Most Recent

OK, it’s summer 2010.  Oil continues to spill into the Gulf of Mexico, and we still spend billions of dollars to feed our ever-increasing appetite for petroleum, all while pumping millions of pounds of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.  Isn’t it about time we embraced some alternatives?  It’s time to get on a bike, a train, or a bus, St. Louis!

Courtney and Arch Observer's Jim Barnthouse with t-shirts and gear from Trailnet, Great Rivers Greenway, and Metro. Who needs cars with faces like these?

Thursday, June 17, is National Dump the Pump Day.  Sponsored by the American Public Transit Association (APTA), Dump the Pump Day is designed to focus on conserving fuel, reducing the environmental impact of everyday commuting, and reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil by finding alternatives to the use of personal vehicles.

Walk. Bike. Take transit. It’s a great time to get out of your car and explore your neighborhood, try transit, or bike to work.  Did you know bike commuters lose an average of 12 lbs during their first year of bike commuting?  Or that public transit users walk an average extra 20 minutes a day over auto commuters?  All over the country, transit and bike commuting is increasing as people realize the benefits of staying away from traffic.

To encourage St. Louis area commuters to Dump the Pump, Metro, together with community partners Citizens for Modern Transit, Trailnet and Great Rivers Greenway have donated some awesome gear to encourage you to walk, bike, or take transit, including:

• Bike Helmets from Great Rivers Greenway
• Membership to Citizens for Modern Transit
• Metro 10-Ride ticket booklets
• Metro messenger bag
• Trailnet ride vouchers
• Forest Park Shuttle tickets

Trailnet & Great Rivers Greenway T-shirts and other promotional items

Entries will be accepted through Monday, June 28.  Prizes will be awarded July 6. Click here to register to win some of the awesome gear from local organizations promoting alternative transportation (as shown by myself and Arch Observer Jim Barnthouse).

I hear Jim Barnthouse is alternative energy.

People can also obtain entry forms for the Metro Dump the Pump prize giveaway at:
•    Metro Headquarters – 707 N. 1st Street, St. Louis
•    MetroRide Center – 7th & Washington, inside America’s Center, St. Louis
•    Great Rivers Greenway – 6174 A Delmar Blvd., St. Louis
•    Trailnet – 1533 Washington Avenue, St. Louis

Commuters choosing public transit on June 17 may also be greeted and thanked personally by members of Metro’s leadership team, employee volunteers, and even cheerleaders from North East Middle School in St. Louis.  Because you deserve some recognition and thanks for dumping the gas pump.

Need more reasons to convince people to give up some gas?  According to the APTA:

• Each year, the use of public transit in the U.S. saves 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline by eliminating the need for 900,000 automobile fill-ups each day.
• Commuters who switch to public transit can reduce the carbon emissions of their personal vehicles by 20 pounds a day, or 4,800 pounds a year.
• In addition to helping save the environment, families that use public transit and live with one car can save an average of $9,000 a year.
• For every $1 invested in public transportation infrastructure, $4 is generated in economic returns to communities.

June 17: National Dump the Pump Day.  Step away from the car, and spend the day being the alternative.

What did you do at work today?  Send some e-mails, update your calendar, attend some meetings, walk through the inside of a bridge…

Wait, what?  Metro Engineering intern Justin Pattison walked through the Eads Bridge today (yes, he is trained to do that!), and he shared with me some of the photos he took.   The Metro crew and he went out to identify a utilities construction plan for the Eads Bridge rehabilitation project. The bridge has not had a new paint coating for 135 years, and needs to be scraped and repainted, along with some other repairs.

Check out some of the amazing photos Justin took of St. Louis’ historic bridge, the first steel structure project in the U.S.  Imagine, when James Eads built this bridge, steel was considered a new building material.  The structural success of the Eads Bridge helped launch the career of Andrew Carnegie.

For more information on the rehab project, see Jennifer’s post on the Eads Bridge rehabilitation.

The Bridge is still structurally sound, so MetroLink and cars on the upper deck safely travel across.

