April 27, 2010 | 35 Comments

Restoration 2010 Proposed Changes: Phase 1-3


Here is a listing of all of the proposed service changes for Restoration 2010 for Phases 1-3. Tomorrow I will explain on the blog, with the help of Chief of Planning and System Development Jessica Mefford-Miller, why it is necessary for Metro to implement these changes in phases as opposed to all at once. It is important to note that these are all proposed changes, and that we are seeking public comment and input before making the final service restoration plans. We anticipate that many people will have questions about the proposed changes, which include frequency changes to overcrowded routes, route changes for existing lines, and entirely new routes. We will try to answer as many of your questions as possible here on Nextstop, and we also encourage you to all attend one of our public meetings to talk with members of our planning department about your specific questions.

You can also use the Twitter hashtag #restoration2010 and drop by our Facebook page, and/or email comments/suggestions to: restoration2010@metrostlouis.org or call (314) 982-1400 ext. 3433.

The darker colored boxes indicate a new route.

Phase 1 Proposed Changes

St. Louis Metro Transit Restoration 2010 Phase 1 – June 28 Proposed Changes

Phase 2-3 Proposed Changes

St. Louis Metro Transit Restoration 2010 Proposed Changes – Phase 2 -3

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Author:Courtney

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  • Patrick D. Richmond

    I don’t see any maps at all!!!

  • Patrick D. Richmond

    Where are the maps for the proposed lines???

  • http://www.stl-style.com Randy Vines

    PLEASE reinstate the 73 Corondelet bus along Cherokee Street between Jefferson and Grand! It’s an old streetcar corridor– transit is its lifeblood!

  • Patrick D. Richmond

    Is Metrobus route #56 going to be a split line?

    • http://www.nextstopstl.org/ Courtney

      No, the #56 will not be split, but will extend to also serve SLCC-Meramec and Des Peres Hospital.

  • Patrick Richmond

    How is the line going to operate between the school and the hospital? This is why I want to see the maps. There are some those who cannot attend the meetings but want to see the propsed maps. And I think that splitting the Lindbergh is stupid!

  • Annie

    No meetings for anyone in the city after work? The one you had at the EPNEC next to the CWE station was super-convenient… *elbow jab*

  • Patrick Richmond

    Where are the propsed maps for the new routes?

  • Fred Twad

    Before Mar 30,2009 Metrolink ran every 10 minutes. How come it won’t run as frequent after restoration?

  • RTBones

    Courtney – I will be unable to attend any of the public meetings. Is there a way online that we could see maps/schedules of the proposed changes? I would be happy to send feedback, I’d just like to see the schedule. For me, I am interested in the 44/45.

    • http://www.nextstopstl.org/ Courtney

      RT,

      I’ll see if I can get a hold of a proposed schedule, but I’m not sure the planning department will be preparing specific timetables before the end of public comment. I can give you headway times however: #44 is suggested every 30 minutes during rush hour, the #45 is still being determined. When do you plan to ride?

  • Patrick Richmond

    Fred, there will be single tracking on the old Eads Bridge, but the schedules are planned to run pretty close. They are talking every 12 minutes rather than 10.

    • http://www.nextstopstl.org/ Courtney

      Thank you Patrick. That is correct, due to the Eads Bridge rehabilitation project, we can only run trains every 12 minutes. After the project is done, there is potential to increase the headway times to every 10 minutes if there is ridership demand for the extra service.

      Patrick, I will have your maps and comment form up on the blog by this afternoon. Sorry its taken a while to get them together.

      Court

  • RTBones

    Courtney -

    Morning rush (sometime between 0600 and 0800 normally) is relatively easy (though buses are crowded). The hard part for me is usually coming home, since my gym is along the route, and my departure from work is usually ~1730-1800. If I leave work at 1800, 1820 at the gym, 1920 finish workout, by the time I dress out and get back to the bus stop, it would be 2000-2015.

    The other issue I have is that I occasionally work in several buildings, all along the 45 route. The problem is that if I have meetings/events in more than one, taking transit is not an option during the day because there isnt frequent enough service as schedules currently are.

  • Pingback: Map of Proposed Transit Service Restoration for St. Louis Metro Transit | NextStop STL

  • Charles Frier

    Will the #56 route resume service to Maplewood Commons again? If not, will the #59 Shaw-Kirkwood stops be expanded anytime? A lot of working poor and disabled riders really need that service. Maybe Metro could make a financial arrangment with the merchants there.

    • http://www.nextstopstl.org/ Courtney

      Charles,

      The #56 will not serve Maplewood Commons, but the #59 will serve the area. We are working on a number of ideas to make sure that the employees and patrons of that shopping district have adequate service given our resources. Will keep you posted, and thank you for your thoughts.

