Just when you thought the debate over pants on Valley Metro light rail was over, a pair of Phoenix residents are stepping up — and doubling down on layers.
Earlier this week, local artist Pete Petrisko and community activist Stacey Champion announced they’re organizing the Way More Pants Light Rail Journey.
The community event, described by the pair as a way to “celebrate both modesty — and way more pants,” will take place on Saturday, Feb. 8.
Participants of the No Pants Light Rail Ride 2024 in Phoenix at the Valley Metro Rail station at Dunlap and 19th avenues.
Benjamin Leatherman
“One really nice pair of pants will suffice, but people can wear more if they want to,” Petrisko says. “What’s crucial is that we maintain a sense of modesty on the light rail.”
It's essentially a juxtaposition of the annual Phoenix No Pants Light Rail Ride, the controversial and body-positive urban prank where locals travel on Valley Metro Rail trains in their underwear. The event, which started locally in 2009, returned in January 2024 after a four-year hiatus caused by the pandemic with more than 100 people participating.
Last year’s No Pants ride sparked controversy and backlash from critics of the event, who claimed it exposed younger light rail passengers to indecency. Earlier this month, event organizers announced they “will be taking a pause for 2025 to handle personal life matters.”
In a Jan. 8 email to Phoenix New Times, Valley Metro communications manager Susan Tierney stated that the agency “expressed our concerns based on the negative responses we received from the community during last year’s event.”
Petrisko and Champion tell Phoenix New Times the Way More Pants event isn’t in protest of the No Pants ride’s cancelation, though. Instead, the pair claim — most likely in tongue-in-cheek fashion — the ride is about maintaining public modesty and decency.
“As the mom of two grown children, I worry about their safety on the rare occasions they use light rail what with so many people blatantly wearing shorts these days and being exposed to all those naked knees,” Champion says.
Petrisko is of a similar mindset.
“I don't think it's hyperbole when I say the ongoing display of luscious knees and thighs by passengers or anything less than long pants is horrific,” Petrisko says. “That's just the kind of thing that's gonna lead to the end of civilization as we know it!”
How to participate in the Phoenix Way More Pants Light Rail Journey
Pearl-clutching over exposed ankles and knees aside, Petrisko and Champion say the Way More Pants Light Rail Journey will operate like a No Pants ride, only with more clothing being worn.People can wear one or more pairs of pants to participate, Champion says, and can even get creative with their clothing.
“We always encourage creativity," Champion says. "People can wear funky pants, pants as a hat, pants on their arms, you name it."
Participants will gather at Valley Metro Rail light rail stations across the Phoenix area on Feb. 8. They’ll board trains scheduled to arrive at the Central Avenue and Roosevelt Street station at 12:45 p.m. and will then walk to Jobot Bar, Coffee & Pizzeria, 333 E. Roosevelt St., for a get-together with other riders.
Both Petrisko and Champion say the Way More Pants Light Rail Journey is “in no way sponsored, condoned or supported by Valley Metro or the City of Phoenix.”
An email to a Valley Metro spokesperson for comment on the Way More Pants Light Rail Journey was not immediately returned.
