Mesa light-rail stop gets portable toilets

After riding the Valley Metro light rail Friday to Mesa's first and last stop at Main Street and Sycamore - all the way from downtown Phoenix - Chandler resident Carlos Smith said he had to "go."

Mass transit catching on in Mesa

Walking double-time, he crossed the street from where he was waiting for a bus home and shuffled into a blue portable toilet for some much-needed relief. He didn't care that the commode accommodations weren't first class.

"Stinky is better than nothing," Smith said with a chuckle.

Mesa officials installed the portable toilets Wednesday after receiving outcry from light-rail riders who complained that the last stop on the new 20-mile-long rail line, as well as other stops, offered no options for riders to relieve themselves.

Mesa Vice Mayor Kyle Jones said the portable solution is only a stop-gap measure while the city considers its options for something a bit more permanent.

"We figured while we're discussing it and there's a need, let's just put some port-a-potties there," Jones said.

Mike James, deputy transportation director, said the three units will cost the city $300 each month, at a price of $100 per unit.

Valley Metro is responsible for maintaining the station with tasks such as emptying trash receptacles and cleaning the surface of the station and surrounding area, James said. He said Waste Management owns the units and will service them during the length of use by the city.

The three units are located in the park-and-ride area off Main Street that's under the city's control, he said.

Hillary Foose, spokeswoman for Valley Metro light rail, tipped her hat to Mesa. "The Porta-Johns at the Sycamore transit center are solely a City of Mesa initiative," she said.

Foose said Valley Metro has received a mixed response to the lack of rest room facilities along the line.

"We're getting people who express concerns about no rest rooms and we're getting people who express no need for them," said Foose, who explained that the average rail ride is 8 miles. "I do think some of the cause for concern related to rest room facilities are some of the individuals riding for leisure, the whole 20 miles and back."

Foose said light-rail officials had a different focus when starting up the service. "We wanted to refine the system that we have and concentrate on passenger service," she said.

Facility construction, maintenance and security would have taken away from the service's priority, she said.

"There's tremendous maintenance costs and safety concerns," Foose said of building and maintaining structures at various points on the nascent rail line.

For now, Mesa is the last stop on the line, but the first when it comes to providing rest room facilities.

Jones said the city has yet to establish a timeline of how long the talks will take or when they will even broach a more permanent solution to the portable toilets. He said the portable units will serve as a sort of test.

"Let's see how they fare, and whether they get abused or people take care of them," Jones said. "The burden would fall upon Mesa for a rest room at that location" if one is put in place in the future.

As Melissa Thomack of Chandler rushed her 5-year-old son, Nicholas, into one of the facilities Friday, the expression on his face said the portable option came none too soon.

Squirming in his pants, she opened the door as he rushed inside before her.

"My son really likes to ride the buses," she said as she stepped out of the tiny blue unit, her smiling little boy with less wiggle in his step. "It's his first time riding on the light rail."