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It’s hot outside.  It’s mid-August, and the heat and humidity is practically melting the fortitude off of the average St. Louisans.  But have faith, for even the most brutal of Augusts only have 31 days.  Now’s the time to start looking ahead to September and the sweet relief of cooler temperatures and fading sunlight, and more opportunities to bike, walk and take transit in St. Louis. But until then, there are several ways you can get ready for early fall.

Look at all these people! Outside! Not melting! (Picture of Open Streets in San Fransisco via www.urbanstl.com)

Get On Board and Try Transit Month in September

August 30 Restoration launches a lot of new transit service for St. Louis, so it’s only fitting that September is Try Transit Month. To celebrate the service restoration, and to try to encourage more ridership, Nextstop will be hosting several Transit Tweetups in the area, highlighting rider stories and new routes, and hosting “Try Transit Challenges.” Do you have a great rider story? Do you know someone you would like to challenge to try transit for a day, a week? Please let us know! We’ll release a full schedule of events in the coming weeks, but in the mean time, please remind fellow riders of upcoming travel changes and check out the new schedules, route maps, and system map online.

Citizen’s For Modern Transit’s Ten Toes Express

Citizen’s For Modern Transit’s Ten Toes Express targets both older adults and work commuters to encourage people to walk more and use public transit. Sounds like a win-win, right? The program is free and each participant receives a pedometer, weekly walk log, MetroLink tickets, St. Louis maps, and more than 80 suggested walking tours with info on destination of interest and level of walking difficultly. Participants get to join up in groups and track their individual walking achievements. And it’s a great way to familiarize yourself with transit routes and explore the region. Registration for fall program has begun, and gets started in September.

Bike Education Courses (via St. Louis Bicycle Federation)

Biking in urban and suburban roads, like taking transit, can be an intimidating affair. But the rewards of better health, saved money and reducing air pollution are many-fold. Certified League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor (LCI) Martin Pion offers different levels of courses at his home in Ferguson (he provides both driving and Metro/bike directions). The courses range from a 4-hour crash course (no pun intended!) in traffic safety to a 18-hour course with plenty of on-road time and crash-avoidance practice. These courses can help you gain the confidence and skills you need to travel by bike, including biking combined with transit use.

Open Streets Events in St. Louis City

Open Streets returns to the City of St. Louis September 19, 8am – 1pm through downtown, Midtown and the Central West End. For those of you who missed the earlier Open Streets events, it is part-block party and part-active event, with everything from biking, walking, jogging, yoga, badminton, games and food. While no cars are allowed along the route to let people and bikes roam freely, last Open Streets they did have a Fire Department sprinkler to keep participants cool. Open Streets is also a great opportunity for businesses and civic organization to encourage wellness and community by bringing large groups of employees. The route is also accessible to several MetroLink and MetroBus transit centers to give families and individuals extra options for traveling to and from the festivities.

Shaw Neighborhood Photography Competition

Photography competitions are common throughout the year, but the Shaw Neighborhood Housing Corporation is hosting a photography contest this year in corresponding with the Shaw Art Fair Oct. 2 at Flora Place. The Shaw Neighborhood reached out to Metro on Twitter to help promote the contest, as they saw the August 30 Restoration as a great opportunity for people to try the new service while exploring Shaw and nearby neighborhoods. The contest area includes Shaw, South Grand Business District, Missouri Botanical Gardens, Tower Grove Park and The Grove. Contest deadline is 9/15, with one 8X10 framed or unframed photo per entrant. Turn in entries to Shaw Neighborhood Housing Corporation Office, 4067 Shenandoah in St. Louis (behind Thurman Grill).

Know of any upcoming St. Louis event that support transit or alternative transportation use? Email us at blog@nextstopstl.org.

The August 30 Restoration 2010 service changes are coming in only a few weeks.  To help make the transition easier and to help inform riders of what to expect, Metro employees will be out at many Missouri MetroLink stations and transfer centers starting on August 17.  Please see the following schedule to find out when we’ll be coming to your stations and transfer centers, and what you can expect to learn. During the first week, Metro ambassadors will distribute a route-by-route service change brochure and schedule of where the Information Buses will be August 23-27:

Tuesday, August 17

Clayton MetroBus Transfer Center                                   6:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Central West End MetroBus Transfer Center                3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Shrewsbury MetroBus Bays                                                 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, August 18

Brentwood MetroBus Transfer Center                            6:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. 

