Metro has reported pretty strong ridership numbers since the December opening of our new light rail system. Judging from the response people had to this weekend's Arizona Aloha Festival, March should continue to be another strong month for the Metro. I spoke to some of the organizers of the Aloha Festival today and was told that the Tempe Police Department estimated 100,000 people attended on Saturday alone! (I am not sure about total numbers for the weekend as I spoke to them Sunday afternoon.)
I probably should have taken a few more pictures than I did but, here are some pictures from the Aloha Festival that might give you an idea of what was going on. Basically, there was a huge gathering of booths, food, music / entertainment all at the beautiful setting of Tempe Beach Park. Of course, the easiest way to get to the festival ( in my opinion) is to take the light rail and not have to deal with finding a place to park. My wife and I parked at the 101 and Apache and took the kids for a "train ride" to the festival.
The trains were busy all day today as people were told of the benefits of taking light rail to the event. As more people get use to the system, I believe more will rely on it to go to festivals, art museums, sporting events, conventions etc.
I'm already looking forward to next years festival…
Remember… Rail Life has a "Phoenix Light Rail Group on Flickr." Basically, we want to share some of our pictures from the community and allow people to add their pics (or videos), as well. These can be light rail related, but we also want pics of your favorite spot, restaurant, sports team, community, event etc.
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