to a federal website, www.recovery.gov, that tracks spending of stimulus funds. Most of the grant money spent in Phoenix has benefited businesses in the special corridor. Homeowners have been a more difficult target, said a Phoenix-area marketing agency, DRA Communications, which was hired to aid the city with marketing...

METRO Opens New Park-and-Ride Lot at 7th Avenue and Camelback

Metro Press Release PHOENIX, AZ — Shaded parking has been added to the 20-mile METRO light rail line with the opening of a new park-and-ride lot at 7th Avenue and Camelback Road in central Phoenix. “The new park-and-ride provides greater access to transit and to life along the line,” said METRO CEO Steve Banta.  “And it couldn’t have come at a better time with ridership on the rise.” The new lot adds 123 spaces, 62 percent of which are shaded by overhead canopies, to a system that now contains more than 3,600 free-to-use parking spaces for transit riders.  The lot was built with neighborhood involvement and provides a well-lit and secure parking environment.  It will help to serve the more than 45,000 weekday riders and large weekend crowds. This project was financed using $3.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds provided to METRO by City of Phoenix for use in building this lot and adding shade canopies to existing Phoenix park-and-rides.  More than 50 percent of the lots at Central/Camelback and 19th Avenue/Camelback are now shaded. “We are pleased to see that the ARRA program is doing what it intended to do, which was to put people to work on jobs that aided in economic recovery,” commented Federal Transit Administrator for Region 9, Leslie Rogers.  “And transit projects play a key role in helping the economy...

Browse Jobs near Phoenix light rail

Bryan Watkins July 24, 2011 Light Rail Advisors Did you know that you can now browse hundreds of online jobs near Phoenix light rail? Well, if that is news to you, don’t wait any longer! Why go and search through numerous job site when it is all now in one place. This new feature is smart and always up to date. Jobs in the medical field, business, hotel management, restaurant and many other are going unfilled every day. For more information, click on the link: Jobs near Phoenix light rail Happy Hunting!        ...

Light rail may force some businesses out

by Gary Nelson – Jun. 24, 2011 The Arizona Republic In a city bloated by rootless newcomers, a city where just a few decades of existence can qualify a neighborhood as “historic,” the Wongs are an anomaly. The family has been doing business at Main Street and Mesa Drive since before Arizona was a state. Supplies from Frank Wong’s tiny grocery store traveled by buckboard to crews building Roosevelt Dam. The legendary movie cowboy Tom Mix is said to have busted broncs in a corral behind the store. But now it seems certain the day is coming when a Wong will no longer turn the key at 410 E. Main St. That probably was going to happen anyway, said former Mayor Willie Wong and his brother, Wilky, who inherited the family property in 1972. They operate Wilky’s Performance Center by themselves, with the exception of one employee. Their children are established in other careers, unlikely to take over the auto-parts store and machine shop. And frankly the Wongs are not getting any younger. The end of the line, however, may come somewhat sooner than the Wongs had anticipated because of another end of the line. That would be the eastern terminus of the light-rail extension that will muscle its way through downtown Mesa over the next five years. Construction is to begin in 2013. A public project that big will inevitably step on a few toes – or land parcels. The approximately $200 million line will require about 40 land acquisitions – some big, some small – to accommodate traffic right-of-way, tracks, stations and other infrastructure. Most would be for only small slivers...