urbanSTL

Is there funding in the bill for operations or just grants for capital improvements?

Mill204 wrote:Streetsblog is now reporting Bond's highway robbery.

These are the two amendments from Bond:

• One strips all $2 billion set aside for high speed rail and redirects it to highway funds.

• The other takes $5.5 billion from "competitive grants" for transportation and gives it to highways.



How quickly the days of $4/gallon gas are forgotten. It goes without saying that de-funding high-speed rail and shoveling extra billions to unaccountable state DOTs, most of which have a penchant for expanding highway capacity, is exactly what we don't need right now. (Bond should be trying to locate billions for transit operations instead: His constituents in St. Louis are bracing for the nation's most severe transit cuts.)

This can't possibly pass. Can it? No, no. It can't. It can't. It's insanity. It's so backward. How can anyone think this is the direction of the future? To continue funding these stupid highways when other countries across the globe have already adopted better means. This is our chance to finally get something DONE public transit wise!

brody wrote:This can't possibly pass. Can it? No, no. It can't. It can't. It's insanity. It's so backward. How can anyone think this is the direction of the future? To continue funding these stupid highways when other countries across the globe have already adopted better means. This is our chance to finally get something DONE public transit wise!

You'd think a so-called fiscal conservative like Senator Bond would realize the investment in additional highway lanes does little if anything to improve congestion over the long haul, thereby doing nothing to help individuals and businesses that will eventually spend $4+ per gallon of gasoline in the not-so-distant future.



If anything, it's just more welfare for sprawl-focused developers, as it will only continue the myopic practice of shifting dollars from urbanized areas to the fringes, and you can drive anywhere west of Interstate 270 and east of Warrenton to see how well that's worked out in the last 20 to 30 years.



I was glad to see Bond working to secure the Chinese air hub for our area, but I cannot believe he'd back something as short-sighted as this. Oh wait, never mind, I can believe it, because that's what he and so many other politicians refer to as Missourah values.

^^^ Yeah but in Washington "fiscal conservative", doesnt mean spending money on wise investments instead of pork.....it just means no money is to be spent on the urban core or social welfare.

With ridership up, transit agencies make cuts



By BRIAN WESTLEY - Associated Press



WASHINGTON -- Judging from packed buses and trains, these would appear to be prosperous times for the nation's transit systems, which have seen record ridership since last summer's high gas prices.



But with the economy deteriorating, the problem is no longer how to handle more riders. Instead, agencies are facing substantial service cuts, fare hikes and layoffs, which could chase passengers away.



Some subway lines in New York, the nation's busiest system, could be eliminated in the coming months. St. Louis is cutting bus service by nearly half. And Washington's transit agency is preparing to slash nearly 900 jobs.



As service dwindles, customers who rely on public transit might not be able to get to work and higher fares could leave them with even less income in a weak economy. Layoffs to bus and train operators, mechanics and administrative staff would add to the ranks of the unemployed.



READ ENTIRE ARTICLE:

http://www.macon.com/220/story/620639.html

Got this from STL Dotage



http://www.stlbeacon.org/region/west_co ... us_service

goat314 wrote:Got this from STL Dotage



http://www.stlbeacon.org/region/west_co ... us_service

The problem is, most of the people who voted no to transit (by my estimate) are people who never use transit, and don't realize how vital it is to the functioning of their day to day lives. I hope this is a rude awakening.



I think some live in a fantasy land where lower wage workers magically appear at the stores, hospitals, and office buildings they frequent. Many of these, unfortunately, cannot afford a car - but try explaining that to your average suburbanite, with 1 car per person +.

I am frustrated that so much of the stimulus package is being oh cars and highways when the environmentally we are at cross-roads. Instead of encouraging urban sprawl, why is not invest more of the money being spent on green public transportation? Instead, new roads will be built, more trees will be cut down, more money will be spent on putting in utilities in rural areas when the urban cores and the older suburb’s infrastructure will do without? We need to extend Metro link to areas which do not have access in the urban area. If you build it they will come.

goat314 wrote:Got this from STL Dotage



http://www.stlbeacon.org/region/west_co ... us_service

IMO, this is a fair way to continue service to these municipalities. Their entire zoning and buildout is based on sprawl and auto-centric development as opposed to dense or mixed-use urban development where transit makes sense. It is inherantly more expensive to service these low density areas and they should pay additional for this service.