  • Jack

    It is great that the County voters passed Prop A a dedicated 1/2 cent sales tax for transit, but the County is now going to take back half of the 1/2 cent transportation tax Metro received from the County for roads, a Gary Earls special surprise. Obviously Charlie Dooley needs the money for roads in an election year, to make more promises. If 1/4 cent was needed for operations and 1/4 cent was for more MetroLink, how is more MetroLink now going to happen? Was this a smoke and mirrors game by Metro/Bob Baer and the County, they knew there is not enough funds for any more MetroLink by taking back the 1/2 cent transportation tax. The only reason I and many of my friends voted for Prop A was for more MetroLink. Is this why Bob Baer kept talking about BRT instead of MetroLink expansion, he knew the facts, Dooley new the facts, but they played the political game of deception. So much for the new management’s transparency.

  • Jimmy Z

    Call-A-Ride – I know this is going to sound hard-hearted, but I see little reason to expand this highly-subsidized service beyond that required by federal (unfunded) mandates. Doing so would essentially be chasing shadows – there will always someone who wants service and lives “just beyond” any arbitrary boundary. More taxpayers would be better served by either increasing frequency on existing routes and/or establishing new routes in un(der)-served served parts of the county. IF Metro had more resources, then maybe, but with resources being as scarce as they are now, this should be a much lower priority, if one at all.

  • Patrick Richmond

    BRT is great. He is still talking MetroLink expansion also. However it’s easier to go with Bus Rapid Transit. Easier to build due to that there is no track to lay. However in Kansas City, there are a few lines where some could run as electricly powered rather than diesel powered. In Seattle, they have a dual service operation to where buses and light rail vehicles share the tunnel and the buses run on overhead wire in the tunnel but at one station where the buses go to the surface, they change power from electric to diesel. The downside to dual service operations is that they cost more due to that there is another switch for the mechanics to worry about. That’s the converter switch that changes the bus from diesel power to electric and back. I am glad that Metro has Gillig on their payroll. We could say that Gillig has really taught some bus builders how to REALLY build a bus!!

  • MIKE

    1. WILL THE #13 UNION CURRENT LATE NIGHT SERVICE TO WEST FLORRISANT BE PERMANENT? 2. WILL THE #47 N. HANLEY REINSTATE SERVICE TO WASHINGTON & N. LINDBERG, AS WELL AS JAMESTOWN MALL.

    • http://www.nextstopstl.org/ Courtney

      Mike, the #13 Union will continue to have night service to West Florissant from the Central West End station. The planning dept. is not sure about reinstating the #47 to Washington & Lindbergh, though the #45 will serve that intersection for sure. The #27 will be the only route that will serve Jamestown Mall.

  • MIKE

    HOW ABOUT LOOKING INTO THE POSSIBILITY OF RUNNING LATE NIGHT BUSES, NOT AS EXTENSIVE AS NEW YORK, MIAMI OR SAN FRANCISCO, BUT SIMULAR TO SEATTLE, WA, AUSTIN, TX OR EVEN CHAMPAIGN, IL.

  • MIKE

    CLARIFICATION TO COMMENT #16: THAT COMMENT REFERS TO A SPECIAL “NIGHT BUS” THAT PROVIDES NIGHT TIME SERVICE UNTIL 2 OR 3 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING. THAT TYPE OF SERVICE CAN BE INCLUDED IN YOUR SERVICE ENHANCEMENT PLAN, WHICH MAY BE A VITAL STEP TOWARDS RESTORING THE VIBRANCY THAT ST. LOUIS ONCE ENJOYED, AS WELL AS MAKING ST. LOUIS A MORE COMPETETIVE CITY. ALSO, WHEN WILL BUS SERVICE THAT OPERATED EAST OF TUCKER BLVD, PRIOR TO THE SERVICE CUTS, BE RESTORED? IT’S WAS EMBARRASING WHEN I TRIED TO EXPLAIN TO A TOURIST THAT OUR CITY HAD NO REGULAR BUS SERVICE EAST OF TUCKER BLVD DURING LAST YEARS ALL-STAR FESTIVITIES.

    • http://www.nextstopstl.org/ Courtney

      Mike,

      We are looking – perhaps not for the immediate future, but eventually – at working for creative transit solutions, including later service routes. It comes down to a formula of demand for service and resources available. What I tell people is the more that we know there is a demand for service, the more likely it can become a reality.

      As for downtown, only express buses, MetroLink and the #99 Downtown Circulator will serve east of Tucker. However, the #99′s route will be retooled to serve Market Street and City Museum, and the marketing department is working with local partnerships to see how the service can be marketed to local and national tourists, commuters using the downtown area. The service runs very frequently, and has the possibility to be seen as more of a shuttle than a traditional bus route.

  • Scott

    Prior to the redcutions in service I was a regular rider of the 274X Paddock Hills Express. There used to be 4 buses running each way during the rush periods. Couldn’t this route be reinstated?

  • Patrick Richmond

    We need to make the #57 Manchester to serve the Museum of Transport and have something go on Clarkson Road between Chesterfield Mall and run Clarkson Road from Chesterfield Mall and Manchester Road.I know that the 57 will be expanded to serve Clarkson Road between Manchester Road and Clayton Road. But I see nothing between Clayton Road and Chesterfield Mall. A good portion of Clarkson Road between Baxter Road and Clayton Road ahs no sidewalk. Same with Barrett Station Road between Manchester Road and the Museum of Transport. We need to take care of that due to that it’s a safety issue.

