Transport: Riding Valley Metro

A Valley Metro light rail train sat at the end of the line, Sycamore and Main in Mesa, Arizona, on 8-January-2010.

TEMPE, ARIZONA - Continuing my tour of new light rail systems on the west coast that included Portland's MAX Green Line and Seattle's Sound Transit Central Link, the first thing on my agenda today was to ride the length of the Valley Metro system here in the Valley of the Sun. The light rail system opened on 28-December-2008, just after my last visit, so this was my first chance to ride the 20-mile system. While the 50 vehicles in the fleet looked quite distinct in appearance with their silver and bridge green paint, upon closer inspection I realized that the Kinki-Sharyo cars were actually of almost an identical design to those I had just experienced on Central Link in Seattle. An attractive paint scheme and well-designed skirts go a long way toward creating a nice image.


The interior of the Kinki-Sharyo cars used on the Valley Metro light rail cars was observed from the raised end seating on 8-January-2010

The best comparison for the Phoenix light rail system is likely that to the one in Portland. Most of the line runs in the middle of major streets, with no apparent priority signaling. Stations are spaced reasonably far apart, except perhaps at the far northwest end of the line, where they seemed closer together. So, the speed advantage of the system is mainly at rush hour, not when I rode at mid-day.


Two Valley Metro light rail vehicles were noted at the northwest end of the line, 19th and Montebello, in the middle of the street in Phoenix, Arizona on 8-January-2010

The most annoying thing about the system is that most of its stations, particularly in suburban areas, are located in the median of major streets. Often, reaching them requires crossing in two crosswalks, and vehicles making left-hand turns are usually given the right to make their turns first in the cycle, before pedestrians can proceed. It leaves the impression that pedestrians and transit riders are just an afterthought, as they take up to three minutes just to get across the intersection to their platform, potentially missing their train in the process.


This view of the Tempe Town Lake was taken from a passing Valley Metro light rail train on 8-January-2010

Still, with a day pass costing just $3.50 (compared with C$10 in Toronto) and well-placed stations in the downtown core and at the Arizona State campus in Tempe, the system seems to be doing its job, and I appreciated the scenery at Tempe Town Lake and the views downtown and along Central Avenue. A sign on a new residential unit on Apache Boulevard touted that it was "on the rails," implying some degree of popularity of the system.


The Campus Suites advertised their "on the rails" status in Tempe, Arizona on 8-January-2010

Future expansions of Valley Metro light rail are planned to the northwest, northeast, west, south farther into Tempe, and east farther into Mesa, but only a four-mile extension to the northwest is currently proceeding, with an expected opening date in 2012--but if I visit Phoenix again, I suspect I'll be riding it before then.

Margin Notes: Snow, Speed, Security

Mount Ben Lomond loomed in the distance as seen from Salt Lake City International Airport, Utah on 7-January-2010

TEMPE, ARIZONA - Once more, I headed south to find south only to find snow on this trip. This time, though, it wasn't at my destination, but at the intermediate airport along the way, in this case around Salt Lake City, Utah. Snow in Salt Lake City is not unusual this time of year, but it certainly is pretty when one doesn't have to shovel it or drive on snow-covered roads.

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Those driving on snow-covered roads in Oregon may not be looking at the state's traditional speed limit signs much longer. While venturing into Oregon this trip, I noted a number of US-standard "Speed Limit" signs on the interstate highways, instead of the "Speed" signs with large numbers that have been a hallmark of being in Oregon. Apparently, the transition from the old standard for the state started in 2002, so it will likely be many years before last large-numbered sign disappears from the state highway system, and many more (if ever) before it disappears entirely.

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If we want the murder rate to disappear entirely, then we need to restore faith in government. This is the surprising conclusion reached by several academics, including Randolph Roth of Ohio State University. I've long been an advocate of holding governments accountable and the Al Gore style of "reinventing government" rather than always considering the government an enemy as has been the argument of many conservatives in the United States, but didn't realize it could have live-or-death consequences. Roth discussed his views on CBC Radio One's The Current on Wednesday (see part two).

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I had time to listen to the podcast of that show because I made it through security at the Pasco, Washington airport so quickly. Small airports really are a different world these days. With only one security line, a single person could conceivably hold up the whole process, but with the smaller number of people involved, one's flight is not going to just leave because of a backup in getting to the gate. Furthermore, these small airports can work surprisingly efficiently; my entire 50-seat aircraft--entirely full, as near as I could tell--was boarded in less than ten minutes. I suppose that's the equivalent of boarding a 767 in fifty minutes, but it was still a lot faster than I would have expected. If I could fly out of a Pasco-sized airport every trip, I would.

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In the past generation, the downtown area of Pasco, Washington has transformed into a primarily Mexican business community. The major supermarket in the downtown area is now a Fiesta Foods, a regional chain catering to Hispanics in eastern Washington and Oregon which is one of my favorites. I will never forget walking into the Pasco store for the first time in 2005 and finding an entire row of tortillas. Living in Boston at the the time, where grocery stores had very conservative selections, I thought I was in heaven.