Rock Road MetroBus Bays                                                   6:00 a.m. – 8:30 p.m. 

Wellston MetroBus Bay                                                         6:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

North Hanley MetroBus Bays                                             3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, August 19

Delmar MetroBus Bays                                                          6:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Hampton-Gravois MetroBus Transfer Centers            6:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Riverview Hall MetroBus Transfer Center                     6:00 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Civic Center MetroBus Transfer Center                          3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Information will be at an information table at Ballas Transfer Center starting August 17.  The next week, members of the Metro Planning Department, Transit Service Managers and other Metro employees will be out with a traveling Metro Information Bus and Information Tables at key locations, answering questions and handing out MetroBus schedules and route maps.

Monday, August 23

Clayton MetroBus Transfer Center                                    5:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Shrewsbury MetroBus Bays                                                 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday, August 24

Rock Road MetroBus Bays                                                     5:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

North Hanley MetroBus Transfer Center                        2:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Wednesday, August 25

Riverview MetroBus Transfer Center                                 5:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Civic Center MetroBus Transfer Center                            2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, August 26

Delmar MetroBus Bays                                                            5:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Central West End MetroBus Transfer Center                 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Friday, August 27

Brentwood I-64 MetroBus Transfer Center                    5:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

Hampton-Gravois MetroBus Transfer Center               3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

You can also view all MetroBus service changes and new Missouri System Maps (including Downtown St. Louis and Clayton insets) online. We’ll be sending out daily reminders of where the Metro Ambassadors and our Metro Information Bus are from Metro’s Twitter account (@STLMetro) and Facebook page.

The folks who work on the MetroLink system – who inspect the tunnels, bridges, and tracks and generally keep everything running – work long, crazy hours (note the date/time stamp on the photo below!) but they do get to see things from a point of view that the rest of us will never get to see. Here’s a cool example.

Inside the downtown St. Louis tunnels between MetroLink stations at 2 a.m.  Nice!

In the next two years, Metro is currently working on a technologically advanced and easy-to-use electronic Smart Card fare system. A new computer system will be installed to make this exciting Smart Card system work.  As part this project, Metro will either retrofit or replace its aging and outdated fareboxes and ticket vending machines, which are getting harder and more expensive to maintain.

Smart Cards will:

• Alleviate the need for paper tickets and transfers
• Be more convenient for our customers (no more digging for change while the bus idles, or as the train pulls into the station!)
• Increase efficiency and lower Metro’s costs in several ways

Metro received a special federal grant just to do this project. Metro’s project partner is Madison County Transit, which has assisted with the project study and evaluation and may also implement the new system.

This project is still in development and won’t be in effect for two years, so there are a lot of policy decisions and practical decisions that still need to be made. But we’re so excited about it that we’re going to go share the possibilities that the technology will bring. As the decisions are made later, we’ll keep you updated on how the system will actually work here in St. Louis. (more…)

St. Louis Metro Transit Missouri System Map 08 30 2010

Downtown St. Louis Inset
Downtown Clayton Inset

Click here if you cannot see the map.

The Missouri Metro System Map, effective August 30, is now available online. The map includes all new and changed MetroBus routes, as well as their connections to MetroLink. It’s a great resource to find out what bus routes will now be in your neighborhood, near work, where ever. You can also compare it to the previous MO System Map to see where major changes are occurring. The Illinois System Map, which includes both St. Clair County Metro and Madison County Transit, is also available. Illinois Metro routes are not changing August 30.

Keep an eye out for Metro ambassadors – we will be out on the system starting August 16 handing out information about the Restoration changes coming August 30.

