Not surprising that planning was done with little to no coordination. I like MSP Metro plan. Its practical 2 major light rail corridors, 2 major BRT corridors, and 1 commuter line. I really think St. Louis needs to focus on BRT corridors too. I really wish Gravois was one of the corridors, seems like a perfect candidate. With that said, we DO need a major N-S Metro line to balance out our very E-W system. I think a built out N-S line would give us a good framework for a rail based transit system, then we could just fill in the gaps, NW and SW with BRT.
In theory EWG Board can decide to spend 2-3 years of STP funds (about $500m fed $) on metrolink and suspend taking applications from local cities, counties, GRG, trailnet ect for those funds...now you could probably get the City and STL county on board but some type of back room deal with St.Charles/Franklin and Jefferson would have to be made that they get all the $ in year 4 or 5.
The N-S route is the most logical & eco devo line without a doubt this won't only benefit the county but it will benefit the city setting to be a true game changer for how transit is operated in Saint.Louis. This is more than potential this will be a dramatic step in the right direction & will likely forever change the face of Saint.Louis. 2 b+ is a lot to swallow however at the end it will be beyond worth the cost i believe everybody wins.
Oh good; more studies. The issue in St. Louis is that each line is seen as a discrete project and must compete and defeat all other competitors before there is a regional consensus to move forward. This is the antithesis of good transit planning and results in years of gaps between each expansion, not allowing any one project to build on the success of previous efforts. Until the City and County push for a true regional network and a plan to fund it, this is much-ado about nothing.
jmedwick wrote:Oh good; more studies. The issue in St. Louis is that each line is seen as a discrete project and must compete and defeat all other competitors before there is a regional consensus to move forward. This is the antithesis of good transit planning and results in years of gaps between each expansion, not allowing any one project to build on the success of previous efforts. Until the City and County push for a true regional network and a plan to fund it, this is much-ado about nothing.
I agree, I don't think finding funding is the problem we make it out to be. Cities like Dallas and Denver are building lines with a combination of sales tax and long term bonding. Salt Lake City gets state help, but their system is about the same length as ours and expanding with less than half the population. Charlotte seems to be taking the incremental approach and breaking ground on new rail transit ever other year. If St. Louis agreed on a plan for a system (like the one that is pictured from Moving Transit Forward) , we can be in a continual stage of construction for the next 20-30 years or we can, bond the whole package out and build it by 2030. Metro is not broke, the region has the money to build out Metrolink, its just going to take some collaboration, creative, and political will.
There has been a lot of chatter lately that the mayor's office is pushing N-S line behind the scenes and that a plan to build it will be presented soon.
In this article it mentions something called Project Connect, implying the N-S line is part of it.
goat314 wrote:There has been a lot of chatter lately that the mayor's office is pushing N-S line behind the scenes and that a plan to build it will be presented soon.
In this article it mentions something called Project Connect, implying the N-S line is part of it.
With metrolink ridership down 15% the last 2 years. It will be hard to justify a $1.5b light rail explanation with the current system way under utilized
How is that 15% being measured and how did it get attributed to safety issues?
I've often wondered how we can have five or six officers in varying uniforms at one station and none at another. It isn't that crazy to just commit to having a dedicated station agent at each platform to help people figure out how machines work, make change for large bills, and give directions to tourists. If we can't build new stations, we should at least renovate our current stations to not look so bleak and abandoned. Certainly some stations could be temperature controlled, and some of the underground stations like Skinker could be fitted with noise absorbing elements. And the mulch mounds and grass have to go, dear lord what dreary landscaping.
Metro could do a lot more to fix the impression of broken windows.
Anybody that's really concerned about safety seems to be missing the fact that uniformed officers from multiple police and sheriff offices, public safety officers, and TSA empoloyees are on pretty much every camera-watched train, and there's almost always a couple self-appointed heroes sitting around that get in the middle of other people's arguments. Short of assigning personal body guards, I don't know how much more extreme we can get.
CarexCurator wrote:
Anybody that's really concerned about safety seems to be missing the fact that uniformed officers from multiple police and sheriff offices, public safety officers...on pretty much every camera-watched train
Demonstrably false.
and TSA empoloyees
Who gives a **** about TSA? They don't serve in any law enforcement capacity whatsoever.
