Light Rail, Again

Some people may be surprised to know that the light rail that opened at the end of 2008 was not the first in Phoenix, but the second. The phoenix street railway operated several extensive lines powered first by horses and then by electricity between the years 1887 and 1947. When a fire destroyed most of the trolly cars, the city decided to switch to busses. I have heard that the Goodyear Tire corporation, which was building up in the valley, approached the city and made a deal to supply tires to busses, which probably pushed the city to adopt a bus service instead of a rail line.

I don't know what a rail car cost, but I can't see it as being more expensive or requiring as much maintainence or energy (which may not have been a factor at the time) as a bus. If the rails and infrastructure, power lines, crossings, etc. were all intact, it would seem a better investment to simply buy new trollys instead of creating an entirely new public transportation system from scratch. Goodyear must have made them a hell of a deal on tires.

It makes me wonder what phoenix would have looked like if we had stayed with the light rail we had had.