Of course, I live in a dense-urban neighborhood unimpacted by the service cuts so it's easier for me to say.

JMStokes wrote:

goat314 wrote:Got this from STL Dotage



http://www.stlbeacon.org/region/west_co ... us_service

The problem is, most of the people who voted no to transit (by my estimate) are people who never use transit, and don't realize how vital it is to the functioning of their day to day lives. I hope this is a rude awakening.



I think some live in a fantasy land where lower wage workers magically appear at the stores, hospitals, and office buildings they frequent. Many of these, unfortunately, cannot afford a car - but try explaining that to your average suburbanite, with 1 car per person +.

I loved how Koenen said that he would lobby the Missouri legislature to take St. Louis County out of Metro I'm no genius but it doesn't seem like that would help our public transit crisis. The arrogance of some of these people is astonishing. Why should metro cut services equally across the region? It is obvious that people outside 270 killed prop M! They don't want to pay for other peoples rides, so why should someone in St. Louis City subsidize their slave labor?

Looks like someones chickens are coming home to roost! Instead of getting behind privatized shuttle service, how about lobbying the pass of Prop M next year? These people are terribly shortsighted.

JMedwick wrote:One might want to show Mr. Koenen the map of how the County voted on the proposed Metro tax. If the majority of tax payers in Ballwin, Ellisville, Chesterfield and Wildwood would have been willing to support the measure back in November, there would be no need to cut service. What a fool. Your communities didn't vote for the measure so I have no problem leaving your businesses without service.

This map available somewhere? I'd like to see it.

^ JMed is probably refering to the map I created and posted here:

Mill204 wrote:Here's a crude map (from here) I put together showing the MetroLink vote in Nov '08. I've also included the approx. location of MetroLink and its proposed MetroSouth and Daniel Boone extensions.

The map is beautiful. What's the legend? Obviously green is yes on M and red is no, but what are the percentages?

^ Okay, since you're being picky, I've added the differentials to the map. e.g. In the Hadley township, +42.6 means the MetroLink proposition won 71.3% to 29.7%.

Streetsblog - The Real Reason Buses Were Losing Riders Even Before COVID-19

https://usa.streetsblog.org/2020/08/26/ ... -covid-19/

Speaking of ridership...

MetroLink
2019 June YTD: 6,514,122
2020 June YTD: 3,936,629 (-40%)

- Up 40,000 through February. Was likely going to be a stronger year for MetroLink.
- June & July are going to hurt. MetroLinks busiest months are likely going to be the quietest.

MetroBus
2019 June YTD: 11,056,933
2020 June YTD: 7,912,477 (-28%)

- Up 110,000 through February. Metro ReImagined was turning out to be a success.
- MetroBus will likely rebound similarly to employment as busses are less dependent on Cards/Blues.


PLEASE SUPPORT TRANSIT WHEN YOU SAFELY CAN.
Download the app, buy a ticket, go to the park!

addxb2 wrote: ↑

Aug 26, 2020

PLEASE SUPPORT TRANSIT WHEN YOU SAFELY CAN.
Download the app, buy a ticket, go to the park!

I'd like to. I used to take the bus to and from work. It was quite practical. Over the years they cut the frequency. Then they made the route worse. Bus shelters removed here and there. They tried to take away my bus stop last summer. Then they cut the frequency in Metro Reimagined, and it was super overcrowded for morning rush. Then service was suspended for the pandemic. It's running again at lower frequency. 

I used to take the bus to the grocery store, but then they changed that route.

Sounds like the Metro Reimagined changes were working for other people. That's great, but not for me. The best thing that's happened since the Blue line opened in 2006 has been real time bus tracking. Other than that it's been death by a thousand cuts for me.

This is what I fear when it comes to riding Metro during the pandemic, and the reason I'm not riding regularly nor for more than 10-minue trips.

The Tokyo subway is safe because silence is required. Here, talking, yelling and singing are the norm, and mask usage is uneven.

Feb is typically the weakest month for ridership, hopefully this means we’re near rock-bottom.

AGAIN… IF YOU CAN SAFELY USE TRANSIT, PLEASE DO SO! They have an app for payment and planning. It’s super easy.

https://public.tableau.com/profile/alex ... ype/Sheet2