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Photo via NyMag

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)of the New York City area approved a series of service cuts that will drastically change the levels of service available to customers.  The cuts, along with 700 job layoffs and the removal of the free ride for students program, were unamimously approved by the authority’s board to deal with a $400 million shortfall.  The deficit came after the state reduced transit funding, revenues from a payroll tax produced less than expected (enacted to avoid cuts last year), and a court ruled that the authority must give raises to its unionized workers.

New York State finds itself with a $6.8 billion deficit, and cuts in state funding will become a pattern for New Yorkers.

Starting in the spring of next year, MTA will reduce bus and subway service during late nights, weekday afternoons and weekends.  Some bus lines and subways lines will be reduced or eliminated.  The free ride program for NYC students will be phased out.  Seven hundred workers will be laid off, management salaries reduced by 10 percent, and a fare increase is scheduled for 2011.

This is obviously serious business for New York, which has one of the most highly used transit systems in the country.  The very fabric of life is dependent of the flow of transportation (many people, little space = big need for smart transportation planning).  These cuts will especially effect those who work in off-peak shifts and students who use the system to access education throughout the area.  But it is a sad reflection of the budgetary crises transit agencies face across the country, including Metro.  Metro will face a budgetary deficit  for fiscal year 2010, and will also have to cut service and jobs without additional funding.

UPDATE: St. Louis County Council will vote on Monday, December 21st at 3p.m., not Dec. 22.

There are several ways you can find out more about Metro transit, the Moving Transit Forward long-range plan, and what the future could hold for public transit in St. Louis:

Submit questions and follow the conversation on STLtoday.com’s online chat at noon with Metro’s Chief Operating Officer of Transit Services Ray Friem and Jessica Mefford-Miller, our Chief of Planning and System Development.

Register to participate in our free webinar Thursday, December 17, 11a.m. – 12:oo p.m. CST on the Moving Transit Forward plan.  If you couldn’t or can’t attend on of the public meetings on the long-range plan, this is the way to find out about our recommendations for the future of transit, and give your feedback.  Remember, these are potential plans and not set in stone.  Public feedback is very important.  I know you have an opinion…share it!

Next Monday, Dec. 21 at 3  p.m., the St. Louis County Council will vote on whether or not to put a sales tax initiative for public transit funding on the ballot for April 6.  Find more information about the meeting at the Council’s website.

Plenty of ways to get answers and be heard, St. Louis!  Hope you can join us.

During the community workshops in November, the Metro long-term planning team went around the region and conducted community workshops to get a handle on what are St. Louisans’ priorities for transit spending, now and in the future.  People chose which corridors and modes they preferred, and which amenities were important to them.  Now, Metro’s Moving Transit Forward planning team is conducting another round of community workshops to present findings and solicit feedback and answer questions.  At these meetings, Ray Friem and Jessica Mefford-Miller also describe how the planning process works, and explain limitations and future opportunities.

So here is my breakdown of the workshop results:

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The Arch Grounds are ready for their makeover.

The National Park Service and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay today launched an international design competition to update the area surrounding our ubiquitous St. Louis icon, the Gateway Arch.

The National Park Service maintains the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial park grounds surrounding the Arch.  But as part of its Business Enterprises, Metro operates the Gateway Arch trams and Riverboats, Arch garage and other riverfront activities.  So we are greatly interested in the future of the Arch grounds and how it will enhance the riverfront.

From today’s release:

“The competition begins today,” said Tom Bradley, Superintendent of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, which includes the Gateway Arch. “This competition is a unique and important opportunity to integrate the Arch and the park surrounding it into the fabric of the city and region and embrace the Mississippi River and its east bank. It’s an opportunity to energize the park with new amenities and attractions. By achieving these objectives, we will design people into the area – and establish a national model for urban parks.”

The competition will invite teams to create a new design for the Arch grounds and surrounding areas with 10 goals in mind:

* Create an iconic place for the international icon, the Gateway Arch.

* Catalyze increased vitality in the St. Louis region.

* Honor the character-defining elements of the National Historic Landmark.

* Weave connections and transitions from the city and the Arch grounds to the Mississippi River.

* Embrace the Mississippi River and the east bank in Illinois as an integral part of the national park.

* Mitigate the impact of transportation systems.

* Reinvigorate the mission to tell the story of St. Louis as the gateway to national expansion.

