Light Rail in Tucson!

TST members talk about their experiences riding high-quality transit in cities across the US and beyond.

If you have a story you want to share about riding transit in cities that do it right, please send us an email at info@TucsonLightRail.org Please also indicate whether we can use your name. We will post stories as we get them, so keep checking back to see what we've posted...

"Last July, my daughter and I experienced Portland and Seattle's Light Rail system. What a delight. Urban, chic, comfortable and attractive, and being used by folks from the entire urban spectrum. From the quaint well-lit stops to the interior designs, this was desirable transportation. Just last week, we saw, but didn't sample, Denver's light rail system. Again, we observed a rich mix of folks, including urban professionals, enjoying the benefits of light rail. If this comes to pass, and we heartily hope it does, going into town by rail and giving up cars for even two days a week will make a big difference in more ways than one!"

"We live in Prague in the Czech Republic for several months each year, so we always have an outstanding opportunity to see a truly impressive public transit system at work, especially in comparison with the rest of the year when we have to struggle with Tucson's. To just give you a quick, thumbnail comparison, though Prague's population of 1.1 million is only slightly larger than Tucson's 800,000, it has fully three subway lines and nearly 30 tram lines (talk about light rail!). There are also, of course, numerous bus routes, though these mainly serve as 'feeders' to the light rail. As a result there is really never an issue of whether you can get from one place to another, but more what is the best way to get there. This year we are staying in an apartment in Nusle, a rather out of the way part of Prague, and yet we're only one block away from a tram line that goes directly to Wenceslaus Square, maybe three blocks from a tram line that goes to the Old Town part of the city, and four blocks from three different tram lines that will get us most other places we need to go. We are also only about a ten minute tram ride to two of the three subway lines. Another feature of public transit here is the inter-city railroads. We live just a few minutes walk from an inter-city train station, and most weekends we catch a train to go on a little 'Euro-outing,' riding the train to some historic town, hiking trail (these lead out from the train stations and crisscross the countryside), castle, or other point of interest."