Study: St. Louis dead LAST in transit spending

Study: St. Louis lags in transit spending

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By Ken Leiser • kleiser@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8215 | Posted: Thursday, September 2, 2010 1:57 pm | (10) Comments

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Nobody had to tell St. Louis-area transit riders how bad things got for public transportation in recent years.

But dead last?

A new study released today by the Transportation Equity Network showed St. Louis ranked 20th out of 20 metro areas for the percentage of transportation spending dedicated to transit.

The St. Louis region spent 15 percent of its transportation improvement program funding on transit. By comparison, New York spent 75 percent while Honolulu spent 66 percent.

"The average across all of these metropolitan areas is about 37 percent," said Will Winter, a co-author of the "More Transit = More Jobs" study and a research analyst at the Public Policy Research Center at University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Winter and others who spoke at today's news conference, outside a state unemployment office on Delmar Boulevard, equated transit spending with job creation and economic development.

Similar news conferences were held in other U.S. cities.

"These jobs will create monies that will stimulate the economy," said Darrell Pulliam, a veteran Metro bus operator. "They will bring people up from the dredges and despair of poverty."

It is unclear whether the snapshot of St. Louis transportation spending lines up with other metropolitan areas. For instance, Metro's operating budget is not reflected in the multiyear spending blueprint, according to the East-West Gateway Council of Governments. The TIP does reflect capital spending, which has taken a hit in recent years while Metro grapped with its financial woes.

Of course, the overall spending picture has brightened somewhat. In April, St. Louis County voters approved a half-cent sales tax increase for transit. The successful tax vote triggered collections of a similar sales tax hike in the city of St. Louis.

The additional tax proceeds aren't expected to reach the Metro transit agency's coffers until this fall.

Posted in Along-for-the-ride, Local on Thursday, September 2, 2010 1:57 pm Updated: 3:27 pm. | Tags: Transportation Equity Network, Metro, St. Louis County, Transit,

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via stltoday.com

This is where I'm supposed to make a commend, but I have nothing to say. Dead last out of 20 metropolitan areas for transit spending. Its no wonder we're in the shape we're in when it comes to transit in St. Louis. Oh, and don't overshoot that bus stop "its only my second day driving alone" bus operator.

Posted via email from Mark Edwards 3.0

Metro Bus Restoration Is Here-Is Everybody Ready? Metro May Not Be

St. Louis Metro Transit Missouri System Map 08 30 2010
 St. Louis' Metro mass transit agency will roll out the final phase of bus service restoration since the passage of Proposition A, a sales tax increase to fund the agency, today.  The service restoration will bring bus service to thousands who lost it after the disastrous mishandled campaign and defeat of a much needed tax increase in 2008. It will also make getting around on the bus more difficult for some, as Metro had to make some hard decisions as to what changes would serve the most people the best.

 I've written much in the last few weeks about the challenges facing Metro and the immense number of hurdles they face in getting service restored today.  They have accelerated their original service restoration schedule and added more routes than even they thought they could have up and running by now.  Of course, that means they have issues of scale to deal with.  Not enough buses, not enough drivers who are fully trained, and a less than stellar promotional effort all are potential problems the agency must face and fix in order to make the transit restoration work the way the Metro brass wants it to.

I'll spare you the details, as you can find them elsewhere on my main blog, Mark Edwards Uncensored.  But as Metro has been ramping up for the restoration of service today, I've personally experienced reckless driving, new operators getting lost while transporting passengers, and drivers speeding 10 to 15 miles above the speed limit on a winding St. Louis County road on numerous occasions.  None of that bodes well for an efficient or pleasurable customer experience.

Metro has spent considerable time and effort educating its current users to the changes, but has done only a marginal (and I think that's generous) job of  informing people who DON'T use their system that there will be all this new service.  They've put up a few billboards that simply say GET ON BOARD, but doesn't even say something like "New Service Starts August 30".  They could have taken the billboard money and put a Mylar balloon on EVERY  bus stop sign that is on a new or changed route and gotten the attention of riders AND non-riders that a bus would be available for them to ride.  The agency's outreach to those who are not their customers already or who have a negative feeling about Metro was simply dismal. 