(more…)

St. Louis will be all about bikes this weekend with the return of St. Louis City Open Streets, the Tour de Grove cycling and neighborhood events, and ARTCRANK, a show featuring bike-inspired posters by local artists.  Throw in the Central West End Taste & Art Fair, accessible by bike and transit, and you’ve got a full weekend of great St. Louis events.

Open Streets on Sunday, June 13 from 8am -1pm is a chance for you to walk, bike, run, skate, push a stroller, hula-hoop, pretty much whatever you want on a street route closed off to automobile traffic.  It’s a great opportunity to explore St. Louis neighborhoods, be active, meet local business owners, and get out with friends and family.

Open Street Route Map for June 13, 2010

At the last Open Streets event in June, I saw badminton games, picnics and lemonade stands, as well as food and beverages available along the route.   In addition, hubs located along the length of the route host a variety of activities – strength training, hula-hooping, yoga, kids contests, mini massages, stretching instructions, cooking demonstations and more.

The route will link the Old Post Office Plaza in Downtown St. Louis with the Central West End Taste and Art Fair on Euclid Avenue. The CWE Taste and Art Fair is Friday through Sunday featuring over 60 regional artists, 19 local eateries and live music on Friday and Saturday.  The Fair location is only a few blocks from the Central West End MetroLink and Bus Transfer Center.

Trailnet in partnership with Great Rivers Greenway and the City of St. Louis will also host a Bike St. Louis tour for experienced cyclists starting at Anheuser-Busch and complete with a stop at the Velodrome in Penrose Park.

Also this weekend, the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood will host the 2010 Tour de Grove events Saturday and Sunday, with multiple cycling races and a 5K race, live music and VIP spectating parties.  ARTCRANK, featuring bike-inspired posters by 35 local artists – all just $30 each -  at Atomic Cowboy in the Grove on Saturday, June 12 (7:00 – Midnight) and Sunday, June 13 (Noon – 4:00).

To get to all of these amazing active events this weekend, you can take bicycles on MetroLink trains in the rear of the first car, and both front and rear of the second car.  Also, all MetroBuses also have racks for two bikes on the front of the bus. Plan your trip on Google Transit.

Few excuses and plenty of reasons to get out and support our local biking and pedestrian, art, dining and music scene in St. Louis this weekend.  And every weekend for that matter!

The river rises up, rich brown, foamy and yielding, against the hull of boat. The boat is smooth and calm, and I’m enamored: its my first time seeing St. Louis from the waters of the River, looking up at our city.

I’m on the Tom Sawyer, one of the riverboats that Metro operates on the riverfront of the Mississippi River.  It’s a beautiful Friday afternoon, one of the most seasonable days in May, where the sun beats a warm St. Louis heat but with a hearty breeze and impenetrable sky.  The perfect St. Louis afternoon, a few moments before a holiday weekend, to climb aboard a boat and tour the St. Louis riverfront.

A view of St. Louis from the Mississippi River is perhaps one not many of us have experienced, but it was the first.  Pierre Laclede and his assistant, Auguste Chouteau, staked out St. Louis in 1764 for their settlement near the Confluence of the Illinois, Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. Be not mistaken: We are a river town. Our history and identity runs and rides with the currents of the three rivers swollen and flowing as one.  It brought us wealth and promise; it brought us challenge and compromise.

The river was an essential form of transportation for early St. Louisans, but later posed an obstacle to improve the flow of people and goods. When you are on the river, you can see what an amazing contradiction this is: the River is strong and swift, but wide and intimidating. It’s amazing to realize that only 150 years ago, a major challenge was how to build a bridge long enough and strong enough to span the Mississippi. Now we are about to build downtown St. Louis’ sixth bridge: The New Mississippi River Bridge for Interstate 70.

