I applaud Phoenix for planting all those new trees with the new road construction. I personally feel that every highway should have a large median filled with trees. It would be an attempt to immediately alleviate greenhouse gasses. So good job there.
But seriously Phoenix, what on earth were you thinking when you decided to put the new light rail system on street level, and on busy streets. Why did you spend so much money on a system that is certainly not better than busses. Because these rail cars run on major streets they have to stop for traffic lights, for stupid cars that will always be there, for pedestrians.
If you want a light rail system to work, and for people who own cars to ride it, you can't put it on street level. It is extremely inefficient. If money was an issue, why not just build specific bus lanes and have electric busses like in San Francisco and Seattle?
Seattle was even brilliant enough to build a sort of underground bus subway system. Like a subway, but with busses. This means that the drop off next to the platforms are very short, and it's much easier to repair their busses since they are nearly identical to the street level busses. It's also an excellent and efficient way to get across Seattle. Oh, and it's free.
Imagine how many more people would take public transportation if it is free.