This week, USA Today and KSDK-St. Louis reported that Missouri joins eight other states - Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and West Virginia – where more than 30 percent of the adult population (21 and older) is obese.  According to the articles, in 2007 only three states had more than 30 percent obese;  in 2000, no states had rates that high.  Now, more than 75 million adult Americans — 1 in 4 — are officially obese.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the varying reasons for higher obesity rates are complex, but include increases in meal portion size, the unavailability of fresh fruits and vegetables, the change in people’s cooking and eating habits, and the prevalence of too many high sugar and fat options.  But the CDC also mentioned the roles that environment and transportation play, citing that:

• Many communities are built in ways that make it difficult or unsafe to be physically active.
• Access to parks and recreation centers may be difficult or lacking and public transportation may not available.
• Safe routes for walking or biking to school, work, or play may not exist.

People do not always associate transit use or the availability of public transit as a public health benefit, but anyone who regularly uses transit can tell you that they spend more time walking as they travel to and from stations and stops. 

Indeed, a study in Charlotte, N.C., took a look at the effect of taking transit on individuals’ weight. The study, recently published in the American Journal for Preventative Medicine, revealed that a year after a light-rail system opened in Charlotte, commuters who took light rail to work regularly were 6.45 pounds lighter than the folks who drove:

Factoring in the walk to the bus stop, the walk from the bus stop to the rail stop, and then the walk to work and back,  “It could add an extra mile a day [of walking] for the average rider. Over the course of year, that mile a day will translate into substantial loss of weight,” says John M. MacDonald who co-authored the study.

For people who do not have regular access to gyms or recreational activity, transit may be one of their most consistent forms of daily exercise. For those considering taking transit, exercise can be an additional benefit.

Do you take transit for exercise? Do you feel you get an added benefit to your health by walking to and from transit? Do you pair biking with transit use? Have you lost weight or improved your physical health by leaving the car and taking transit?

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.

A young man stares intently up Arsenal Street.  It’s early morning, already sticky warm in St. Louis.  His Metro travel trainer, Feld Miller, is making light chatter with him, occasionally erupting into relaxed laughter while asking questions that the young man answers quietly, keeping his sight on the street.  “What time is the bus coming?” Miller asks.

“Eight-oh-two.”

“That’s right,” Miller replies encouragingly.

The young man pulls his reduced fare Metro pass out of the blue sleeve hanging around his neck.  He studies it briefly, then his gaze fixes again toward the west.  His bus is coming.

***

(If you can’t see it, click for the picture slideshow.)

Taking public transit can be daunting for many people, but for individuals with cognitive or physical disabilities, navigating the transit system can pose a seemingly endless series of obstacles.  Which bus do you catch?  At which stop?  Can you get to your stop over aging sidewalks?  Many people with disabilities and seniors may qualify for Metro Call-A-Ride paratransit service, but would like to save money or practice more independence.  To help more people use the transit system, Metro’s ADA Services initiated the Travel Training Program in July 2006 by bringing on Mike McDermott, who has more than 20 years in the special-education field.  Since then, the program has added five travel trainers and graduated nearly 1,000 people.  The walls of the small office in the Transit Access Center are covered in letters, pictures and words of thanks from graduates and their families and advocates.

John McKenney retired as a MetroBus operator three years ago after he lost some of his peripheral vision, but wanted to stay with the Agency; he found his way to the Travel Training Program.  On the wall next to his computer is a picture of a happy young man, grinning at the camera.  “That’s my special buddy,” John fondly explains.  The young man calls John frequently, just to talk.  Recently, the young man’s mother called to report that his father had passed away.  John attended the memorial services to be there for his friend.

John explains why the program is so fulfilling for him as an employee.  “You can see it in their eyes how excited they are.  They are very proud of themselves to do something on their own.”

The Travel Training Program is free to anyone who qualifies for a Metro Reduced Fare Transit Permit, both in Missouri and St. Clair County, Illinois.  To get started, a person (or their family or case worker) sets up an assessment.  The assessment helps the Travel Trainers determine if the person is physically or cognitively able to try independent transit travel.  Then the trainee determines his or her destinations – school, work, job training, medical appointment, family, etc.  Once a location or multiple locations are identified, the travel trainer will map out a transit trip and create a color-coded schedule that contains all of the necessary information.

