St. Louis Cardinals fans and Metro Transit could not be more excited that their beloved Redbirds are in the World Series. Metro is ready to transport Cardinal Nation and visitors who will flood Downtown St. Louis for Games 1 and 2. Metro will operate extra Eastbound and Westbound trains after the games Wednesday night and Thursday night to help the crowds get home, and Metro staff will be at the Stadium and nearby stations to monitor crowds, and assist with customer boarding.
Update: The term “bus rapid transit has been removed from the $2 million grant award; this current award is for articulated bus service.
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) today announced its support for applicants to the Alternative Analysis, State of Good Repair, and Bus Liveability discretionary grants program. Metro St. Louis has been awarded $3.8 million for projects that will help improve the delivery and service of transit in the St. Louis region. What do each of these grant awards mean?
$2 million for articulated buses and related equipment. This grant is for articulated buses and related infrastructure along the Grand Avenue corridor. The grant is among the first Metro is pursuing to bring expanded service to the popular Grand route.
$970,000 for bus-related equipment (to improve emissions technology in our clean diesel MetroBus fleet).
$677,000 for transit asset management program. This grant will allow the Agency to create a unique asset management program to assess the state of all transit vehicles, buildings, and facilities, to be used as a national template for other transit agencies.
$200,000 for I-55 corridor study. This grant
allows Metro and its partners (MoDOT, East-West Gateway, St. Louis City and St. Louis County) to evaluate the costs, benefits and environmental impacts of transit options along the I-55 corridor. Options include expanded bus service, bus rapid transit, and light rail service. Metro has applied for grants to study other major interstate corridors; I-55 is the first to receive funding support from the FTA.
The FTA has formally supported these grants, and final FTA approval is expected sometime next year. This is a major step in seeing improved transit service in St. Louis. For more on Metro’s long range plan for transit improvements, see Moving Transit Forward. We’ll keep you updated on project developments.
Vantage Credit Union is introducing a new video series teaching young St. Louisans “How To” do many things around the region to save money, including taking MetroLink. It’s always great to teach others how to use the system, and an important lesson for us transit veterans on what people need to know to get on board. Thanks to Seth Teel of Citizens for Modern Transit for helping Vantage Credit Union’s Jenn Cloud learn how to ride MetroLink.
Throughout the region, many people are wearing their red and waiting to see what happens tonight at the Cardinals’ NLCS Game 5, so we understand if your mind is not on bus stops. But please review the following list of evaluated stops for the #1 Gold and #17 Oakville, and if you have a reason one of these stops should continue to be part of the route, please let us know.
Please note: none of the routes listed are being eliminated, but your feedback on specific stops is encouraged and greatly appreciated. Below is the new list of proposed MetroBus stops under consideration for removal for the following routes:
#1 Gold
#17 Oakville
These stops are being proposed for elimination as part of Metro’s Bus Stop Evaluation Program to make the system more efficient and faster.
Please submit your comments for the #1 Gold and #17 Oakville by Monday, November 7, 2011.
NS – Nearside of the street-before you cross the street
FS – Farside of the street-after you cross the street
MB – Midblock after the street midway down
To allow tunnel repairs in the Kingshighway tunnel, MetroLink will single track at the Central West End station on Saturday, October 15th and Sunday, October 16th from 10:00AM until 6:00PM. Red Line and Blue Line passengers should expect delays of 5 to 10 minutes during this single track operation.
MetroLink will provide extra service Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night to accommodate baseball fans attending NLCS Games 3, 4 and 5 at Busch Stadium. Wear your red, make some noise in the ballpark, and cheer the Cardinals on to victory!
If you are riding MetroLink tonight or this weekend, be aware that we will operate on a single track to accommodate construction near the East Riverfront station tonight, Saturday and Sunday from 8 p.m. until the end of service.
MetroLink will also operate on a single track Saturday and Sunday morning from the beginning of service until 8:00 a.m. During those times, Blue Line service will only operate from the Shrewsbury MetroLink Station to the Civic Center MetroLink stations. Red Line service will not be impacted.
Is it fall? This weather would suggest not, except that it’s baseball playoffs season and round pumpkins are flying off the shelves. This warm October Friday, please review the following list of evaluated stops for the #27 North County Shuttle and #73 Carondelet.
