Phoenix Public Transportation - Issues

Issues

One dilemma in Phoenix’s public-transport system is the start-up costs of outward expansion and the effect it has on municipalities. While Valley Metro states that its vision is to “enable people in Maricopa County to travel with ease using safe, accessible, efficient, dependable, and integrated public transportation services”, it only covers the major cities toward the center of the valley. Towns such as Buckeye, Cave Creek and Laveen are localities in Maricopa County which are omitted from Valley Metro’s routes; people living in these areas must commute miles to the nearest bus stops in surrounding cities. This leads to inconsistency between tax revenue and service provision. To obtain a better fit between the system and the people it serves, it must expand routes outward to make its services available to a larger percentage of the population it was created to serve.

A problem with expanding routes outward to include more rural areas of Maricopa County is determining whether there is enough interest from residents in outlying areas to justify expansion. If too few people are willing to use the services they can be costly, deterring outward expansion. One solution is to gauge interest in public transportation in these areas and, if plausible, expand current routes. If there is interest in public transportation (but not enough to justify expanding current routes), it may be feasible to create areas on the edges of town for people in outlying areas to commute and park their vehicles. Such services only exist in the inner part of the valley.