Tempe Streetcar rolls into town after 10-year vision

By Lindsay Walker
Mail | Twitter: @AzNewsmedia

The long-awaited Tempe Streetcar finally rolled into town on May 20 with an opening attended by elected officials, stakeholders and Tempe residents. 

The “first modern streetcar in the Valley” serves 14 unique stations across a three-mile radius, each with its own public art by five local artists, according to Valley Metro CEO Jessica Mefford-Miller.

“It took an entire community and contingent of strong visionary leaders to make this happen today,” she said during the ceremony. “It gives us more opportunities in terms of where we can take the streetcar for expansions.” 

While Mefford-Miller said west Mesa was next on the docket for growth, a spokesperson for Valley Metro said any Streetcar expansion is still in its earliest stages. 

“From 2018-2020, Valley Metro and the cities of Mesa and Tempe conducted a study to evaluate potential corridors for future expansion of the streetcar,” said Madeline Phipps. “The final results of that study led to five potential routes for expansion. The next steps would be to secure funding for any potential extensions.”

The west Mesa corridor would take residents through the Novus Innovation Corridor, Tempe Marketplace, Sloan Park and end at Mesa Riverview. 

But Valley Metro and the city of Tempe will await expansion as the Streetcar sees its first year in action. The hybrid cars will be free to ride for the first year. After that, one ride will be $1, or $.50 for those with discounted IDs. A car is expected at each station every 20 minutes, with frequency improving later this year when the last two streetcar vehicles are added to the line-up.

Ridership is expected to be high in its first year of operation, according to Phipps. 

“When the project was in development several years ago, ridership was projected to be 800 riders per day,” she said. “However, we offer that figure with the caveat that there has been a lot of growth and development along the route since that time.”

Tempe Mayor Corey Woods lauded the Streetcar’s introduction during his speech at the opening ceremony, emphasizing Tempe’s storied commitment to public transit. 

“Tempe is a leader in the region when it comes to our commitment to transit,” he said. “We have the highest ridership per capita in the entire state of Arizona. We have the highest density in the state and we are expected to increase rapidly in the coming years. We are already looking at ways to leverage this regional investment.” 

Woods added that the project has been a vision for the city for over a decade now, despite construction beginning in 2018. 

The streetcar was funded through a combination of federal grants, regional Proposition 400 and local city of Tempe transportation funds, including a unique partnership between several private sector entities along the streetcar route.

The Federal Transit Administration provided $75 million to support the project in addition to $17 million in federal funding that came from the American Rescue Plan in 2020. 

FTA Administrator Ray Tellis was also on hand at the opening event to welcome the Streetcar, along with former Tempe mayors, the city council and more. 

The current route serves Tempe destinations such as Tempe Beach Park, Marina Heights, Gammage Auditorium and Arizona State University sports facilities and will support growing travel demand in the central city and region, tying in with the light rail and its growing routes in the area. 

While it’s a boon for ASU’s 55,000 students, as well as those living and working in dense downtown Tempe, other parts of the city will have to wait their turn. 

Tempe Streetcar won’t go below the U.S. 60 into South Tempe, the city previously confirmed, and there are no plans to do so due to the area’s wider roads and fewer traffic concerns. The last light rail stop in the city is at Apache and the 101 before heading off to Mesa. The only public transit options offered to residents in South Tempe are several local bus lines and the Orbit Saturn. Residents also can schedule Paratransit rides to get around town if they are seniors or are disabled. 

South Tempe residents will need to drive downtown and park their cars to use the Streetcar. 

But Woods remarked that Tempe is “not a transit desert” and welcomed the new transportation option before heading onto the Streetcar for its inaugural ride.

“The streetcar is officially on track,” he said.