The tour is rife with buildings and structures that have continuing stories of decline and rebirth. The Eads Bridge, one of the great architectural feats of the 19th century, was a commercial failure in its infancy.  But its integrity, largely untouched by years of river wear, now carries MetroLink trains into the historic tunnels beneath the City of St. Louis and into the region.  The Laclede Power Building, was constructed in 1901 to distribute electricity for the ballooning populations of the 1904 World’s Fair, is now being renovated to serve as the main “gateway” to The Confluence and as a trailhead for the Riverfront Trail. The Ashley Street Powerhouse, a darkly impressive structure that still generates steam for downtown St. Louis, bears both rich architectural detailing, and heavy coats of rust. And the Sligo Steel Building, set back from the river and nearly blocked from an elevated train track and river debris, is home to Sligo Steel, a company formed in 1834 that today is the oldest steel company west of Mississippi.

This tour is not a Floridian coastline cruise; you are on the Big Muddy, looking upon a red-brick-loving Rust Belt river city. The beauty of the scenery is its history, and the perspective the river provides. The view from the river includes the five bridges crossing the wide waters: Poplar Street, McKinley, Eads, Martin Luther King, and MacArthur Bridges. Built during different eras, with varying architectural styles, to serve different growing transportation needs, these bridges are testament to the many ways St. Louis has grown and reinvented itself over the last 150 years.

And the river keeps rolling on, watching us from below.

The Riverboat cruise gave me a great perspective on both the past and present of St. Louis, while we may think things are slow to change, the region has actually undergone tremendous evolution to adapt to needs and opportunities. When you are sitting on the deck of a riverboat, looking up at the skyscrapers, the buildings, the bridges, and of course, the Arch and its grounds, it is impossible not to realize that our story keeps on going. And once the Mississippi River Bridge and the new Arch grounds are completed, the skyline will change once again.

And at this moment, on this day, on this River, it’s a beautiful view of St. Louis.

For more information on how to take a Riverboat cruise on the Mississippi River, book a group, or make reservations for one of their dinner cruises, visit the Gateway Arch website.

It’s secret that transit riders are willing to share: Riding public transit offers many opportunities for life lessons and sense of community. True fellowship happens on your bus, on your train. Now a local productions company has brought that sentiment to the theater. Eye on the Sparrow: The World Within St. Louis, written by Lee Patton Chiles, is a play about the hardships of life, the fellowship of a community, and the redemption possible in our own lives. All from the seats of St. Louis public transit.

From the play’s website:

Sparrows are everywhere, and are so common we hardly notice them. St. Louis is full of human sparrows – ordinary people who are hardly noticed, but who meet the challenges of life with dignity, humor and fierce courage. EYE ON THE SPARROW follows one woman, Harper, as she falls from the grace of a good job, a marriage and a home, only to become one among the sparrows. Set within the community of St. Louis public transportation, Harper’s life becomes intertwined with the lives of these heroic ordinary people. Through their everyday struggles, fights and kindnesses, these urban philosophers teach Harper how to begin her life again.

How You Can See Eye on the Sparrow:

Saint Louis University
The University Theater at Xavier Hall
3733 West Pine Mall

Friday, June 4 & Saturday, June 5 -  8:00PM, Sundays 2:30PM

For reservations or special group rates call 314-721-6556 or email gitana@stlouis.missouri.org

Tickets available at the following locations:

Cafe Natasha – 3200 S. Grand (South City)
Screenz – 6680 Delmar (U-City Loop)
Macro Sun – 1310 Washington (Downtown) or 6273 Delmar (U-City Loop)
Living Insights Center – 6361 Clayton Rd. (Clayton)

Regular Tickets $15 Seniors (65+) and Students $12

Downtown St. Louis is about to be awash in a sea of pink.

Members of Team Metro at the Komen Race for the Cure 2007

On Saturday, June 12, more than 60,000 people will join together in downtown St. Louis for the 2010 Susan G. Komen St. Louis Race of for the Cure, presented localled by Wells Fargo Advisors.