Metro COO Ray Friem said in a recent STLToday.com chat that the agency was some fifty buses short of what they need to operate and that they are aware of the problems with all the new operators they have hired.

Regarding the safety of our bus operators... we are very selective in those we accept into training. Then we put the potential operators through a rigorous training period. Included are defensive driving and customers service. All operators must obtain a commercial drivers license issued by the State and must pass written and on-the-road tests. We continue to monitor and supervise all operators. The new drivers may not be able to give you all the Metro system information immediately. That will take some days/weeks/months of on the job training.

Metro's own blog NextStopSTL wisely acknowledges that there might be problems as the transit restoration kicks in today.

What to do if you get lost or miss a connection?

Even with careful planning, there is always a chance you could get lost or miss a connection and need to figure out what to do next.  Here are some options to help you find your way.

1. Customer service. The Metro Customer Service line will be open as usual from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Missouri: 314-231-2345
TTY: 314-982-1555
2.  Email transit information questions to transitinfo@metrostlouis.org.
3.  Via Twitter use “@STLMetro” with your question. We will be available with a Google Maps app and transit information to help Twitter users.
4.  Locate a Transit Service Manager throughout the system. TSMs and other available personnel will be out Monday to help customers.  TSMs wear yellow Metro polo shirts, and Metro ambassadors have white Metro polo shirts.
Also, please help one another.  If you find someone on your bus who is confused or needs some help, please consider reaching out and lending a hand.  You may just make someone’s day.

Please don't get me wrong.  I'm happy that the new schedule is now in effect.  I personally will benefit from the schedule, with the bus I take to work coming almost a mile closer to my home than it did before.  I'll have a bus that actually passes my office for the first time in two years, and that's a good thing as well.    But again Metro has failed to adequately prepare for the service changes and has done their usual amateurish half-baked effort to let the masses know what is going to be happening starting today.

I hope the buses are full, drivers don't get lost, nobody gets hurt, and the system, partially changed to make transfers easier as long as the buses are running on schedule, runs somewhere close to the schedules Metro's very devoted Planning Department has issued.

But I'm a realist, and this is Metro we're talking about.  Be ready for anything today.

FOLLOW UP: Buses Still Might Not Be Safe, But Metro Makes Brilliant Choice For New CEO

Well Well Well

This just in from the St. Louis Post Dispatch and www.stltoday.com

Metro taps Chesterfield Mayor John Nations as new chief

BY DAVID HUNN > dhunn@post-dispatch.com > 314-436-2239 | Posted: Monday, August 23, 2010 6:59 pm

Chesterfield Mayor John Nations has been tapped to head Metro, the taxpayer-funded regional bus and light rail agency, according to several close to the decision.

He will be announced at a press conference tomorrow morning.

Nations is a partner at the law firm Armstrong Teasdale, with an expertise in city planning and land use regulations. But he also just finished leading the successful campaign to pass the half-cent transit sales tax in St. Louis County, which is expected to generate $75 million a year and restore services cut more than a year ago. Without the funding, the region may well have faced a transit meltdown.

Nations did not return a phone call seeking comment. It is not clear who else was a finalist.

This is not the first time Metro leaders have reached outside of the agency, or even outside of the field, to choose their chief.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Metro picked Robert Baer, a retired United Van Lines chairman, to turn the agency around.

 

I still have my issues with Metro, and the agency needs a lot of work.  But I've worked with John Nations and respect his understanding of the importance of mass transit to our region and its residents, his strong will to keep the St. Louis region vibrant and attractive to employers and workers alike, and his willingness to fight for what he believes in.

I said in my previous post that the new person in charge of Metro is in for a bumpy ride, and I stand by that comment.  Mayor Nations is a good man, and I wish him well in what will be a very challenging new job.