* Create attractors to promote extended visitation to the Arch, the city and the river.

* Develop a sustainable future for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial.

* Enhance the visitor experience and create a welcoming and accessible environment.

No small order, but the Arch riverfront is one of the most iconic locations in St. Louis, and it deserves a vibrant future that reflects our rich historical and environmental history.  And it should be someplace tourists and St. Louisans alike would like to spend a Saturday afternoon.

All the info you need to know can be found at the competition’s website, http://www.cityarchrivercompetition.org/.   Registration for the competition ends January 26, 2010.  I wanted to take some in-depth pictures of the grounds this afternoon, but the scene looks like something out of Hound of the Baskervilles, so I’ll wait until another day.  But as someone who routinely spends my lunch hour walking, jogging or generally enjoying the park, I am looking forward to seeing all of the creative designs roll out.

UPDATE: The Museum of Westward Expansion is operated by NPS, not Metro.  You should go check it out!

I demonstrate what NOT to do on MetroLink.

There is no eating or drinking allowed on MetroLink, MetroBuses, or Call-A-Ride vans.  Technically, even drinking water is prohibited (exceptions are made for emergencies).  And yes, that includes your morning coffee.  You can still carry food or beverage onto the vehicles, but you are asked not to consume them, and security can issue citations for violating the rule.  Why so strict? 

The answer is simple in explanation, but more rigorous in practice: cleanliness.  Anytime you get large numbers of people together, dirt and messes are bound to happen.  But that makes for a less desirable ride, and we take a lot of time to keep vehicles clean.  After trains, buses and vans go to rest for the night, they are thoroughly vaccumed and scrubbed down in their various garages to remove debris and dirt. And to help prevent flu transmission, they are currently more rigorously sanitized to kill germs. 

Food and beverage spills create a lot of problems – walking hazards, pests, odors – and increase the time and cost to clean and maintain vehicles.  And honestly, while you might think your BBQ pulled pork sandwich is extra delicious, watching and smelling you eat it might be the last thing your fellow riders want to do.  So while it may seem inconvenient, save the McMuffin for the office.  You’re doing your part to help everyone have a more pleasant ride.

Thanks to the Post-Dispatch, Metro holds a live online chat every other Wednesday at noon, hosted on the Post-Dispatch website. You have to have a login set up on the STLtoday website, but you can submit your questions any time before or during the chat once you’re logged in.

We also keep a transcript of past live chats on Metro’s Newsroom page (click the “Chat Transcripts” tab at the top).

Drop by the Post-Dispatch and submit your questions, even if you can’t be available for the live chat at noon; we’ll link the transcript here when it’s available. This is your chance to ask questions about anything and everything Metro-related: The long-range planning process, the results from the first round of public workshops and what’s in store for the second round of public input; how long the $12m appropriation from the State of Missouri will last; questions about the Vandeventer Bridge project; essentially, anything and everything you’d like to know.

UPDATE: Here’s the link to the Metro Live Chat transcript, thanks so much for your questions!

Photo via Jefferson County Community Partnership

Since 2007, the Transportation Solutions Committee of Jefferson County, MO has been creating public and private partnerships to introduce the JeffCo Express, a public transit solution for the communities of DeSoto, Hillsboro, Festus and Arnold. 

The bus has 16 seats and can accomodate two wheelchairs.  Funding has been secured for three years through MODOT’s New Freedom Project to help individuals with disabilities meet their transportation needs, including education, employment and health services.  A one-way ticket is $2 for the general public; $1 for disabled passengers or those 65 and older, with multi-ride passes available. 

The new service uses a deviated, or flex, route to transport passengers.  A flex route allows the driver to deviate off the designated route to pick up or drop off individual passengers that make advance reservations.  According to the Transportation Solution Committee, as long as a person with a disability lives within a one mile radius of a major designated stop and calls within 24 hours, the bus will come to their home to pick them up, and deliver to any requested destination within one mile of major designated stop.  Therefore, the service area of the route is greatly widened, and more convenient for riders.  All route and timetable info for the JeffCo Express is available on their website.

Deviated or flex routes are a great solution for rural or less dense areas, and provide both riders and service agencies with a needed amount of flexibility.  Congratulations to all involved in the JeffCo Express Project, and we wish JeffCo passengers happy and safe travels.  If you have any pictures or experiences seeing or riding the JeffCo Express, send them to blog@nextstopstl.org.

