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Getting There: Express bus route would supplement light rail
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Light rail is less than seven weeks away from connecting central and downtown Phoenix with Tempe and west Mesa. Now, Valley Metro wants to know how best to connect light rail to the East Valley.
Residents are invited to take part in two public meetings early next month to discuss a new Link bus route.
Link is an express line with limited stops, running between Chandler’s new regional park-and-ride lot adjacent to Tumbleweed Park, 745 E. Germann Road, and the eastern terminus of the Metro light-rail line at Mesa’s Sycamore Transit Center.
The Link route is expected to open in July 2010.
Valley Metro officials anticipate Link service will run every 15 to 30 minutes during the same hours as Metro. It will stop only at major intersections, or approximately every mile.
To make the service faster, several enhancements are planned, including low-floor buses with one entrance and two exit doors; traffic signal priority, which will reduce the time buses are stopped at red lights; and enhanced stations with message signs displaying real-time information on the next bus’ arrival.
Valley Metro’s Link service is being funded by Proposition 400, the half-cent sales tax approved by Maricopa County voters in 2004 to improve transportation options.
The first meeting will be 6 p.m. Nov. 5 in the Dobson High School cafeteria, 1501 W. Guadalupe Road, Mesa.
The next evening, at the same time, the meeting takes place in the cafeteria of Chandler High School, 350 N. Arizona Ave.
At the meetings, residents can board a new Link bus as well as comment on conceptual designs for new Link bus stations.
For more information, call Valley Metro at (602) 253-5000 or visit www.valleymetro.org.
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