In the last couple of weeks, we have highlighted John and the Falks: Riders who have shared their stories with us so that we can tell people what transit means to them and St. Louis.  Now meet Alison, a physics librarian at Washington University.  Alison commutes from her home in Chesterfield to the University’s Danforth Campus every day to work.  She owns a car, but started riding transit to save money, help the environment, and spend some quiet time reading.  What she did not anticipate was the strong sense of community among her fellow passengers.

Alison’s story is not unique – there is a sense of familiarity and togetherness among transit riders.  While walking in my neighborhood last weekend, one of the regular riders on the #73 Cardondelet yelled from across the street, “HEY METRO LADY!” with an enthusiastic wave hello. I know her from community meetings and riding the #73 together. It’s one of the things I personally love about riding transit.  Watch Alison’s story:

Metro Means Community – Wash U Employee Alison from St. Louis Metro Transit on Vimeo.

Arch Rival Roller Girls at St. Louis St. Patrick Day Parade 2009

It’s going to be a big weekend in downtown St. Louis – it’s the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Run! For these events, hundreds of thousands of people will head to downtown St. Louis.  First, “lucky” runners will participate in the 5K run from Broadway Avenue in downtown to Compton Avenue near the Chaifetz Arena starting at 9 a.m.  Then, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade will march from 18th and Market streets heading east to Broadway and Market starting at noon.  Due to the festivities, the following MetroBuses will be rerouted from 11:30 to 2 p.m.:

#4 Natural Bridge

#10 Gravois-Lindell

#11 Chippewa

#30 Soulard

#32 Wellston

#40 Broadway

#41 Lee

#74 Florissant

#94 Page

#97 Delmar

#99 Downtown Circulator

For a full list of the turn-by-turn rerouting for each line, go here. In general, expect some delay if you will be traveling on these lines. MetroLink will be running its regular weekend schedule.

Have fun St. Louis, and safe travels!

Photo via kokojim on Flickr.  Find more info on the Arch Rival Roller Girls here!

We hear a lot of questions at Metro about why we operate the why we do. One of the most persistent questions is:

Why don’t we use turnstiles at MetroLink stations?

The reason for the proof-of-payment system used on MetroLink is that the system would never have been built if it had been designed as a “barrier” system with turnstiles and station attendants as you see in New York and Boston.

The cost of such a turnstile system was far beyond the resources of the St. Louis region, which was financially unable to contribute money for the construction of the original line from 5th and Missouri in Illinois to North Hanley. The “local share” required to match federal construction funds was provided by the City of St. Louis trading the MacArthur Bridge to the Terminal Railway Association in exchange for the Eads Bridge and downtown tunnel, with the value of the trade calculated as the “local share.” Only after the first MetroLink line was built in 1993 did the region levy sales taxes for future construction.

The proof-of-payment system is the current industry standard. Some systems have applied it after determining that they would lose less money to fare evasion than it would cost to build and maintain a barrier (turnstile) collection system. Light-rail systems constructed in the past 20 years are all proof-of-payment systems like St. Louis. They include San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose, Buffalo, Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix (under construction), Denver, Los Angeles. Most of the light-rail systems (not subway) in Europe are also proof of payment, as are some of the bus systems.

Nationally, the rate of fare evasion is 6 percent. According to audits of our system, MetroLink experiences a 4 percent fare evasion rate (MetroBus and Call-A-Ride require fare payment upon entry of the vehicle). While a system that allowed no fare evasion is ideal, building and maintaining an effective barrier system, like turnstiles, would be an incredible and prohibitive cost to the system. Los Angeles Metro (MTA) recently decided to test turnstiles on several of their light-rail stations, but only after they reached a critical mass of ridership and system coverage:

“Turnstiles have been discussed by our policy-makers for many years,” said Jane Matsumoto, a deputy executive officer at MTA who manages the TAP program. “In the past, we did not have the ridership or the coverage of service we do now. Proof of payment was much more manageable then.” – LA Times, Aug. 17, 2009

The Transport Politic has questioned the cost-return for investing in turnstiles. The author estimated that it would take 45 years for St. Louis to make up the cost to install and maintain turnstiles at MetroLink stations.

Does that mean that MetroLink will always use a proof-of-payment system? No. As Los Angeles Metro is discovering, when a system reaches a critical point of ridership and system coverage, the cost-benefit of a barrier system becomes much higher, and it becomes more profitable to invest in turnstiles. As Metro ridership and scope hopefully increase in the future, we will have to evaluate the next steps in fare collection and enforcement to accommodate the needs of the system.