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I've found another aspect of Hispanic influence in the western United States to lead to be heartening on this trip. In Canada, the packaging on everything is in English and French, and I do not know French well enough to understand it. Here, quite a lot of packaging is bilingual, and I have found it very comforting to find I could read the Spanish and verify that it matched the English.

Politics: The US Health Care System

KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON - Canadians are constantly told that their health care system is superior to that of the United States. It's so close to a sacred cow that commentators cannot even question the premise for fear of being unpatriotic. Typical of how far one can go was Jian Gomeshi's monologue on the CBC radio show Q the day after a health care compromise was reached in the US Senate, talking about how relieved Canadians were that the proposed reforms would still result in less than universal coverage in the United States and that cost-cutting measures were minimal. Those two differences--universality and cost--are those most often cited as the aspects that most distinguish the two systems. But, these are largely macroeconomic issues for policy makers--assuming a person has access to medical services, all that the "consumer" cares about is the quality of those services.

I had a chance to see the US health care system in action this week when a family member that I was visiting showed some acute symptoms. The situation was well-handled on the phone, with the symptoms regarded as serious and instructions to call 911 until it became clear that I was around to provide a ride to the doctor's office. Upon arrival at the doctor's office, it was less than five minutes before a nurse invited us back to a room, and the doctor came around just minutes after vital signs were taken. We were given a direct admit to the hospital, so there was no wait, just the standard admission interview.

Arguably, this was the only egregious part of the entire process. The insurance check is something that wouldn't happen in Canada once a health card was shown, but it took only seconds, probably no longer than verifying a health card. All the other forms that lawyers require to be signed were the issue. There were four forms that had to be explained and signed. For someone in pain being admitted to a hospital, this is not welcome. Does anyone actually ask for more information on organ donation as they are entering a hospital with an acute condition? The only other major issue in the experience came immediately thereafter, as the volunteer (yes, volunteer) who was to lead us to the hospital room left us in the hallway for about five minutes before guiding us there.

After that, there was little to quibble with in the experience. Tests were soon performed and a procedure was scheduled for the first thing the next morning. While it was delayed a bit this was communicated during breakfast, and release from the hospital came about 26 hours after admission. An issue brought up late during the release process was dealt with by the nurse, resulting in a prescription phoned in to the pharmacy for pickup before the end of the day.

There are plenty of problems with the health care system in the United States. None of them were obvious in my experience of it earlier this week. It worked quite well.

Culture: Desert Water

A glass of ice water was prepared for consumption in Kennewick, Washington on 5-January-2009

KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON - When I was growing up, one of the markers of visiting my grandparents here in Kennewick, Washington or my great aunt and uncle in Las Vegas, Nevada was the taste of the tap water in those locations. I came to call this "harsh" tasting and "dry" feeling fluid "desert water," as contrasted with the "wetter" urban water that I encountered at home and seemingly most other places while traveling.

Of course, what I was actually observing was that "desert" water was not fluoridated, while the water that I was used to from the Seattle, Washington watershed was fluoridated. Seattle had voted to include fluoride in its water in 1968, part of a trend at the time in which electorates were asked to vote on whether they wanted the perceived cavity-fighting benefit of fluoridated water. Seattle was actually relatively late to adopt the practice, which was recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1951.

There is a long-standing claim that the fluoridation process does not change the taste, flavor, or smell of water. Strictly speaking, this may be true--pure water, after all, should have no taste, flavor, or smell; these properties come from things dissolved in the water, and dissolving the fluoride ion in and of itself--whether it came from sodium fluoride or a later-developed source such as fluorosilicic acid--should not perceptibly change any of those properties. Likely, it was other aspects of the treatment process used in fluoridation, perhaps mild chlorination to control bacterial spread or phosphate to reduce the dissolving of lead pipes that actually led to the observable changes. In any event, there was a perceptible difference.

Despite no high-quality studies showing any ill effects of fluoridation except for minor issues over-fluoridation of small children's teeth, the practice continues to be controversial to this day. Conspiracy theories abound, with some purported links to various cancers perhaps deserving of thorough studies that have yet to be done. In any event, there are still significant areas without fluoridation, including much of Nevada. In 2001, Clark County which includes Las Vegas did to fluoridate its water in response to a legislative action, so my more recent visits to the city did involve fluoridated water.

However, Kennewick continues to reject fluoridation, most recently a city council vote in 2002. So, on this visit, I once again have been drinking "desert water."

Politics: Curtatone and Strategic Voting

KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON - Somerville, Massachusetts mayor Joe Curtatone has gotten a lot of positive press lately, including a Russ Mitchell report today on the CBS Evening News, because of his effort to reduce childhood obesity in the Boston suburb where I lived for seven years. It's good to see that Curtatone is doing well since I voted for him in both the primary and general election when he was first elected mayor in 2003. It assuages my guilt over not voting in the primary for the candidate I actually favored in that race, incumbent mayor Dorothy Kelly Gay.

