This is an artist's rendition of what a light rail vehicle might look like at Tucson's Park Place Mall.

A 35-year-old light rail vehicle approaches San Francisco's Dolores Park Station.
So you've never heard of Light Rail and want to know what it is. Here's a brief definition:

Light rail is a modern form of public transit in which electric trains carry passengers on steel rails between stations along certain routes in urban areas. The trains are made up of 2 to 4 cars, each of which carry up to 150 passengers, and which can expand or shrink according to demand. Rails never have to be widened to add capacity; you just add more trains. In fact, two tracks of light rail can carry the same capacity as a 16-lane freeway at a fraction of the cost.

The trains run in dedicated lanes, either in the medians of city streets or in exclusive rights-of-way. They stop at stations located every half-mile to one mile and trigger traffic lights to turn green on their approach so that the trains only stop at stations. Light rail acts as an efficient, quiet, smooth, and comfortable alternative to get across town quickly while avoiding congestion.

San Jose's light rail system has tremendous public support, especially from the high-tech Silicon Valley Manufacturers Group.
Light rail trains are good neighbors; they are more compatible with pedestrian environments than roads, and emit no pollution and only as much noise as a private auto. Light rail encourages higher property values in the vicinity of the lines, and the stations encourage mixed-use development which in turn has been proven to boost the local economy. Light Rail has also been proven an effective tool in revitalizing downtowns across the country.

Disabled people and senior citizens are able to maintain their independence of movement as they access this friendly form of transit just as easily everyone else: station platforms are at the same level as the floors of the trains, so no lifts or the associated delays are necessary. Together with an increase in the companion bus system, light rail trains can be timed to arrive at stations as buses are ready to take on riders in directions radiating out from the rail station.

Light rail has done wonders for Downtown San Jose, where the trains run on sidewalks, coexisting peacefully with pedestrians.
There are now more than 30 cities in North America which are operating or building light rail systems, many of which are in the West with population densities similar to Tucson. They have been terrifically successful in giving former car commuters a real alternative to using their cars: in Denver, 48% of riders had never before used transit, and in St. Louis, 70% had never before used transit. In Dallas, only two years after their light rail starter line went into operation, 78% of the voters approved extensions into the suburbs of Plano and Richardson which will open this year well ahead of schedule and under budget.

Light rail is not a substitute for buses or cars. But it is an important and useful part of a balanced transportation system which can help the systems for buses and cars work much better by helping to share the load efficiently and economically. Roads work better when there are fewer people driving on them. Light rail gives people a real option to having to use their car. And those people will use buses, often for the first time, to take them to and from the trains, increasing bus ridership.

LA's Blue Line runs in this segment down the median of Long Beach Boulevard, and carries more than 80,000 passengers a day.
Phoenix built their "ideal" freeway system, spending a total of $4 billion since 1986, only to find that the whole system will be at gridlock by 2010. So 65% of their voters approved a sales tax for a light rail system in March 2000, and it will be operating by 2006. Let's skip their mistakes, and go right to their successes. It's time for Light Rail in Tucson, right now.

Find out how to make Light Rail in Tucson a reality by getting involved here.