Please note: none of the routes listed are being eliminated, but your feedback on specific stops is encouraged and greatly appreciated. Below is the new list of proposed MetroBus stops under consideration for removal for the following routes:
#27 North County Shuttle
#73 Carondelet
These stops are being proposed for elimination as part of Metro’s Bus Stop Evaluation Program to make the system more efficient and faster.
Please submit your comments for the #27 North County Shuttle and #73 Carondelet by Monday, October 31, 2011.
NS – Nearside of the street-before you cross the street
FS – Farside of the street-after you cross the street
MB – Midblock after the street midway down
Downtown St. Louis will be hopping again tonight with Game 4 of the NLDS taking place at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals are in a must-win situation and with game time shortly after 5:00 tonight, fans have been descending on downtown all afternoon. Some Cards fans avoided the traffic and parking hassles last night and took MetroLink to Busch Stadium. We expect the same to be true tonight and the Agency is planning extra service for a second night to accommodate the crowds.
Metro managers will be assigned to several stations to assist passengers boarding the trains. After the game concludes, we will monitor the Busch Stadium MetroLink Station crowds to determine when extra Red or Blue trains will be added between regularly scheduled trains.
Metro asks that customers allow extra time and leave early for the ballpark if possible. Be patient, have fun, and cheer the Cards on to victory!
This Friday brings us beautiful weather and falling leaves, and another round of MetroBus stops for evaluation. Please note: none of the routes listed are being eliminated, but your feedback on specific stops is encouraged and greatly appreciated. Below is the new list of proposed MetroBus stops under consideration for removal for the following routes:
#110 Affton
#44 Hazelwood
These stops are being proposed for elimination as part of Metro’s Bus Stop Evaluation Program to make the system more efficient and faster.
Please submit your comments for the #110 Affton and #44 Hazelwood by Monday, October 24, 2011.
NS – Nearside of the street-before you cross the street
FS – Farside of the street-after you cross the street
MB – Midblock after the street midway down
Carl “Chub” Wheeler will officially celebrate a milestone birthday tomorrow, October 1, when he turns 100. Aviation and the airport in Cahokia, Illinois are in his blood and when he got the chance to co-pilot a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor airliner last week as an early 100th birthday present, he didn’t think twice about it. Ford Motor Company built 199 of the airliners from 1926 to 1933. Only six still fly today.
As a kid, Mr. Wheeler loved planes, and he hung around the airport now known as St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia. He learned to fly at that same airport and and one of the planes he piloted was a Ford Tri-Motor aircraft, much like early aviators Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart.
The airport was taken over by the United States Army Air Force in August 1939 as a basic pilot training airfield. Mr. Wheeler became a U.S. Army Air Corps instructor pilot at the airport teaching hundreds of future pilots how to fly for World War II.
His history with the airport, however, runs even deeper. He and a partner opened a flying school– charging two dollars for a flying lesson. The flying school was operated out of Hangar 2. You can still find Mr. Wheeler there today. About once a month, he serves as a volunteer at the Greater St. Louis Air and Space Museum which is located in the historic hangar.
And that’s not all, in the 1950′s, Mr. Wheeler became the director of the airport. Back then, it was called Parks Metropolitan Airport. So, it seems perfectly natural that the former director of the airport would return to take a ride in a 1929 Ford Tri-Motor airliner from the co-pilot’s seat on Thursday, September 22. The fact that the opportunity came days before his 100th birthday made it even better.
Last Thursday, Mr. Wheeler was on the first flight that took members of the media and other passengers up into the air. He smiled, waved and gave several thumbs up from the cockpit with pilot Rand Siegfried before taking off and then did the same after returning 15 minutes later. Even the rain could not dampen his excitement on this special occasion.
The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) brought the fully restored 1929 Ford Tri-Motor airliner to St. Louis Downtown Airport from September 22 to September 25 to give aviation enthusiasts a chance to see and ride in a piece of history. The plane and EAA team left on Monday headed to Kentucky— the next stop on the EAA fall tour.
Metro owns and operates St. Louis Downtown Airport and the surrounding industrial business park.
