Image: Ray Stern

A man driving a Caddy side-swiped the eastbound light-rail train at Jefferson and 12th Streets a few minutes ago.

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If you're waiting for the eastbound light-rail train right now, it may be a few more minutes. A guy in a Cadillac just side-swiped the train at 12th Street and Jefferson, just outside our door.

The collision happened about 15 minutes ago, interrupting us with the sound of a "thud" and then screeching tires. Fender-benders happen a couple of times a year at that intersection, so we didn't think anything of it until a New Times employee told us it involved the choo-choo, at which point we took a moment to check on the scene and snap a quick picture with the iPhone.

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​Valley Metro is taking some heat this week over several fights that have gone down on Light Rail trains recently, videos of which later appeared on YouTube.

12 News is trying to get to the bottom of an alleged lack of appropriate security on the "Fight Rail," and includes in its story brief clips of several fights that took place on the trains recently.

Not satisfied with the short flashes of violence provided by 12 News, we tracked down four such clips, which you can see in their entirety after the jump.

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​The Arizona Transportation Board approved the State Rail Plan last week, which is the first of many steps that could potentially bring multi-city rail travel to the Grand Canyon State.

The plan calls for a train line to be built connecting Phoenix to Tucson, which has been discussed for years and has always been met with criticism that while it might nice, such a train is entirely unnecessary.

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www.infrastructurist.com

Would you actually use a train to get from Phoenix to Tucson?

​You might think Arizona needs a train connecting Phoenix to Tucson about as badly as the city of Tempe needs a fleet of snowplows: not at all. Either way, a plan to link the two cities via-a rail system earned approval from the state Transportation Board on Friday.

The board approved the State Rail Plan, which is the first of many (many) steps that could bring multi-city rail travel to the Grand Canyon State.

So now the big question: who's going to pay for it?

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"Anti-Planner" Randal O'Toole of the Cato Institute will speak in Phoenix on Tuesday, May 4.

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Tired of traffic?

Then lobby your government to add more toll roads, ditch long-range transportation scams, and buy more express buses instead of laying more railways.

That's the educated opinion of Cato Institute scholar Randal O'Toole -- and if you want to argue with him, you'd better bring a spreadsheet with hard evidence to back up your side.

Don't write him off as a callous conservative, either: O'Toole was one of the original Earth Day organizers, and used economic analyses to help defeat old-growth timber harvesting in Oregon.

One of O'Toole's longtime pet peeves is the spending of public funds on "inefficient" -- corrupt, even, to an extent -- transportation plans.

You can hear O'Toole speak about these issues and his new book, Gridlock: Why We're Stuck In Traffic and What to Do About It, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Goldwater Institute, 500 East Coronado Road.

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www.about.com

​The free ride may be coming to an end for light-rail freeloaders in Tempe -- the Tempe Police Department is planning "focused fare enforcement stops" at light-rail stops to catch people who don't pay.

Tempe police say they are putting an end to the "education period" for light-rail cheats and  stepping up enforcement.

The new policy calls for officers to check people as they come off the trains to make sure they've bought a ticket.

It's a sad day when it takes a police to do a job that a fence and some turnstiles have done successfully in cities across the country. That is, we still don't understand why light-rail stations are designed as they are; their design encourages cheating.

 

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www.raillife.com

A scene from last year's "No Pants AZ Light Rail Ride"

​It's back!

As part of Improv Everywhere's "Ninth Annual No Pants! Subway Ride," this Sunday will be the second annual "No Pants AZ Light Rail Ride."

Not familiar with the event? No problem -- the concept is simple. First, you get on the light rail, then you drop trou, and finally, you sit there and act normal as everyone else on the train tries to figure out what the fuck is wrong with you. If done properly the other passengers should feel like they're in some humorous episode of the Twilight Zone.

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Image: Benjamin Leatherman

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A Metro light-rail train crashed into a passenger van earlier this afternoon in Central Phoenix, resulting in a spectacular wreck but just a few minor injuries.

The collision occurred just after 4 p.m. near Washington and 19th streets, when a westbound train and a late-model white Chevrolet Express came together, causing the vehicle to become wedged between the train car and a lightpost. The left side of the train was riddled with cracked glass and impact points. 

At least one person, the train's driver, was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Phoenix police on the scene declined to comment on which party caused the accident.

Benjamin Leatherman

​The few-dozen passengers on the train were delayed for a while, including several ASU downtown students who were on their way to class. As they milled around with curious onlookers from neaby businesses, a stench of gasoline leaking from the van filled the air, causing Phoenix fire officials to ask people to put out their cigarettes.

Paige Meier, a 21-year-old Tempe resident, was on board in the first car when the accident occurred.

"I thought the train was going off the track, or at least it felt like that was happening," she says. "There were a lot of bangs and glass going everywhere."

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Tags:

accident, asu downtown, light rail, valley metro

Bob Bean (right) is among the union protestors at Central Station this morning.

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A dozen or so light-rail operators protested at the Central Station in downtown Phoenix this morning, holding hand-made signs that excoriated both Metro Light Rail and the Boston-based company that manages the line, ACI.

Carrying the colorful poster boards with slogans including "Metro Rail, Thanks for the Unemployment" and "ACI-Metro Rail Lured Us with Lies," the workers handed out leaflets to riders using the stop.

New Times first reported the layoffs on this blog September 28. At that point, Metro Light Rail had ordered ACI to lay off four operators. Bob Bean, president of the union that represents light-rail operators, tells us that the cuts followed almost immediately.
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Victor J. Palagano III

Bob Bean (right) is livid about Metro Rail's announced "eliminations."

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Four operators of the Valley's fledgling light-rail system and at least one supervisor will see their positions eliminated by next Friday, documents show.

Two other supervisor positions, which are currently unfilled, will also be eliminated.

The layoffs were ordered by Valley Metro Rail and announced in a letter to ACI, the Boston-based company that manages the light rail line. New Times obtained a copy from the union that represents light rail workers.

You can read the letter, sent by Valley Metro Rail Chief Transportation Officer Ray Abraham,
here. It was apparently hand-delivered to ACI last Thursday.
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