...and I agree, the signage from above ground is horrible. Just drive along Forest Park Parkway westbound, and you can barely tell there are stops at Skinker and big bend. The last time I drove by the intersection, the SW corner of Forest Park and Skinker was the worst. It's just a ramp under ground, with very little indicating where the tunnel goes.
Jeff707 wrote:...and I agree, the signage from above ground is horrible. Just drive along Forest Park Parkway westbound, and you can barely tell there are stops at Skinker and big bend. The last time I drove by the intersection, the SW corner of Forest Park and Skinker was the worst. It's just a ramp under ground, with very little indicating where the tunnel goes.
Plus there's no signage underground indicating which stop it is. But I think Busdad indicated a few pages back the signs are on backorder plus the new line opened sooner than expected.
I'm not expecting anything gaudy though. Heck, I was in Chicago a few weekends ago and noticed that the underground Red Line "L" stop right in front of our hotel only had one small sign about 1 foot by 4 foot.
This morning it looked like Wash U's maintainence people were starting work on a sign similar to the one at the corner of Skinker and Forsyth that says "Washington University in St. Louis - Danforth Campus". Should make that corner look better.
Busdad wrote:Metro will use 30 foot transit buses.
Wash U used 28 or 29 foot coach on chassis vehicles. Metro's vehicles are 102 inches wide. Wash U vehicles are slightly narrower and may not be as high.
A full sized Metro bus is 40 feet in length. We also own 35 foot buses. We will exclusively use 30 foot buses.
We are running training buses through Demun and the Eastgate-Westgate area of UCity (equally tight) . I am sure we will get stuck since even cars get stuck behind double parked cars and people who stick their cars on the the end of the corners. Wash U also got stuck periodically. The 30 footers seem to work ok under the normal tight conditions.
It sounds like things aren't going well with the 2-WUSTL Red line. According to the drivers you guys are already looking to pull out of the neighborhood because of problems making some of the turns: specifically from Northwood to DeMun Ave and DeMun Ave to South Rosebury. I guess the problem is people are parking where they shouldn't and your drivers can't make the turns.
You guys should try and work with the Clayton police to get them to enforce these no parking areas. Plus they should repaint the curbs to clearly show the no parking zones. For example the curb across from Kaldis Coffee on DeMun only has three very faded stripes to show it is a no parking area. All the Clayton streets department needs to do is come out and repaint the curb a solid bright yellow and that should help.
I also heard someone is complaining about your drivers going too fast. That's total BS since the old Wash U shuttle drivers were maniacs. They barely slowed down for stopsigns and used to tear through the neighborhood as if they were driving a Mini Cooper or Mazda Miata. Your guys are a lot better.
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MattnSTL wrote:Jeff707 wrote:p**** = poopy?
No.
Another word for kitty cat?
One gripe I have about the MetroLink is the signage at the stations. For lack of a better word, I think the signage is really p****.
If that's the case, that wouldn't even make sense.
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I agree the signage is completely ****! P**** = weak? I'm guessing.
But seriously - I was driving down FP Parkway with someone who is generally aware of what's happening in the city and at FP/Skinker he asked, "What's THAT?". 'That' was the new metro stop. Of course there wasn't a sign to be seen. It sounds like signage may be on order, but I think this is a problem in general. When I first used the Metro stop at the convention center I just had to assume that the awning that led underground was it - OK, that wasn't such a leap, but I think the metro stops are easy to miss. This is a problem as there is a lack of awareness where Metro goes and visitors from out of town are likely to miss the fact that there's a metro at all.
But seriously - I was driving down FP Parkway with someone who is generally aware of what's happening in the city and at FP/Skinker he asked, "What's THAT?". 'That' was the new metro stop. Of course there wasn't a sign to be seen. It sounds like signage may be on order, but I think this is a problem in general. When I first used the Metro stop at the convention center I just had to assume that the awning that led underground was it - OK, that wasn't such a leap, but I think the metro stops are easy to miss. This is a problem as there is a lack of awareness where Metro goes and visitors from out of town are likely to miss the fact that there's a metro at all.
I was talking with a friend while driving west on I44 under the new line. We were talking about the new line. I told him how I rode it a couple weeks ago and then went to Central West End and Downtown. He said, "Metrolink doesn't go downtown." 
I had to explain how it does, in fact, go downtown and into really cool, old tunnels then crosses the Eads Bridge. He also didn't know that it went to downtown Clayton.
I had to explain how it does, in fact, go downtown and into really cool, old tunnels then crosses the Eads Bridge. He also didn't know that it went to downtown Clayton.
Where exactly did he think it went? It's weird to think that so many people are clueless about their own hometown. But I guess we're spoiled on this site. I still can't get over the fact that some people were not even aware that Metrolink was expanding.
