A 20-mile light-rail line from central Phoenix to Mesa and Tempe Arizona which opened last December

A 20-mile light-rail line from central Phoenix to Mesa and Tempe, Arizona, which opened last December, is surpassing ridership projections by more than 25 percent. The line — which initially provoked controversy because of its $1.4 billion cost, its low ticket price ($1.75 each way), and a belief that riders would be few — attracts nearly 33,000 passengers a day, including many people who use it on weekends to go to restaurants, bars, ball games, and cultural events downtown, The New York Times reported Sept. 20. Since 2001, when a tax for the rail line won approval, the area along the line has experienced $3.5 billion in private investment and about $1.5 billion in public investment, according to Phoenix’s Community and Economic Development Department.