CarexCurator wrote:Anybody that's really concerned about safety seems to be missing the fact that uniformed officers from multiple police and sheriff offices, public safety officers...
yeah i don't think this is true, unfortunately, but i don't think it's for lack of trying on Metro's part. by state law Metro can't operate it's own police force, so it contracts with the STLPD and the STLCoPD for security. supposedly there are about 40 officers that work the trains these days, but by all accounts they're rarely ever seen, and don't ever seem to be around when sh*t goes down.
With WWT building in Westport and the Kroenke development in MH...Westport line is probably more of a possibility than NS. I would give Westport a 15% chance in next 10 years and NS .05%
CarexCurator wrote:Anybody that's really concerned about safety seems to be missing the fact that uniformed officers from multiple police and sheriff offices, public safety officers...
yeah i don't think this is true, unfortunately, but i don't think it's for lack of trying on Metro's part. by state law Metro can't operate it's own police force, so it contracts with the STLPD and the STLCoPD for security. supposedly there are about 40 officers that work the trains these days, but by all accounts they're rarely ever seen, and don't ever seem to be around when sh*t goes down.
Metro is responsible for ensuring they get what they pay for with our money. Nobody is owning up to who wrote that contract and why it's not been enforced.
dbInSouthCity wrote:With WWT building in Westport and the Kroenke development in MH...Westport line is probably more of a possibility than NS. I would give Westport a 15% chance in next 10 years and NS .05%
But by that logic, we should have had a light rail line to Chesterfield ages ago. I think if we say we care about implementing anything in the Ferguson Commission report, the N-S line, especially the N City and N County portion, should be transit priority numero uno until it is built.
^^it's a two-way contract. and for god's sake we're talking about THE POLICE. you know, the ones charged with upholding the law and stuff. what can Metro do except take them to court (speaking of taxpayer dollars)? and how do you think that would work out? it's not like Metro has any other options considering state law and that fact that any non-police security they might hire has limited powers compared to the PD.
urban_dilettante wrote:^^it's a two-way contract. and for god's sake we're talking about THE POLICE. you know, the ones charged with upholding the law and stuff. what can Metro do except take them to court (speaking of taxpayer dollars)? and how do you think that would work out? it's not like Metro has any other options considering state law and that fact that any non-police security they might hire has limited powers compared to the PD.
They could, you know, SAY SOMETHING instead of waiting fifteen years for crime in their system to get so bad that the local TV news starts investigating and uncovers that little nugget about their budget.
^ are you certain that they didn't say something? i can't imagine that, if they had known the police weren't meeting their contractual obligations, they wouldn't have said something. even if they did know, the PDs are equally to blame for taking the money and shirking their responsibilities.
Concerning ease of use. It's never going to be easy so long as so many live in sprawling cul-de-sac nabes.
Increasing bus frequency and adding bus stop signs with maps and schedules would help ease of use, but no money. And definitely don't build Metrolink in the middle of a highway!
Funny the article cites Maplewood, which has done a terrible job making the walk to the station on Manchester pleasant.
For the time being if convenient transit is important to you, you have to move to it.
So does today's announcement resurrect this? Or does Slay retreat now that he has gotten what he wants? Does this influence the County's metrolink study?
I had been hearing for a while that N-S was back on the table (even moving forward behind the scenes from another source), but recently I've heard from other forumers that it may just be a Northern spur? Thoughts?
My thoughts are that this won't influence the County's study at all. The county's study had three options, south from Shrewsbury, north from UMSL-North/North Hanley, and northwest from Clayton. None of the options for its study go anywhere near this.
I think this could help encourage a first leg of N/S, a near North City Metrolink spur, or some combination thereof. But I think it would come down more between the City and Fed (and State in its ever diminished and anti-urban capacity) than the County getting involved.
The region deciding which route would be next and applying planning and zoning efforts to encourage development along it even if it's uncertain when the new line would be built would help strengthen ridership potential.
No it wouldn't and I'm shocked you haven't figured that out yet after you constantly paddle low population growth for metro stl, 2% since 1970s is it? Development doesn't just happen because there is a fixed light rail line. See stl county and cross county. Development happens when there is demand. and when there is demand here it's in west county
