The 39 bus is what remains of the old Blue Line. When light rail service started, the Blue Line was truncated and renamed with the new 39 route beginning at Central/Camelback. In theory, this route should be popular. It provides a single seat connection between light rail and the Biltmore area, Piestewa Peak, and northeast Phoenix. The reality, however, is that this route is minimally used and maintained only at a paltry once-an-hour level of service.

Part of the problem lies in this route's redundancy with the 50 bus, with which it overlaps along the busy stretch of Camelback Road between Central and 24th Street. Since the 39 and the 50 are scheduled only a minute or two apart, often with the 39 just ahead of the 50, the result is that the 39 wastes a tremendous amount of time picking up and discharging passengers at points along Camelback Road.

These passengers would be just as well served by waiting a minute or two for the 50, while passengers on the 39 heading to points beyond 24th Street are subject to needless delays. Instead of allowing redundancy between the 50 and the 39, the 39 should become a limited stop route, making few, if any, stops between 24th Street and Central Avenue. The result would be decreased travel times between light rail and neighborhoods to the northeast without any real diminishment in local service along Camelback Road.