To date, the Affiliate has raised more than $19 million through various fundraising events like the Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure and Dine Out for the Cure.  More than $13 million has stayed in St. Louis to fund screening, treatment, education and research programs with $6 million going to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Grants Program to fund research.  The St. Louis Race is the largest Komen Race for the Cure in the world, and one of the top three largest 5K races in the world.  Nice job St. Louis!

MetroLink will run service every 15 minutes (instead of 20) from 5 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturday June 12 between Forest Park-DeBaliviere and Fairview Heights Stations.  Stations further along the alignment will have regular Saturday service.

Race goers will gather June 12 downtown St. Louis (the closest MetroLink and MetroBus Transfer Center is Civic Center Station).  The Race route travels down Olive Street at 14th to Compton Avenue, then up Market back to 14th.  The races include timed and untimed 5K runs, a 5K walk and a 1-mile Fun Walk, so there’s something for people of all activity levels.

Metro’s HR Compensation Specialist Candice Lallinger, who lost her mother to breast cancer, has been working with the Race for the Cure since its beginning in St. Louis twelve years ago.  Lallinger now serves on the Teams Committee, which helps to build teams, distributes group materials and provides support to teams.  This year, Team Metro has 160 participants.

It is too late to register a team for the Race, but you can still sign up as an individual and walk or run with your family and friends.  Race-day registration begins at 6:30 a.m.  It is a truly amazing experience to see the enormous swell of pink-clad survivors and supporters at the Race.

Komen Race for the Cure MetroBus

Also, June 10 is Dine Out for the Cure in the St. Louis region, and is a great reason to fuel up for the race.  Check out the list of participating restaurants, and consider getting out in support of our local dining scene and this great cause.

For more information on the Komen Race for the Cure activities in St. Louis now and throughout the year, visit www.komenstlouis.org.

The Lindell Railway Pavillion, now known as the Dennis & Judith Jones Visitor Center in Forest Park. The Pavillion was originally built in 1892 as a streetcar shelter, and served as the gateway to the 1904 World's Fair. It is the second stop on the #3 Forest Park Shuttle.

Hoorah, the Forest Park Shuttle is back!

Stepping ahead of the other Restoration 2010 plans, the #3 Forest Park Shuttle will begin service Saturday, May 29 in time for the holiday weekend.  Forest Park is alive and blooming with trees, breezes, bikes and grass, so Memorial Day weekend is a great time to reintroduce yourself to a great cornerstone of St. Louis history and community.

Where does the Forest Park Shuttle go?

It travels the entire park in a complete circle, starting and ending at the Forest Park-DeBaliviere Metrolink Station. It stops at all major attractions, including the Science Center Planetarium, the Zoo, Art Museum, Boathouse and Jewel Box. For all stop, see the Shuttle’s route map.

What times and how often does it run?

The Shuttle will run every 15 minutes from 9:45 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. daily. Check times on the route schedule.

How much does it cost?

The Shuttle is $2 for adults, $1 for seniors, disabled persons, and children 5-12. Children under five ride free.

Does my monthly Metro pass or transfer work as fare?

Yes! The Shuttle accepts all passes and transfers.

Can I bring my bike or stroller on board?

The Shuttle has a two-bike rack on the front, and can accommodate strollers. It is also wheelchair accessible.

Where do I catch the Shuttle?

You can catch the Shuttle at the Forest Park-DeBaliviere MetroLink Station at the southbound bus shelters on DeBaliviere Avenue, or at any stop on it’s route in the Park.

Have a great Memorial Day St. Louis! Have fun exploring your region, and safe travels!

Tracy Beidleman, our Director of Program Development and Grants, has received the first-ever Award of Excellence for Outstanding Customer Service and Financial Oversight of FTA Projects in St. Louis presented by Region VII of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).  Go Tracy!

William Kalt, Team Leader for Operations and Program Management at FTA Region VII in Kansas City, said the high recognition for Beidleman was a special, perhaps even just a one-time award, presented to honor her extraordinary performance in complicated and demanding collaboration between Metro as a recipient of federal grants and the FTA as the agency that administers the grants. Kalt said FTA Regional Administrator Mokhtee Ahmad proposed the new award, which has never been presented to a transit-agency employee before.