  • Will

    One of the major downfalls in MetroBuses’ general user-friendliness is the tendency toward serpentine routes that occasionally make (some) significant pre-planning necessary before riding the bus. Splitting the #57 Manchester makes no sense to me for this reason. While I appreciate that it is much less busy west of the Maplewood station, dividing what has long been one of the most straightforward and easiest to comprehend routes seems like a step in the wrong direction.

  • Patrick Richmond

    What would really make sense would be to take the new #48 Lindbergh, and have the line begin service at I-44 and Lindbergh on it’s way to Veteran’s Hospital which is the southern termimus of the line. That diesel fuel is bought thru public tax dollars. And why drive the bus down Lindbergh from I-44 all the way down to Veteran’s Hospital while not in service once the bus gets off the highway. It’s stupid. There could be someone wanting to get to work and could use the extra service. I see the same stupid stunt pulled with the Eureka Express. They have been pulling that stunt for years and that is why the sales tax issue failed in 1997 and 2008. It would make much more sense to take the #410 and have it begin service westbound at 141 and I-44 in the morning. And have the bus also remain in service in the evening heading eastbound on I-44 and have it terminate at 141 and I-44 at the Park ‘n’ Ride lot.

  • http://www.dobox.com/ Bruce

    CLARIFICATION TO COMMENT #16: THAT COMMENT REFERS TO A SPECIAL “NIGHT BUS” THAT PROVIDES NIGHT TIME SERVICE UNTIL 2 OR 3 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING. THAT TYPE OF SERVICE CAN BE INCLUDED IN YOUR SERVICE ENHANCEMENT PLAN, WHICH MAY BE A VITAL STEP TOWARDS RESTORING THE VIBRANCY THAT ST. LOUIS ONCE ENJOYED, AS WELL AS MAKING ST. LOUIS A MORE COMPETETIVE CITY. ALSO, WHEN WILL BUS SERVICE THAT OPERATED EAST OF TUCKER BLVD, PRIOR TO THE SERVICE CUTS, BE RESTORED? IT’S WAS EMBARRASING WHEN I TRIED TO EXPLAIN TO A TOURIST THAT OUR CITY HAD NO REGULAR BUS SERVICE EAST OF TUCKER BLVD DURING LAST YEARS ALL-STAR FESTIVITIES.

  • Julie

    I found it rude that those that are “supposed” to be in charge of the blog, never answered my question and probably removed it for no reason.

    I asked if you guys could make the bus drivers stop wasting the open 20 minutes that they sit there because they don’t have to leave yet while all the passengers are forced to sit outside in cold or hot weather because they don’t want to let them on. I mean, they aren’t taking a break. Every time the bus arrives at the station they go and do nothing for 20 minutes before they leave.

    How come you guys would not answer? This is giving me the impression that you guys are incompetent and its not just the bus drivers. I think it was rude. If you didn’t know the answer, then you should at least admit to it rather than mistreat a paying customer, responsible for the reason you haven’t lost your job.

    • http://www.nextstopstl.org/ Courtney

      Julie,

      I apologize wholeheartedly that I didn’t see your comment. I assure you it wasn’t removed intentionally, nor am I avoiding the topic. Thank you for pursuing the question and bringing it to my attention.

      I spoke with our Director of Customer Service and a superintendent in bus operations about your comment. If a bus operator is inside the bus waiting at a transfer center, he or she should let passengers on. If the operator leaves the bus to go take a break, stretch their legs, go to the bathroom, they cannot leave the bus open – doors have to be closed to secure the bus. In general, operators should try not to leave passengers on an unattended bus. But, I do know, from a rider’s perspective, that especially if its cold, you want to be on the bus. If you see an operator sitting on a bus at a transfer point and they do not let passengers board, please let us know so we can log a specific complaint.

      I am forwarding your comment to our Chief of MetroBus Operations because I know they are taking a look at this policy and how to work a compromise. Thank you for bringing your rider’s perspective. It is crucial to improving policy and service.

    • http://www.nextstopstl.org/ Courtney

      Julie,

      I found your original comment; it was mistakenly moved to the spam folder. I have sent your comment to both our planning department and to our Director of Customer Service Trenise Winters and Chief of MetroBus Operations Janis Shetley for consideration and review, and registered as a complaint against the operator.

  • kathy cassity

    Can you tell me if the route that goes east and west on Big Bend from Gore at Big Bend east towards Webster groves high school will be reinstated?? Also, if the Webster-Kirkwood 56 bus will be running in both directions again. I got off of the Westbound 56 at Lockwood and Gore a couple of weeks ago and was walking south on Gore towards Big Bend and another 56 bus passed me going South on Gore. Will the entire 56 route be restored??

    • http://www.metrostlouis.org/ Jennifer

      We are looking at a route that would go from Meramec College down Big Bend all the way to Maplewood Commons and Brentwood Station, but it’s a question of budget. That may happen or may not. We also would like for the 56 to run both directions again. Currently the Planning staff is working to prioritize so that we can provide the best system possible for the budget that we have. When the final plans are in place, we will certainly publish them on the blog so you’ll be alerted to the changes before they happen.