Can You Live Near ASU Without a Car? A Tempe and Valley Metro Guide

Yes. ASU off-campus housing without a car works, and Tempe is one of the few big student markets in the Southwest where that is true. The Valley Metro Rail A Line runs straight through the Tempe campus along Apache Boulevard and University Drive, Tempe's Orbit neighborhood buses cost nothing to ride, and an ASU U-Pass runs about $150 for the 2026–27 academic year. Pick an apartment within a few blocks of a rail station and you can reach class, downtown Phoenix, Mesa, and Sky Harbor without owning anything with wheels.

The catch is that "near ASU" covers a lot of ground, and not all of it is car-free ground. A place on Apache Boulevard and a place off Baseline Road are both technically Tempe. Only one of them lets you skip the car payment. This guide sorts out which ASU off-campus housing actually supports a car-free year.

Key Takeaways

• The Valley Metro Rail A Line cuts through the ASU Tempe campus, with station stops along Apache Boulevard and University Drive.
• Orbit buses — Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn — are free to everyone in Tempe, students included, and they cover the residential blocks between rail stations.
• An ASU U-Pass costs roughly $150 for the 2026–27 academic year and covers unlimited rail and bus rides.
• Rent math favors the train. As of August 2026, Find My Place lists shared units near campus at $700–$1,100 per bedroom, while the East Tempe rail corridor toward Mesa runs $600–$900.
• The Marshall Tempe, at 1057 E Apache Blvd, sits 0.8 miles from campus — a 22-minute walk, or one short rail hop — and lists from $1,390/mo.
• Summer is the real test. A 15-minute walk in November is pleasant; the same walk in late June at 4 p.m. is not.

The Valley Metro A Line is the spine of car-free ASU off-campus housing

The A Line runs east-west through Tempe and cuts across the ASU campus itself. That is the whole reason the rail corridor and the student housing corridor overlap so heavily. Stations sit along Apache Boulevard heading east toward Mesa, at University Drive and Rural Road just east of campus, and west along Mill Avenue toward downtown Phoenix. Sky Harbor is a transfer away.

So start your search with a rail map, not a rent filter. A unit three blocks from a station at $850 beats one two miles out at $750, because the cheap one quietly assumes you own a car. ASU's transit office publishes the current station list and service times. Check it before you sign anything.

Apache Boulevard is the most car-free street in Tempe

Apache Boulevard has rail running down the middle of it and student housing lining both sides. That combination does not exist anywhere else in the Valley at this density. The District on Apache sits right on the line. So does The Marshall Tempe at 1057 E Apache Blvd, which Find My Place clocks at a 0.8-mile, 22-minute walk to campus. Twenty-two minutes is a long walk in July and a nothing walk in February — which is exactly why you want the train option on the same block.

Orbit buses are free and cover what the rail misses

Tempe runs six free neighborhood circulators called Orbit, and they cost nothing regardless of whether you are a student. The routes have planet names — Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn — and they loop through the residential streets between rail stations, which is the exact gap the A Line leaves open. No pass, no fare, no app.

Students underuse these, badly. Say your apartment is a 12-minute walk from a rail station. There is a decent chance an Orbit stop sits three minutes from your door and runs straight to it. Pull the route map for the exact building you are considering — not the neighborhood, the building. The loops are narrower than people assume.

What an ASU U-Pass costs and what it covers

Roughly $150 for the 2026–27 academic year, and it covers unlimited Valley Metro rail and bus rides. That is the number to hold in your head when someone tells you a car is cheaper. It is not. ASU's transit office publishes current U-Pass details and pickup locations each year, so check the live figure before you budget it.

Compare that to what a car actually costs a student in Tempe: insurance, gas, an ASU parking permit, and the paid parking on Mill Avenue when you go out. Campus parking at ASU is permit-limited and priced accordingly. A U-Pass is one line item you pay once in August and forget about.

