The Phoenix No Pants Light Rail Ride isn’t happening in 2025. Here’s why

Valley residents will need another reason to drop trou in public this year. That's because the 2025 edition of the Phoenix No Pants Light Rail Ride has been canceled.

And no, this isn’t the result of some pro-pants conspiracy.

Michael Mauer, an organizer of the cheeky, body-positive prank where participants ride Valley Metro Rail trains without pants, announced Wednesday in the event's Facebook group that organizers “will be taking a pause for 2025 to handle personal life matters.”

The announcement comes a year after the Phoenix No Pants ride, which launched back in 2009, returned after a four-year hiatus caused by the pandemic. More than 100 people participated in the 2024 event, boarding light rail trains while wearing T-shirts, undergarments, jackets, socks and shoes, but no pants.

Organizers described the ride’s long-awaited return as a “fun and whimsical.” The ride, however, sparked controversy and criticism.

‘It's really fun to do, but definitely isn't for everyone’

Phoenix’s No Pants Light Rail Ride is one of the Valley’s most unique and attention-grabbing events. Originally organized by Improv Arizona, the ride is equal parts flash mob and urban prank.

The No Pants Ride began in 2002 on New York City’s subway, organized by the comedy group Improv Everywhere. The concept quickly spread worldwide, with cities boasting rail-based public transit staging their own rides every January.

Phoenix joined the movement in 2009, just weeks after Valley Metro Light Rail launched. The first ride had only a few dozen participants, but the event grew in popularity, with hundreds joining by 2020.

Maurer, who participated in several local No Pants Light Rail rides before he began organizing the event, told Phoenix New Times that it has always been a lighthearted and unconventional experience. “It's really fun to do, but definitely isn't for everyone,” Maurer says. “But for those with a curiosity for the weird or those wanting to push themselves to try something different, this is the event. There is no shaming or judging at these events.”

Phoenix's No Pants ride was derailed by COVID-19 and canceled from 2021 to 2023. It returned in 2024 when Maurer helped resurrect the event, albeit with a charitable twist: riders donated their pants to the local non-profit St. Vincent de Paul.

“I thought it was an awesome way to get people together for a body-positive event [and to] meet new people that are like-minded,” Maurer told New Times in 2024.

Phoenix No Pants Light Rail Ride organizers say last year’s event was a success. In his announcement on Wednesday, Maurer said the ride was fun for “those that love improv and philanthropy to challenge the mundane day-to-day life” that collected five pallet boxes of donated pants.

“Rail riders ditched their pants for a fun challenge to help out their community. Some dressed up, wore their best fun-derwear,” Maurer wrote.

Meanwhile, critics of the No Pants Light Rail Ride saw things differently and got their knickers in a twist over the event.

A controversial — but not illegal — event

Officially, riding the light rail without pants isn’t against the law. According to Arizona’s public indecency laws, it's only illegal to “recklessly expose” the genitals, anus or female nipples or areolas.

No Pants Ride participants haven’t ever skirted the law, though, as they’ve worn underwear, shirts, pajamas and other comfortable clothing that hasn’t exposed their naughty parts.

Only one No Pants participant has ever been arrested, but not for their conduct or dress. In 2020, a rider was taken into custody on an unrelated warrant during a mid-ride meetup at a downtown Phoenix bar.

Valley Metro’s “code of conduct” is a bit more ambiguous. It discourages “disruptive, intrusive, unsafe, or inappropriate behaviors,” including public indecency. Susan Tierney, Valley Metro’s communications manager, told New Times via email they do not ‘condone, support or in any way sponsor’ the No Pants Light Rail Ride.

“Riders with valid fare and who follow our code of conduct are welcome on our system. The light rail system serves a diverse community of riders including families, children and individuals of varying cultural and personal sensitivities,” Tierney says. “It is essential to ensure that all passengers feel safe, comfortable and respected while using the public transportation system — that is our goal.”

Despite No Pants participants adhering to public decency laws, critics have called the event “dangerous” and “disgusting.”

In the days surrounding the 2024 event, far-right extremists decried the ride, claiming it exposed younger light rail riders to indecency.

Arizona Republic opinion columnist Laurie Roberts added to the outcry, calling the No Pants Ride a “no-duh bad idea for Phoenix” and fretting that the Republican-controlled state legislature might use it as an excuse to halt future light rail expansion.

But if the backlash over the No Pants Light Rail ride factored into the decision to cancel the 2025 event, organizers aren’t saying so. Maurer declined to provide additional comment to New Times regarding the nature of the "personal life matters" preventing them from organizing the ride in 2025.

"At this point we don't have any more information to give out," Maurer told New Times via Facebook chat.

Phoenix's No Pants Light Rail Ride 'will be back'

Organizers can say that the Phoenix No Pants Light Rail Ride will return at some point in the future, though they haven’t specified when it will occur.

“Covid couldn’t keep us away then, and we will be back!!” Maurer stated in his announcement.

In a Facebook chat with New Times, Maurer also says that future editions of the ride will feature more local businesses and charities.

He declined to provide any additional details.