For many, public transit really does mean freedom. What kind of freedom? The freedom to work, the freedom to be social, the freedom to educate yourself, the freedom to live your life. For Stuart and Dianne Falk, who both have multiple sclerosis, Metro Call-A-Ride allows them to attend theater rehearsals with the DisAbility Project, go to the gym, attend religious services, and other activities throughout town. When their Call-A-Ride service was lost last March during service cuts, the Falks appeared on CNN and St. Louis Post-Dispatch to tell how the cuts would affect their lives. The Falks admitted to feeling “trapped” in their nursing facility in Ballwin without Call-A-Ride access.

It’s always important to remember that public transit is more than buses and trains. Watch:

Metro Means Freedom – Stuart & Dianne Falk from St. Louis Metro Transit on Vimeo.

The Uppity Theater Company is the sponsor of the DisAbility Project Theater Group. You can schedule for them to come out and speak to your organization, business or school on a variety of topics from asthma to ADA accessibility to finding love. The group seeks to raise public awareness about disability and empower and honor the disabled through the stage. Schedule a performance for your organization!

What time do you get up in the morning? 6 a.m.? 7 a.m.? How about 3:15 a.m.??

Transit rider John gets up every workday morning at 3:15 a.m. to catch several buses to get to his job at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield from his home in North St. Louis County. He is one of the hundreds of people who take transit to the healthcare businesses in Chesterfield, and one of the thousands of people who take transit to work every day. People may not realize it, but transit riders are all around us, keeping the St. Louis economy going and making this a better community. What if people like John couldn’t get to their jobs?

Watch:

Metro Means Business – Healthcare Employee John from St. Louis Metro Transit on Vimeo.

For more transit rider stories, visit here.

We heard you loud and clear: Many people expressed frustration in the change from TripFinder to Google Transit as Metro’s trip-planning software. We know there are a lot of Google Transit fans out there as well, but some of you were more comfortable with TripFinder or preferred some of its features. So for a limited time, TripFinder will be available online for Metro Transit online trip planning.

However, TripFinder will be phased out. We’ve decided to embrace Google Transit in the future for several reasons, including Google’s free licensing policy, its visual schematic, its ease of integration with other online applications (you can post it to your blog, e-mail, etc.) and its use on mobile phones. But we want to make the transition as smooth as possible. Some differences do exist between TripFinder and Google Transit as trip planning applications, and there are positive and negative aspects to both. We will, however, use all of the feedback that you have provided on the blog and to Customer Service to create a series of tutorials on the use and features of Google Transit to help make this transition easier and more convenient. But in the meantime, we want our riders to be able to find their way on transit.

Steps Moving Forward

1. TripFinder link will be available on home page of www.metrostlouis.org.

2. Communications, Customer Service and IT will create a list of complaints and concerns regarding the use of Google Transit.

3. Nextstop will present a list of uses and features to highlight during tutorials for readers’ review and comment.

4. Online video and written tutorials will be created and placed online.

5. Tutorials will be open to feedback and review.

6. TripFinder will be phased out within several months. We will keep you posted on the exact date.

We suggest trying to use both trip planning applications to compare and learn, and please continue to give us feedback. Look for tutorials on how to use Google Transit and its applications in the near future!

Part of the Moving Transit Forward team: (left to right) Renee Ducker of URS, Jayson Hagen, Mark Phillips, Jessica Mefford-Miller, Ken Kinney of URS and Todd Hennessy

The Board of East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EWGCG) today unanimously approved and adopted Moving Transit Forward, the long-range plan Metro developed through transportation research and community input.  The plan offers options that EWGCG, the region’s planning agency, can use when deciding next steps for public transit in St. Louis.  Once EWGCG makes those decisions on transit service, Metro implements and operates those services.

Metro’s Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the plan on February 12.

The plan is a blueprint designed to help EWGCG decide how best to meet transit needs in all sectors of the region in manageable time frames. The projects discussed in each phase are:

Short-Range (1-5 years)

• Restoring services cut last year to increase coverage and frequency back to levels before the reductions
• Planning and design for the next MetroLink extension that would be determined by EWGCG
• Two Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes. BRT offers higher speed, high capacity service (also to be determined by EWGCG)
• Improved passenger amenities and technology

Medium-Range (5-10 Years)

• Construction and operation of one light-rail expansion route
• Additional BRT routes
• Additional transit centers

Long-Range (10-30 years)

• Planning, construction and operation of a second light-rail alignment
• Begin planning and engineering for a third light- rail extension

The plan is designed to meet citizens’ request for fiscally responsible and realistic options for transit in St. Louis.  Metro cannot build any project outlined in its long-range plan until EWGCG officials approve it, and all possibilities depend on obtaining a new, long-term source of local revenue and increases in state and federal support.  A timeline for reviewing the projects will be determined by the EWGCG.