ASU off-campus housing where car-free actually works

Look for the rail line in the listing photos — it is a surprisingly reliable filter. Nine20 Tempe lists from $850 and sits on a street with rail tracks running past it. Two others that come up constantly need an asterisk. Metro 101 lists from $1,298, but it is 2.1 miles out and a 50-minute walk, so treat it as a transit-or-drive option rather than a walk-to-class one. Alight Tempe starts at $645 at 1.5 miles, which Find My Place flags as a bike commute for most students. Cheap rent, real distance. Decide which one you are actually optimizing for.

Find My Place shows rent per bedroom rather than per unit on many Tempe listings, which matters here. A "$1,449 two-bedroom" and a "$1,390 four-bedroom" at the same building are not what they look like — the four-bedroom is cheaper per person, and the price falling as bedroom count rises is the tell that the listing is priced per bed. Browse the full set of Tempe student housing listings and sort by distance to campus before you sort by price.

The rail discount is real, and it is about $150 a month

Here is a pattern in Find My Place's Tempe listings, as of August 2026, that does not show up in most ASU housing guides. Shared units in the campus core run $700–$1,100 per bedroom. The same kind of unit in East Tempe, along the light rail heading toward Mesa, runs $600–$900. Call it the rail discount: you trade a 10-to-15-minute train ride for roughly $150 a month, which is around $1,800 over a twelve-month lease. For a lot of students that gap pays for the U-Pass fifteen times over and then some.

When going car-free near ASU stops working

Three situations break it. An off-campus job in Scottsdale or north Phoenix that is not on a transit line — the commute goes from 20 minutes to 70. A big weekly grocery run, though this is fixable with delivery or a smaller Wednesday-and-Sunday habit. And the heat, which is the one nobody warns freshmen about properly.

Phoenix summers are not a walkability problem, they are a physics problem. From late May through September, a 20-minute midday walk is genuinely rough, and the difference between a station three blocks away and a station a mile away is the difference between car-free being fine and car-free being miserable. If you plan to stay in Tempe through the summer, weight station distance harder than you otherwise would. If you leave every May, you can be more relaxed about it.

Most of this comes down to neighborhood. The Tempe neighborhood breakdown for ASU students compares Mill Avenue, East Tempe, and the Mesa rail zones on price and access.

Frequently Asked Questions About Car-Free Living Near ASU

Do I need a car as an ASU student in Tempe?

No — not if you live near the A Line. Rail plus Orbit covers campus, Mill Avenue, downtown Phoenix, Mesa, and the airport. The students who end up buying a car are the ones living off the corridor, working off it, or staying through summer.

How much is an ASU U-Pass?

Around $150 for the 2026–27 academic year. That buys unlimited rail and bus rides. ASU's transit office updates pricing annually, so confirm the current figure before you lock your budget.

Are the Orbit buses in Tempe really free?

They are, and it surprises people every year. No fare, no student ID, no pass. Orbit runs six planet-named neighborhood loops that connect residential blocks to the rail stations, which is why it pairs so well with a rail-adjacent apartment.

Is it cheaper to live farther from ASU and take the train?

Usually, yes. As of August 2026, Find My Place lists shared units at $700–$1,100 per bedroom near campus versus $600–$900 in the East Tempe rail corridor. You save roughly $150 a month for a short train ride. Just confirm your specific building is actually walkable to a station rather than merely in the same zip code.

Which Tempe apartments are closest to a light rail station?

Apache Boulevard, without much competition. The District on Apache and The Marshall Tempe both sit on that corridor, and Nine20 Tempe is on a rail-adjacent street. Every Find My Place listing page shows walk and drive times to campus for that exact address — use it before you assume a building is close.

Can I get to Sky Harbor Airport from Tempe without a car?

Yes, and it is one of the underrated perks. The A Line runs to 44th Street/Washington, where the free PHX Sky Train takes you into the terminals. Flying home for break becomes a train ride rather than a favor you have to ask a roommate for. Budget extra time for the transfer.