When Kelly Gay was elected mayor in 1999, I was one of many people proud that Somerville had elected a strong woman as mayor. In the heavily Democratic town (in the largely one-party state of Massachusetts), her progressive politics were well-received, and Somerville seemed to be in a political renaissance, with previous mayor Michael Capuano just elected to Congress, succeeding Joseph Kennedy.

While she was re-elected handily in 2001, she subsequently drew opposition over her acquiescence to developers wanting to put "big box" stores in the Assembly Square area at the far east end of the city. As the site already hosted a "big box" store and such retail establishments meant revenue to the city, I was personally never all that worked up over Assembly Square either way though my preference would have been for denser development and an Orange Line subway stop, and I had no complaints over her performance in other areas.

A heated mayoral race erupted in 2003, and in the closing days of the campaign, it became clear that Kelly Gay, then-Alderman-at-large Joe Curtatone, and businessman Tony Lafuente were the leading contenders. I didn't like Lafuente at all, as he seemed too pro-development, and as a political newcomer I figured he would be too easily manipulated by the political machine in the town (and Somerville is the place most machine-like in politics of anywhere I have lived) to the detriment of the office. Figuring that as the incumbent with significant support, Kelly Gay was certain to finish first or second, I voted for Curtatone in hopes of a Kelly Gay-Curtatone matchup in the general election.

This bit of strategic voting was a major mistake. Kelly Gay finished third in the primary, leaving the general election to Curtatone and primary winner Lafuente. I know I'm not the only Kelly Gay supporter that had voted strategically. Indeed, Curyatone himself actually knocked on my door--alone, no less--during the campaign and when I said I was considering such a vote, he made a harder push to convert me wholesale, saying he was convincing a lot of people with similar viewpoints. Ideologically, it was clear that Curtatone was not that different than Kelly Gay, so in the general election, it was obvious--I voted for Curtatone again. He won that election, and has been re-elected mayor ever since.

With an instant-run-off or rank-order voting system, of course, I wouldn't have even thought about strategic voting, I would have just made Kelly Gay my first choice and Curtatone my second choice. In this case, I doubt the end result would have been different--there were enough people mad at Kelly Gay that given a preference between her and Curtatone, Curtatone probably would have garnered more support.

However, after that experience, I am very loathe to vote strategically, and I am relieved that Joe Curtatone has proven to be a popular mayor. I may have made a mistake, but at least it was not a serious one.

Photos: Holiday Scenes in the Northwest, 2009

The fountain scene at the Garden D'Lights in Bellevue, Washington was captured on 22-December-2009

KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON - This week's update to my photo site features a roundup of Pacific Northwest holiday displays. Holiday scenes from around the Seattle, Washington area seen on 22-23-December-2009 included Bellevue's Garden D'Lights, Seattle's Gingerbread Village, Seattle's Toyland Village, and more.

Margin Notes: Snow, Roundabouts, Media

The Ed Hendler ("Cable") Bridge between Kennewick and Pasco, Washington was observed as snow started to fall again on 31-December-2009

KENNEWICK, WASHINGTON - It may be winter, but I'm running into more snow than I really expected in my travels. Snow is not uncommon in the Tri-Cities, but I wasn't expecting to have to shovel the walk here three times in as many days. Rain has now washed the snow away (as would have been expected after the first snowfall), ending the winter wonderland but making everything a lot easier here, almost like a different world.

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When people say that eastern Washington state is a different world than western Washington, they are usually referring to the climate or the Perot-style politics of this side of the mountains. They could, however, be talking about transportation infrastructure. There are a lot more roundabouts in Kennewick than even in New England, and the biggest surprise to me was that two roundabouts have replaced a clover-leaf interchange at the junction between SR 240 and US 395, arguably the busiest location in Kennewick next to the Blue Bridge. Somehow, I have a hard time believing this is really an improvement, even at rush hour.

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Certainly not an improvement is the state of Tri-City Herald, the local paper here. Back in May, I blogged about the healthy state of the paper. By all accounts, it is still financially healthy and I have no complaints about the quality of its local coverage, but it's now a tiny paper. I've been here for two Sunday papers now, and I read both of them in less than twenty minutes, even taking time going through the employment ads. I guess that's better than no paper at all, but one almost has to buy a New York Times or go on-line to keep well-informed.

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Those who are well-informed probably pay little attention to my weekly pick of a quality radio program, but in compiling the year-end summary, I was surprised to find a four-way tie at four for number of picks in 2009 for CBC's The Sunday Edition, CBC's As It Happens, Wisconsin Public Radio's To The Best of Our Knowledge, and CBC's Age of Persuasion. That's right, a specialty show on advertising that ran for less than half the year tied for first place. The Age of Persuasion is back for another season, and the first show, on the impact of HIV on advertising, may well be the first pick of 2010. Check it out at 11:30 local time on Monday in Canada if you can; the audio file is not yet on the web site.

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A year-end feature that won't appear this year is my ranking of new popular music from the year. 2009 marked the year in which a combination of being inundated with programming podcasts and a lack of budget for purchasing new music led to complete neglect of popular music for the year. No wonder the music industry is reeling--I just don't have time for them anymore, even when unemployed!