“The award was presented to Tracy based on her dedication, her competence and her superior ability to communicate with FTA,” Kalt said. “She is truly deserving, given her great attention to detail, her incredible responsiveness to our many needs, and her extremely complete knowledge of all FTA requirements and all Metro projects.”

Kalt said the FTA and Metro must have a close working relationship because Metro is the largest transit agency with the most grants in Region VII. He said Region VII administrators have always joked that, if every agency had someone like Beidleman working for them, it would make FTA’s job so much easier that everyone there could work half-time.

“She is a valuable asset to Metro and to the FTA,” Kalt said. “She provides a real cost savings to Metro because she has the information to deal with the FTA. The FTA doesn’t need to conduct as many reviews at Metro because of her performance.”

Beidleman, of Florissant, has been at Metro for 11 years. She said she had not been told about the award before it was presented at a recent regional conference for FTA Region VII.  “I was quite surprised by it. It was quite an honor,” she said.

Thanks so much Tracy for all your hard work and dedication.  Congratulations!

The arrow points to where parking spaces will be removed and pedestrian walkway built.

Parking spaces being turned into a pedestrian walkway?? What??

That’s exactly what will be happening at the Gateway Arch Garage on Washington Avenue.  Construction work is scheduled to begin on Tuesday, June 1, and be completed around June 25, right before the Fair St. Louis festivities.  The pedestrian walkway will displace a row of Metro pool car and staff parking spaces to connect Washington Avenue and the Arch-Laclede’s Landing MetroLink Station with the garage elevator and stairs to the Arch grounds.

The pedestrian walkway will include an ADA ramp from Washington Avenue into the garage, as well as improved lighting and a steel fence.  During construction, Arch visitors will use a temporary pedestrian path to the east of the construction.

Hopefully, it will make the pathway between the Landing and the Arch grounds more inviting and accessible for all.

Here’s the fun we can expect in fiscal year 2011, starting July 1, 2010!

Former Firefighting "Building" at St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia. New one will be built with American Reinvestment and Recovery Act funds.

The Metro Board of Commissioners today approved an operating budget of $232.4 million for Fiscal Year 2011 that includes funds to restore transit services that were cut in 2009. The budget includes freezes on salaries and hiring and reductions to expenditures across the board.  The funds from the Proposition A half-cent sales tax in St. Louis County will not begin to be collected until July 1 and will not reach Metro until late September, so the main priority for the Agency is providing the money and resources necessary for service restoration.

Highlights:

• Wage freezes for Metro employees
• Hiring freeze except for those deemed “mission critical”
• $17.6 million will restore services lost in 2009
• $5 million will replace lost sales-tax revenue (spending down overall in region)
• $12 million will replace the one-time emergency appropriation from state of Missouri
• $6 million for higher costs for fuel, medical costs and utilities
• $4.8 million to provide additional services under contract with St. Clair County Transit District

Capital projects scheduled for 2011, in addition to service restoration (including ARRA projects):

• Beginning the Eads Bridge rehabilitation
• Installing track crossovers at the east end of Eads Bridge and at University of Missouri St. Louis
• Completing repaving of the North Hanley Station
• Repairing erosion along the MetroLink track between Fairview Heights and Swansea in Illinois
• Beginning construction on the new Scott Transit Plaza at the Grand MetroLink Station
• Public arts projects
• Downtown Airport Firefighting Building and Equipment

Capital Projects FY2011 – FY2013

• Integrated Fare System Upgrade
• Radio Replacement
• Union Station Tunnel Rehabilitation (funding to support this project is planned beyond the current FY11 – FY13 capital budget period
• ADA enhancements
• Installation of between-car barriers and tactile warning strips at all MetroLink stations
• Installation of heaters at MetroLink stations,
• Upgrades to passenger shelters and signage

Interested in all the fun details…here you go!

St. Louis Metro Transit FY2011 Operating and Capital Budget Presentation