If a trainee has a low level of literacy or cannot read, the travel trainer will create a pictoral or “sight word” schedule.  The schedule is then laminated and placed in a blue pocket holder with the trainee’s reduced fare card, pass, additional schedules, and other items necessary for transit travel.  Sometimes, the pocket might include note cards to help explain the individual’s travel needs to drivers.

The program focuses heavily on community safety skills including safe street-crossing, dealing with strangers, stating bus numbers, transfer and destination points, and what to do if you miss your stop, etc.

McDermott explains why the program is so effective.  “We use advanced special-education methods to help people learn quickly and effectively.  We use note cards to test their understanding, set up role-playing scenarios, drive by locations multiple times to familiarize trainees with important destinations, and tailor each training session to match the strengths and abilities of each individual.”  Trainers often work odd hours to accommodate the travel needs of their trainees.  Despite this, trainer Feld Miller, a former MetroBus driver, says the job is very fulfilling. “Every day you get to help people.  Every day you can make a difference in someone’s life.”

***

The young man looks to Miller, then reaches up and pulls the cord.  “Ding!” the stop bell rings out.  He and Miller get off the bus a couple of blocks from his destination, a job-training course in downtown St. Louis.  Along the walk, Miller keeps an eye out for hazardous conditions on the sidewalk, points out landmarks, and monitors the young man’s understanding of and comfort with the commute.  The young man is quiet, but moves confidently towards his destination. Miller feels good about his training.

Once they reach the center, Miller escorts him to his job counselor and shows him to the classroom where he’ll receive training.  He makes sure the young man takes a seat at a long table with other students, and then offers more reassurance: ”All right, man, you’ll do well.  I’ll be right here when you get done, and you can take us home.”  The young man waves goodbye, then focuses on the front of the classroom.

***

For more information on Metro’s Travel Training program or to schedule an assessment for yourself or someone you know, please contact Metro’s ADA Services at (314) 982-1510 or TTY (314) 982-1509.

Monday, June 26 marked the 20th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the civil rights legislation that prevents discrimination based on disability.  The legislation helped make sweeping changes for disabled individuals in the areas of employment, built environment, public transit and other areas.  But for Pat Hall, Metro’s Director of ADA Services, the legislation has very personal implications.

Physically disabled since birth, Hall grew up navigating the world built for individuals without disabilities.  During a time when separate schools for children with disabilities were common, Hall attended Normandy High School in St. Louis and even participated in gym class.  After earning two masters, in Rehabilitation Counseling and Rehabilitation Administration, she now heads Metro’s ADA Services Department.  The department is responsible for ADA paratransit certification for Metro and our travel training program for people with disabilities, as well as fostering community partnerships and conducting sensitivity training.  Hall feels that the country has come a long way in providing equal access for people with disabilities, but still must work for attitude changes.

Hall recalls a time when she was about 19 years old and waiting for a bus on a Sunday after attending church at Hamilton and Delmar.  “I wasn’t using a mobility chair yet then, but I had a stoop and didn’t walk normally, and also wore Coke-bottle thick glasses.  While I was waiting, a car slowed down, and a man got out and handed me a bus pass.  Then another guy was walking across the street, and he turned around, crossed the road, and handed me some money.  Finally a woman comes up and talks to me, asking me if I went to school.  I proudly told her I was a sophomore at UMSL.  She blinked her eyes and said, as if she hadn’t heard me, ‘That’s so great! My sister goes to retarded school as well!’”

Hall laughed out loud at the memory of the woman’s awkward comment.   “Not every disability is apparent.  Some are physical, some mental.  People will often talk more loudly to me, more slowly, assuming that I might have a cognitive disability as well.  But what they will do is talk to me.  Somebody may feel like they can ignore you, but people tend to have a higher level of empathy for someone with a disability.  People come up and talk to me all the time, open up.  And when you talk to someone, you have a chance to connect and change their perception.”