Check out the details of the long-range plan on the Moving Transit Forward website.

The Hive at Delmar Loop Transfer Center. Photo by Dan Donovan.

Last night, a story on KTVI discussed the installation of two public art pieces at MetroLink’s Delmar and Richmond Heights stations, asking why Metro had spent money in that way. We tackled this question last October when Metro President and CEO Bob Baer was interviewed for the story, and we did a short video about the Hive artwork at Delmar.

But we think the answer to the question of why we install art at transit stations is relatively simple: It’s required as a condition on the funding we get through the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) and it’s a valuable way to enhance public transit as a vital part of our community.

Under the Transit Enhancements Section of FTA regulations, a transit agency in a region with a population of 200,000 or more must spend at least 1 percent of the federal funds it receives on projects that enhance transit activities. While one percent is the FTA minimum, communities often spend more to ensure that transit enhances, rather than detracts from, the urban landscape. The FTA requires that level of spending because it believes the visual quality of the nation’s public-transit systems has a profound impact on transit customers and communities at large. Public-transit systems should be positive symbols for cities to attract local riders, tourists and the attention of decision-makers for national and international events. Good design and art can:

•    Improve the appearance and safety of a facility
•    Give vibrancy to public spaces
•    Make customers feel welcome
•    Contribute to the creation of livable communities.

How does art help accomplish that?

•    More attractive spaces add value to the homes and businesses around the transit plazas
•    People take better care of more attractive spaces, which reduces the cost of repairing vandalism
•    It attracts customers, adding to a sense of safety and comfort while using the space
•    Regions enhance their public spaces to attract tourism

An added bonus is the financial impact on the community through the employment of local engineers and fabricators used on the projects.
Let’s look at how much was spent on the Hive sculpture at the Delmar Transit Plaza in July 2009.

•    FTA grant: $69,291
•    Local matching funds required by the FTA: $17,322
•    A total of $86,613

How much was spent on the Mime sculpture at the Richmond Heights MetroLink Station in July 2009?

•    Local capital funds from the Cross County project: $140,000

These artworks are installed across Metro’s system by our Arts in Transit program, which began in 1986 to coordinate the efforts of artists, engineers and architects in the design of the MetroLink light-rail system. It has since installed many public art pieces, as well as developed a curriculum guide for teachers, coordinated ongoing community projects, and installed literary works in buses and trains.

Questions about our public art in transit? Leave your comments below.

Every once in a while I like to log onto Foursquare to check out the “mayors” of the MetroLink stations around town.  Foursquare is a social geotagging application that lets you “check” into venues like restaurants, shops, even transit stations with your smart phone.  People with the most check-ins at a location become “mayors” of the venue.  I can appreciate that, especially during these cold months, these platform warriors are taking the time to check into Foursquare and let everyone know they are one of the many folks boarding MetroLink.  Mighty MetroLink Mayors, we salute you.

So we’d like to give you a token of our appreciation and recognition of your Honor.  On March 18th at 9 a.m., all of the current mayors of MetroLink stations in St. Louis at that time will receive a goodie bag of Metro items guaranteed to demonstrate your superior governing clout, including a Metro glass mug, pens, buttons, writing pads, reusable tote and most deliciously, a special-edition handmade “MetroLink Mayor” cookie from Mississippi Mud House on Cherokee Street in St. Louis.

An example of one of owner Casey Miller's creations.

As ambassadors of transit, we appreciate your service to the great nation of Foursquare and MetroLink riders everywhere.  Keep it up!

Since we’ve gotten a lot of comments from riders having difficulties using Google Transit (our new default trip planning application at www.metrostlouis.org), I asked the St. Louis Beacon if we could post their BeaconTech video tutorial on how to use Google Transit.  They happily obliged.  Please watch (the tutorial starts at about 1:36): Nextstop is working with our IT department to create a tutorial and FAQ for Google Transit trip planning, aided by your feedback.  In the meantime, hopefully this video will help demonstrate some of Google Transit’s features and applications.