With apologies to Charles Dickens, late 2008 was for Phoenix public transit, "the best of times" and "the worst of times." On the positive side, Phoenix and its partner cities Tempe and Mesa took a great leap forward by opening their ambitious and highly successful 20 miles of light rail. At the same time, however, the recession's impact on the city budget began to be felt and transit service had to be cut.

Bus service was curtailed before 5 AM and after 10 PM -- not because trains were robbing from buses, but because diminishing tax revenues had erased some of the gains in funding made since the approval of Phoenix's .4% transit tax in March 2000. Shortly after, rail service was cut. The weekday peak frequency went from every 10 minutes to every 12 minutes, and Sunday service went from every 15 minutes to every 20 minutes.

While those differences may seem small, they're psychologically huge. Service every 10 minutes during rush hour seems the minimum level of frequency needed to let commuters know they never need to worry about a missed train, and 20 minute headways between trains seem too long on any day of the week. Likewise, the accompanying diminishment of bus service makes it less effective in connecting to light rail. Who wants to wait 30 minutes for a train-to-bus transfer?

With city tax revenues beginning a slow recovery, some city services previously cut have been restored. Many branch libraries are now open longer than they were a year or two ago. Transit should also feel this uplift. Let's get rail service back to its original frequencies. Let's also get bus service up to its previous levels, doing so strategically by analyzing each route carefully and increasing hours and frequency as appropriate.

Transit ridership has continued to increase since 2008. It's time to let service levels on both trains and buses catch up.