Metro Ride – Phase II

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I had another chance at a Metro ride on Friday as a couple friends and I got together to make a go at having lunch on Mill Avenue in Tempe.  We started at the same Encanto & Central station that two of us had tried on the first day of operations.

We arrived to purchase the tickets from the kiosks.  We were able to start through the process when suddenly an announcement came that the train was delayed.  Huh?  So we asked a couple of the folks waiting if they knew what that meant.  We were told nothing much, those announcements had been heard before.  So we bravely purchased 3 all-day passes for the three of us and used a credit card.

When the train arrived it was standing room only, but no where near the crowds of the first few days.  I had braved the easterly run before, but my friends had not, so this was a new experience.

One of my friends is an avid mass transit, urban revival fan.  He was full of praise for the system, as he should be.  At this point it is still very clean and smooth in operating.  His only negative comments were about the route chosen in that east bound on Jefferson and Washington are not the most attractive views of the city, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of opportunities for folks to get on the train once you leave the central core.  He was also saying that most of the land along the Jefferson and Washington corridors should be bought up and rebuilt with the kind of development that urban planners drool over.  Not having that kind of money ourselves, I guess that’s for another day.  About halfway through the ride, we were actually able to be seated.

We arrived at Mill Avenue, and wanted to walk around a bit before deciding on lunch.  Most of the folks on the train also got out at Mill Avenue.  It seems to be the one ‘destination’ spot on the circuit.  Mill doesn’t change much.  Stores come and go, but the overall college-town feeling is the same.  One thing my urban planning friend did notice was that the Harkins Theatres are gone, the Borders is closing, and the Fascinations upscale sex store that is now there gives an ominous warning.  “If they don’t watch it, this will be nothing but bars and sex shops” was his remark.  He may be onto something.

We had a pleasant lunch, finished walking around a bit, and got on the train back to Encanto & Central.  We did have to stand the rest of the way back.  The amount of people riding did surprise us and it was encouraging.

Later that evening, around 6:30 p.m. I drove back to my home and had to cross Central at Thomas.  As I waited at the light, the Metro went through the intersection heading north and west.  It was standing room only.

My only concerns are what will it be like to wait on those platforms and ride during the months of 100 degree plus temperatures (April to September), and how will it handle large events along the route.  On the previous Wednesday I attended the Insight Bowl in Tempe.  At the beginning and end of the game when crowds were swarming around the stadium, the train had trouble getting through the people walking on the tracks.  The roads were closed to help traffic get in and out, so folks were not going to marked crossings to cross roads that had no traffic.  Only the train was passing through, and it had to slow down and almost stop several times while sounding its horn to get people to move.

Let’s wait and see.