[Air-L] Update: Getting Around Phoenix for #ir16

Tue Oct 20 11:09:22 PDT 2015

Dear Alex

I appreciate your detailed background on the public transportation situation in Phoenix to amend the brief mention of it on the website for the conference. That makes it much easier to decide when, in which neighborhoods and for which purposes to use public transportation.

Similar to you, and especially as a German/European, I was used to extensive public transportation. While that is sadly often not the case in many U.S. cities, it is a good idea to support efforts to use/establish/re-vive public transportation during conferences if possible to keep in mind that no all want to/are able to use a car/cab/shuttle for different reasons (money, environment, convenience, public sharing of goods, disability). It behooves each conference to point out which local public transportation options exist, or not, and I am glad to read that AoIR/IR16 as an innovative organization and conference are keeping this mind.

Thank you for the update.

Best regards,
Stine

Stine Eckert, Ph.D.
Vice-Chair Feminist Scholarship Division, ICA
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication
571 Manoogian Hall
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI 48201

@stineeckert
http://stineeckert.com/
https://wikidgrrls.wordpress.com/

________________________________________
From: Air-L <air-l-bounces at listserv.aoir.org> on behalf of Alex Halavais <alex at halavais.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 12:04 PM
To: AoIR-L
Subject: [Air-L] Update: Getting Around Phoenix for #ir16

Hi, All,

A couple of you have requested information about how to get around
Phoenix without a car. I am a relatively recent transplant from New
York City, and so I remain both in culture shock regarding the lack of
public transportation, and also not well versed in it.

There are walkable areas of the Valley, to be sure, but not a huge
number of options for connecting between these. Certainly, once you
are in downtown Phoenix, Tempe, or Scottsdale, there is enough density
to make walking both viable and pleasant. As noted in an earlier
email, Scottsdale has a free Trolley service that covers much of the
tourist area: http://www.experiencescottsdale.com/plan-your-trip/transportation/the-scottsdale-trolley/
. Interurban transportation is another story and the Valley is pretty
sprawled

As a side note, like most American cities, Phoenix had a pretty decent
trolley system through the 1940s:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Street_Railway . The residents
recently voted in favor of a $31 billion initiative to improve public
transportation, but that will do little to help us this week.

There is a 23 mile light-rail line that runs from Tempe, past Sky
Harbor, through to central Phoenix. It costs $2 a ride. It's great if
you need to get from Downtown to the airport or the ASU Tempe campus.
Unfortunately, many of the places you want to be aren't reached by the
Metro yet, and the nearest Metro stop to the hotel is a 17 minute bus
ride (or hour walk) away.

The Valley Metro busses (http://www.valleymetro.org/) are also $2 a
ride (or $6 for a full day pass purchased on board). Exact change is
needed. The easiest way to plan a ride is via Google Maps' trip
planner.

Another option is biking, though it can be tough outside of the denser
areas. There is a (newish) bike sharing system, but its website--
http://gridbikes.com -- is down :(. In any case, the bike stations are
mainly downtown and in central Phoenix. The is a bike shop a couple
miles from the hotel (http://bikebarnaz.com/) that does daily rentals,
as well.

As it stands, a car remains the best way to get around. Taxis
generally need to be called ahead (outside of downtown there are not
taxi stands), or, of course, there is Uber/Lyft. Or you can rent a car
(there are links to a coupon code on the http://ir16.aoir.org site, or
Silvercar at the airport: http://silvercar.com). But all else being
equal, I would rent a Harley: http://www.eaglerider.com/ .

Best,

Alex

--

// Alexander Halavais, Sociologist, Semiologist, and Saboteur Extraordinaire
// Associate Professor of Social Technologies, Arizona State University
// http://alex.halavais.net/bio     @halavais

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