|
This editorial that seems to praise the billion dollar Sky Train pork project at Sky Harbor International Airport at least admits that the cost of a ride on the Sky Train is outrageously expensive.
The article says each ride on Sky Train costs $22 for the lousy half mile ride from Terminal 4, thru a parking garage and then to the light rail station on Washington & 44th Street. A couple of weeks ago I took a round trip on Sky Train from the Light Rail Station to Terminal 4 and then back. According to this article each one way half mile trip cost $22 for a total of $44 for the 1 mile round trip. The royal rulers of Phoenix say there is not tax to pay for the Sky Train, but that is misleading at best and a lie at the worst. I think the Sky Train is paid for with a TAX or mandatory surcharge on all plane tickets that fly thru Sky Harbor Airport. PHX Sky Train expensive but getting used Our View: People mover does what light rail couldn't By Editorial board The Republic | azcentral.com Mon Jul 15, 2013 5:29 PM Ridership of the PHX Sky Train is well ahead of projections. This is welcome news considering how much the thing cost. The automated people mover is averaging 70,000 riders a week on its route from Terminal 4 to the East Economy parking lot and the 44th Street light-rail stop. That puts it on track to reach 3.6 million riders in its first year, well above the projected 2.5 million. If you spread the $1.58 billion cost over 20 years, that works out to nearly $22 per ride. [What a rip off!!! $22 for a stinking half mile trip!!!!] Still, that’s two-thirds of what it would have been under the projections. [So plane travelers are not getting screwed as badly as initially predicted] We still believe it would have made more sense to run light rail to the airport. [Yea, if you believe in $1000 toilet seats like the Feds do that's a fantastic idea. But the old fashioned way using buses is much cheaper] But once the bypass was designed, this people mover became necessary. Visitors expect a convenient link to public transportation. [And with a price of $22 they expect somebody ELSE to pay for it] And it provides a benefit light rail couldn’t. Some number of people who would otherwise have been dropped off or picked up at the curb are using the 44th Street station, reducing, however modestly, congestion at Terminal 4. The next time you’re caught in that traffic jam, consider whether you would give the people in front of you $22 to get out of your way. |