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First Friday Bus Route Controversy
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(The following was originally posted on the Artlink website, in response to a public forum post titled "Kathy @ Cone Gallery is Pissed Off..." -- But I find that site so archaic & clunky, I thought it best to disseminate the info on artish.org as well...)
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The new First Friday map has to be the most segregated I have seen to date. Not that routes don’t overlap, they do. But a bus from one route doesn’t stop at galleries on another route, even if that’s what those riding want. Case in point: Last Spring I was riding the Grand route (which included my own space, on McDowell, at the time – but more on that change later) and the bus went SE on Grand then drove east on Roosevelt to Central. As it waited to turn left on Central, more than one passenger pushed the “Next Stop” button and stood up as the bus turned north onto Central and then DROVE PAST Strive Dreams. One person even shouted out, “I wanted to get off there” but the driver said he had to return to the Library, that Strive Dreams wasn’t part of his route. Several people were pissed as we all disembarked at the Library, and one man commented to his wife, “I’ll never ride the shuttle again.”
This got me to thinking… Why DON’T the routes overlap? I brought this up to a member of the Artlink advisory board and he responded with the “Central Hub” theory, with that hub being the Library. Once upon a time, many years ago when the library was the more known locale and centrally located with only a couple of dozen galleries surrounding it, that theory might have made sense. It no longer does. As defined by Artlink’s own map, it is nearing the outer edge of the arts district(s).
What I propose is a two-fold improvement, one that will benefit both the participating galleries/businesses and those riding the buses.
1. Create OVERLAY routes so, for example, somebody starting on the south route can transfer to the central, west or east route at certain points.
2. Eliminate ONE central hub and, instead, create NODES. In other words, at certain cross streets where routes intersect, establish a NODE/TRANSFER site. So that no one gallery benefits from this, use existing bus stops instead of gallery/store fronts. Perhaps a large, freestanding map/sign can be created (similar to the large color maps at bus stops now for city routes) indicating transfer routes available at each particular node. (The library can even be one such node, but just one of many.)
So many artists speak of a decentralized downtown, one not geared toward “big box” projects – yet the First Friday route(s), with the “central hub” idea, promotes the very idea these artists speak out against.
On a more personal note, the fact that the Garfield Galleria building (in which my own gallery resides) is now part of a new route which is more than twice as long as any other route, and is totally segregated by the fact it runs so far north, has so negatively impacted the southern edge of that route that being a bus stop in the future makes little economic sense. Really, how far north will Artlink allow this to sprawl? McDowell IS more or less the northern edge of the downtown art scene and a line has to be drawn. In the previous quarter, the strip of galleries/businesses along McDowell were part of the Grand route and the drop in attendance-by-bus was both noticeable and chilling this month. God bless the George & Dragon, I love the food, but come on already… a bus going to a restaurant – one north of Indian School – most people will drive to anyway (because by the time you take a bus there and eat a meal, the buses likely aren’t running anymore) makes no sense. Not logistically and certainly not so far as the most economical use of a limited number of shuttle buses go. (As an aside, it would’ve been nice if McDowell Rd. was labeled as such, instead of appearing on the map as an anonymous unmarked street.)
However, such segregation and poorly planned bus routes aren’t just affecting those along the southern edge of the North Route. I spoke to three gallery/business owners along the new West Route that were so disappointed in the segregated routes and resulting drop in turn-out that they are very seriously considering not being on ANY route next quarter.
They feel they didn’t get what they paid for.
I can’t rightly disagree with them either.
Pete Petrisko @
http://www.crisisgallery.com
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Click HERE to go to Artlink Forum thread mentioned at top:
http://artlinkphoenix.com/forum/public/734116290367/