Hall looks back fondly over what she called her “radical advocacy days” before and immediately after the passage of the ADA legislation.  In 1994, she and a group of activists chained their wheelchairs together at the St. Louis Greyhound station to protest that the Greyhound buses were not wheelchair accessible.  “The police had brought down a Call-A-Ride van to use as a paddywagon.  Can you believe it?  We were down there protesting that the buses were not accessible, and the police bring in special accessible vans to arrest us!”  She said the protesters were able to hold up the Greyhound buses for several hours.  (Greyhound finally unveiled plans to make buses and stations accessible in 1998 after years of pressure).  Accessibility advocates like Hall helped raise the public awareness of the needs of people with disabilities, paving the way for political support for the ADA and continuing progress.

Disability advocates climbing up steps of the Capital Building to raise awareness for rights of the disabled. Photo at the Missouri History Museum ADA Exhibit, pic taken with permission.

“People with disabilities used to be incredibly segregated from the rest of the community.  Families would just keep them at home, and even if they wanted to go out, there was no guarantee that they could travel, or even get inside a building.  There used to be no public elevators in many buildings, so they would move you up the freight elevator with the smell and flies.  At the movie theater at Northwest Plaza, they used to wheel us around the side through the back end of the concession stand.  We always had to use the back entrance.  Now, more often, we can enter through the front like everyone else.”

If you would like to know more about the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the rights, opportunities, technology and life of disabled individuals throughout history, please visit the great exhibit at the Missouri History Museum: The Americans with Disabilities Act: 20 Years Later.

And, Hall can often be seen riding the Metro system.  If you see her, I highly recommend stopping to talk to her.

Bus service via the #73 Carondelet will return to Cherokee Street in Benton Park West on August 30

June 28 was only the first phase of our 2010 service restoration.  Phase II begins on August 30, with many significant changes for MetroBus service.  These changes include a number of new routes, route changes, increases in frequency to existing routes, connectivity adjustments, different bus sizes and other strategies.

Click here for a complete listing of all the route and timetable information for the August 30 service change.

Restoration 2010 changes do not exactly replace the Metro system that was in place before March 2009.  We conducted hundreds of public meetings and gathered a lot of feedback about the region’s needs.  So while the service changes do seek to return the level of service from March 2009, they also reflect the need to grow ridership, attract new markets, and leave room for growth in a cost-effective manner.

Restoration 2010 implements several innovative strategies to enhance service using available financial resources. These service strategies are not stand-alone improvements; they work together, often on the same bus route, to maximize productivity and cost effectiveness throughout the system.

Route splitting

Many MetroBus routes cover a large service area, especially on major corridors. However, ridership demand often varies greatly within any particular service area. In an attempt to better match frequencies, and ultimately vehicle sizes to levels of ridership demand, and to maintain on-time performance on what are very long routes today, Metro will split several routes where there is a clear difference in travel needs and ridership levels. These splits will happen at MetroLink Stations and Transit Centers in order to ensure quick transfers and enhance the overall connectivity of the System.

Connectivity

Ideally, the necessity for transfers should be limited. However, our customers should also be able to access any part of the service area from any other. Many of the route changes that will be implemented on August 30th will further integrate the Metro System by adding geographic connections and improving time connections between bus routes and at Transit Centers. Maintaining on-time performance and enforcing connectivity at transit centers is critical for ensuring the success of this strategy.

Right-sizing

The MetroBus fleet currently consists of 30’, 35’ and 40’ buses. However, at certain times of day and in areas with lower transit ridership, larger buses often have excess capacity. As Metro moves forward with regularly-scheduled fleet replacement Metro staff is exploring options to begin purchasing smaller buses and vans for use on lower-demand routes, and larger, articulated buses for the busiest routes. Smaller vehicles with lower fuel costs making shorter trips will generate significant cost savings. Larger buses will allow the Agency to respond to growing passenger volumes without adding as much service as would be required using 40’ buses.

Rationalization

Service restoration seeks to minimize long or confusing, special detours, and duplication of service. Many routes have been streamlined, and more trips later in the day have been added throughout the System for 2nd- and 3rd-shift workers.

This is not the end of Restoration 2010 and transit in St. Louis post-Proposition A: it is the beginning.  We want your feedback.  Please leave your comments below, or email restoration2010@metrostlouis.org.