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It would be easy to write-off some people as just being unaware. But whose fault is it if someone doesn't know a product is available? Probably the owner of the product.
Ihnen wrote:It would be easy to write-off some people as just being unaware. But whose fault is it if someone doesn't know a product is available? Probably the owner of the product.
Meaning? The taxpayers?
Jax wrote:I was talking with a friend while driving west on I44 under the new line. We were talking about the new line. I told him how I rode it a couple weeks ago and then went to Central West End and Downtown. He said, "Metrolink doesn't go downtown."
I'm not trying to be mean, but if your friend is a St. Louis resident, he's not too bright.
Where did he think it went?
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Meaning Metro.
Someone else mentioned earlier that Metro doesn't seem to have advertised the new line. It got coverage in the local news, but I think there should have been large temporary signs near the new stops/on billboards where roads are near the new line/etc. etc. etc. to really advertise that there's something new here. It's a bad (not to mention unproductive) assumption to think that people who live in a city should just know what services are available.
Someone else mentioned earlier that Metro doesn't seem to have advertised the new line. It got coverage in the local news, but I think there should have been large temporary signs near the new stops/on billboards where roads are near the new line/etc. etc. etc. to really advertise that there's something new here. It's a bad (not to mention unproductive) assumption to think that people who live in a city should just know what services are available.
Ihnen wrote:
It would be easy to write-off some people as just being unaware. But whose fault is it if someone doesn't know a product is available? Probably the owner of the product.
Meaning? The taxpayers?
I was thinking that too. But, it's not just him. Several people I've come across have no idea where it goes. Because I live in west county, all these people that I've come across are from west county. Last spring, the subject of public transportation came in one of my classes. Someone made a quick mention of MetroLink. Another student said something like, "But, the problem is that it doesn't go anywhere." "Many of the most dense areas of our central corridor as well as the airport, some inner-ring suburbs, and some suburbs to the east" fall outside of his definition of anywhere. A majority of the class didn't really have any reason to disagree with him because they knew nothing of the line.dweebe wrote:Where did he think it went?
My aforementioned friend is one example, but he's not alone. I've come across a great many people who have no idea where the MetroLink goes. Since they don't know where it goes and it doesn't go near them, then it must, of course, go nowhere. A great way to combat this ignorance of one of America's best light rail systems in our own urban core is to get everyone to know just how many places are served by it. The best thing, though, would be to show how it is useful to them.
That is the magic word. If it falls outside their scope of living then they have no use and dont care what Metrolink is. They just know that it is a terrible waste of money for something that no one uses.The best thing, though, would be to show how it is useful to them.
Why doesn't metro take out full page ads in the post? Put up billboards touting it? A big map. A list of all the places it serves: Busch, the Landing, Wash Ave, SLU, CWE, Forest Park, Clayton, the Galleria, etc, etc...
dweebe wrote:...That's total BS since the old Wash U shuttle drivers were maniacs. They barely slowed down for stopsigns and used to tear through the neighborhood as if they were driving a Mini Cooper or Mazda Miata. Your guys are a lot better.
They often didn't slow down to pick up passengers either...
I was passed by twice by red line drivers, at a shuttle stop, and if I had been standing any closer to the street they would have hit me. On one occasion, I even hit the side of the bus as it went by with my fist, and he never even touched the brakes as he blew past me and through the stop sign.
The main problem is that the very same thing that makes Metrolink a great system (dedicated right-of way, next to no interference with other infrastructure or communities through which it travels) is also its main problem. There is no visibility of the system to those who do not seek it out. Very rarely do they even advertise for the Metrolink on the side of Metro buses! What I truley do not understand is the advertisement for the system that can be seen on Metrolink platforms. Wouldn't you think those people already know where it goes?
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Jax wrote:I was talking with a friend while driving west on I44 under the new line. We were talking about the new line. I told him how I rode it a couple weeks ago and then went to Central West End and Downtown. He said, "Metrolink doesn't go downtown."
He's never been to a Cardinals game?
I doubt it. He's only lived here for a year and a half(ish). Also, I don't think he's a big baseball fan.
Jeff707 wrote:Why doesn't metro take out full page ads in the post? Put up billboards touting it? A big map. A list of all the places it serves: Busch, the Landing, Wash Ave, SLU, CWE, Forest Park, Clayton, the Galleria, etc, etc...
I can't imagine the reaction people would have. Bill McClellan would probably write a column about it, similar to the one he wrote about Ameren's advertising. They're already in deep financial trouble -- taking out billboards and ads would just hasten it.
IMO, it's not a bad idea to HAVE ads; I just feel it belongs in the realm of Citizens for Modern Transit or another advocacy group, not with Metro.
Trust me, the couple thousand dollars it would take is nothing compared to their other expenses.