August 3, 2010 | 13 Comments

Upgrading Bus Stops Around St. Louis: An Update

Metro is currently busy upgrading many bus stops in St. Louis City and County to ADA compliance.  You may have noticed some changes in to your neighborhood bus stops:

ADA Bus Upgrade in process at Gravois and Louisiana

Gravois and Louisiana Bus Stop Upgrade Curb Cut

Metro partnered with Paraquad for input and reviewed customer complaints, along with the criteria listed in the link above, to decide which stops would be addressed first.

“Enhancements” are different depending on the location of each stop, but include:

  • Creating the concrete “landing pad” for boarding the bus
  • Adding a concrete pad for a bench
  • Correcting the slope of adjacent sidewalks
  • Adding missing accessible curb ramps

In some cases, improvements included fixing sidewalks that were, as the planners put it, in “deplorable” condition – even if those sidewalks don’t technically belong to Metro. Fixing the sidewalks was sometimes the only way to get the slope down to ADA compliance.

Bus transfer stop at Lee and Fair scheduled for an upgrade

Metro planners developed criteria to help prioritize which stops needed help first; factors included:

  • Number of customers using the stop
  • Whether the stop was a transfer point (a place where you can get off one bus and catch another)
  • Whether ADA-compliance was technically possible at a stop
  • Who the stop serves
  • Condition of adjacent sidewalks

Next phase in the bus enhancement program will include installing benches and beginning work on more stops throughout the Missouri St. Louis area.

If you have a bus stop that you would like put up for consideration now or at a later time, please email them (with intersections and side of street please!) to blog@nextstopstl.org.

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Author:Courtney

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  • Cheryl

    Since I have moved to my neighborhood in St. Louis City, two bus shelters have been removed here – the one at Pershing @ Union and the one at Pershing @ DeBaliviere. I know you are talking about the ADA accessibility of bus stops, but the bus shelters were real enhancements and helped those with and without wheelchairs to keep dry in wet weather. And for those without wheelchairs, it was nice to sit down.

    What is Metro’s policy on bus shelters? You are saying that the next step is to install benches. So, why are shelters being removed? I was told that the DeBaliviere one was removed because people were loitering there. If Metro is going to remove shelters/benches every time someone “loiters”, there won’t be any benches.

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

      Cheryl,

      I’ll try to look into the reasons those shelters were removed and get back to you.

  • Mike

    I live in “The Hill” neighborhood but I frequently travel to the Florissant area in North County. When I travel along N. Hanley Rd, I often see people (grown-ups and children alike), sitting on the curb at several stop locations while they wait for a bus. These stops are located along the southbound part of the route on Hanley Rd.

    This is a particularly pedestrian hazard at these stop locations, especially when there are cars careening along Hanley Rd., where all lanes are used for traffic. Some of thes stops are lacking concrete landing pads, not to mention benches to provide comfort to those may have prolong waits for the infrequent #47 bus to arrive.

    I noticed that one the criteria to help priortize the upgrading for these stops was “who the stop serves”. Although my heritage is Italian, I even felt offended from that comment. It shouldn’t matter who are served at these bus stop locations. Metro is obligated to provide transit service, and the accessories to use its transit system, in a fair and unbias manner, and not according to who uses the system or its accessories. People of many nationalities help provide support to Metro through their tax dollars, not “who they are” or where they live.

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

    Heya, Mike, since I wrote the original post on this topic, I felt like I should respond & clarify. When I say we consider “who” the stop serves, I mean – is there a physical rehabilitation facility there? A nursing facility or hospital? Do a lot of (does any) disabled, or elderly, customers regularly utilize this stop? We put a higher priority on upgrading these old stops to make them ADA compliant if there are people with accessibility needs using that stop. It’s one way we respond to customer concerns or comments. It’s not a “who” as in, demographics or age or geography or anything like that. Never think it. It’s “who” as in, Have the people using that stop let us know they’re having problems with it? That’s why we work with Paraquad to ID the stops most in need of upgrades, because the Paraquad members know where they need to get on and off the system.

  • Patrick Richmond

    There needs to be a stop at 300 N. Kirkwood Road. This is so bank customers don’t have to walk across Adams to get to the stop at Jefferson and Kirkwood Road to catch a bus. Also, why does only north countians get all the goodies such as public restrooms at the transfer centers and things like that while people who live in SOUTH county gets nothing? That’s residency discrimination. And discrimination of all types is stupid and a waste of public money. Like what if somone needs to use the restroom badly and it’s at the Ballas Transit Center. Making them go in their pants is just plain stupid. Have them go across Ballas Road and the light is against them, then the one that needs to use the restroom is stuck with an accident!

  • Mike

    Hi Jennifer,

    Thanks for the clarification. I don’t use Metro regularly, but when I see people waiting for a bus at some of these stop locations, I see a mixure of people from all walks of life at these stops, including those who are elderly and the physically challenged, that may not be located at or located near any institutions. These could be people going to work, school, shopping and etc.

    Again, Jennifer thanks for your response.

    Also, I’m curious to find out if my suggestion, in response to your July 27th update, regarding the rerouting of a portion of the #75 bus was forwarded to Planning. I appreciate you checking on this for me,

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

      Mike,

      I sent you a response from planning regarding the #47 and #75 yesterday via your registered email. Did you receive it? If not I will resend. Basically, the #75 route is designed to operate on the Interstate and at times we will be affected by rush hour traffic. The majority of trips will not be affected by traffic and a quick trip via the Interstate will help ridership.
      During the morning and afternoon rush hours we could be affected by traffic but this bus is not designed as a local service. During the afternoon rush hour 3:30 to 5pm I-170 does run slow which will affect 4 trips.

  • Jimmy Z

    Denver was able to fund upgrades similar to these when an advertising company wanted to install bus shelters along major streets that included advertising. Instead of directing the revenue from this licensing agreement into the General Fund for the city, it was earmarked for ADA improvements where needed, and not specifically at the new bus shelter locations, since these high-traffic locations usually already offered good compliance. Another aspect of the Denver program was placing high-quality bus benches (without shelters) at locations with significant passenger usage, using the same revenue stream.

    A different challenge remains trash. People will usually use a trash can if one is available. The challenge remains who will empty it – METRO? the city? the adjacent property owner?

  • Steve Patterson

    I see a problem with the first. Criteria: “Number of customers using the stop.”. The lack of access at a stop is going to reduce the number of potential users. I’ve tried to reach the stop near14th & Delmar but the lack of curb cuts forced me into the street. I’ve stopped using that stop and I go further, in the opposite direction, to get to another stop.

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

    Re: shelters as a general measure, Metro’s shelters are for the most part provided via an agreement with an advertising firm. They provide the shelters and get to put up their ads. So we definitely benefit from that relationship and save $$ by not having to put up shelters ourselves. They are apparently very expensive to install because they have to be so sturdy!

    Steve: I see what you mean. No one consideration is determinative, of course, but you’ve definitely got a good point. The team working on this project personally visited and documented every single one of our stops, so they are familiar with the condition of all and I’m sure are aware of the worst ones. I’ll mention 14th & Delmar to the project manager.

  • Mike

    Courtney,

    I received your Email.

    Thanks

  • Patrick Richmond

    Any responses about the stop I mentioned?

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

      I passed along your comment Patrick, though it may take a bit to evaluate your request since Restoration is about to begin. I have made note to follow up with you as soon as a response is available.