In the excitement and chaos of planning big Thanksgiving dinners and plotting our Black Friday shopping routes, we at NextStop just want to pause a moment and say, Thank you. Thank you for making NextStop a part of your daily or weekly routine. Thanks for reading, for linking, and for thinking about what’s going on here.

Thanks for all the emails we receive, and suggestions for posts, questions, and criticisms.

Thank you, all of the commenters who come here and make this an interesting place to read and write. I’d like to especially thank RTBones, Jazzy Jeff, TPlesko, Claire-ian the Librarian, and JimmyZ for your dedication to providing thoughtful, critical feedback, and support on all sorts of urban and transit issues.

Thank you, Alex Ihnen, for guest posting. Thank you, Steve Patterson and Jim Barnthouse, for doing ride-alongs. Thank you, Dotage St. Louis, UrbanReviewSTL, Citizens for Modern Transit, St. Louis Urban Workshop, Curious Feet, and all of our friends on the internet who link, tweet, talk, and support us.

Thank you, Miss Metrolink and your prom-planning friends, for keeping life interesting and fun.

Thank you, interns Matt and Melissa, for helping start the ball rolling. Thank you, Dianne and Angela in our Communications Department, for getting us started and keeping us on track.

Thank you, Paul in IT, for all of your technical support and your guidance and knowledge.

Let’s be real: It’s been a tough year everywhere, economically. People lost their jobs. Transit agencies all over the country, including ours, are struggling with cuts to service, fare increases, staff reductions, and a population that needs transit more than ever. We think that by carrying on these discussions and trading these ideas, and by participating in the planning and dreaming, we’re all helping improve transit for the region. Thanks for being part of it.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone, from Courtney, Jennifer, and Todd.

Participants work through the planning exercise at the Community Workshop in Chesterfield.

Moving Transit Forward’s Round 1 Public Workshop results are in!

Round 2’s workshops will begin on December 7th and run through the 17th.  Be sure to come to one of these follow-up meetings to hear what your community said it wants from the region’s transit system, as well as potential strategies for meeting those needs.  There will be a brief presentation of the ongoing planning process, followed by an opportunity for you to share your thoughts. Check out the Moving Transit Forward website for more information on locations and dates, or to download the full schedule. (UPDATE: The schedule I initially posted had the wrong times for the City Hall and Mehlville High School meetings; the schedule posted now is correct.)

And if you haven’t already, be sure to take our new poll and lend us your thoughts on Wi-Fi + Transit.  There is a comment section following your vote – We’d enjoy hearing what you have to say about syncing this technology with St. Louis public transit.

I recently received an interesting Tweet from Jim Barnthouse at the Arch Observer. He wrote, “Can Metro do a holiday train?”

Every holiday season in Chicago, the CTA unveils its annual Holiday Train – several L cars decked out in strands of lights and music, complete with Santa and his elves.  The Holiday Train travels all CTA lines during November and December, and is understandably very popular among riders in Chicago.  Santa waves from an open-air flatbed while volunteers hand out candy canes.  Handpoles are dressed in red and white ribbon to resemble candy canes and overhead lights are tinted red and green.  Indeed, the cars are decked out to the nines:

Why does the CTA do this? I can’t speak for that Agency, but I imagine the answer is somewhere along the lines of “the passengers like it.” It’s a chance to add some cheer and frivolity to an otherwise ordinary commute. Comparable to why towns and Main Streets decorate for the holidays, it can bring people together in celebration and holiday spirit. And, it’s just plain fun to ride.

But Metro wants to know that St. Louis area riders would like a holiday MetroLink train. It’s a grand experiments for us. Our Chief of MetroLink operations Scott Grott said if I can drum up public support, we will do it. So let me know! Here’s how:

1. Email me at blog@metrostlouis.org. Subject: Holiday train! If you want to tell us why, great. I’ll post the good responses on the blog.

2. Use the hashtag #stlholidaytrain in your updates on Twitter. I’m counting!

3. Call Customer Service at 314-982-1406 and tell them you would like to see a holiday train. I will keep track of messages.

We are looking at ways to decorate the train…sponsorships, employee donations, etc. If you have any suggestions or would like to sponsor the train, please let me know.

It’s getting cold outside. The economy is still stale, and we’re closing another decade. Let’s celebrate the joyful moments in life, shall we?