Posted via email from Mark Edwards 3.0

Metro St. Louis Service Changes June 28. You'd Think They'd Want Us To Know About Them

After a hard fought campaign to increase funding for St. Louis' Metro Public Transit System, the day service increases take effect is almost upon us.  Many will benefit from the new service and increases or changes in existing service.  That's good, but trying to find information on the upgrades is, in true Metro fashion, as hard as finding a bus west of Union Station on Market Street.
The Metro Website uses what web folks call a "Dynamic Lead" to link you to the page with the service changes  but its one of EIGHT rotating leads, so if you're not looking for the lead's four second appearance, you won't find it.  You can find the list of service changes on a dropdown menu, but again its buried along with a list of other items.  One would think that if Metro wanted to go shouting from the mountain that they have service upgrades coming, they'd at least use their own web site to SCREAM the news.
OK, if not the website, they could use their allegedly cutting edge social media blog Next Stop STL to pimp the changes.  Not so much.  Not a post on the front page about the changes, but some lovely YouTube videos of how Volkswagen has applied their "fun theory" to mass transit stations IN OTHER CITIES.   
Wait, I found a place to click on the blog's homepage that says "System Changes".  It takes me to a post from SEPTEMBER 30, 2009 about what might come in the future.  One more chance, a place in the nav bar that says "Restoration 2010".  So I click on it and am let to A post from April, 2010 that shows the PROPOSED route changes, many of which aren't even what finally got approved.
I've been both hard and complimentary in my writings about Metro.  I think the people doing the planning and development of new bus routes are doing the best they can with what they have.  I think some people there really care about public transit and our region.  But again, I have to say that the public relations and publicity efforts of Metro are amateurish and largely ineffective. 
As a Metro patron, I need to know what they're doing to change routes, and honestly the changes coming on June 28 will affect me, so I've searched out the information.  As a communications professional, I have to look at Metro's efforts and shake my head in disbelief.  And if I were a person thinking about giving Metro a whirl wen their new routes start, I'd most likely be completely lost trying to find the details of the changes. 
So let me try to make this just a little bit easier.  If you're looking for a complete rundown of the service changes coming Monday, June 28th, you can go directly to this link.  It may not be the easiest to navigate, but it does give an overview of the routes that are changing and a web 1.0 list of links to a bunch of PDF's with route information.  At least all the information is in one place. 
The local newspaper's transit blog had this to say about the service restoration Monday

Metro officials and elected leaders will be on hand Monday to welcome passengers back. They will hand out wrapped cookies at MetroLink stations and bus transfer centers.

That's fine and dandy, but won't make a lick of difference if people don't know that all these changes are taking place.
I see on the Metro Website that they're recruiting for a new CEO.  Perhaps they should find a minimally competent marketing and public relations staff first. 

Posted via email from Mark Edwards 3.0

Metro's local victory prompts state to cut one-third of its aid, and that's not all they cut!

Posted 2:20 p.m. Thurs., 02.22.10 - Less than three weeks after St. Louis County voters approved more money for Metro, Missouri is taking back a hefty chunk of its aid.

Gov. Jay Nixon announced today that he has cut $4 million from the $12 million that the Legislature OKed last year as one-time aid to the region's public transit agency, which had slashed services a year ago after area voters rejected in November 2008 a half-cent increase in the sales tax rate.

Voters overwhelmingly approved the hike April 6, which Metro said would result in restoration of many of its service cuts. Agency officials said the governor's action wouldn't affect Metro's plans. 

Ironically, Nixon cited Metro's success on April 6 as the reason he was cutting its state aid. That reasoning may anger some Metro allies, who noted during the campaign that most states -- unlike Missouri -- subsidize their urban transit systems.

But Metro chief executive Bob Baer was philosophical in his statement released this afternoon. "While we are disappointed, we are not surprised,'' he said.

"Metro has closely monitored the budget debates in Jefferson City over the last several months and we have been in discussions with our St. Louis legislative delegation," Baer continued. "We understand that the state’s precarious budget situation has put many important services at risk, and that public transit is among them."

Baer said the agency still plans to restore some services this fall, as additional money comes in from the sales tax increase known as Proposition A.

In the meantime, Metro is considering several options for dealing with the cut in Missouri aid; one of them calls for accepting a $1.8 million offered last year by officials in St. Clair County in Illinois.

In Missouri, Metro's cut was among $45 million in additional state budget cuts for the current fiscal year that Nixon announced today because of the state's continued lower-than-expected income collections. By law, the state must have a balanced budget when its fiscal year ends on June 30.

Others who took a hit:

• Parents as Teachers, a nationally honored pre-school program that already is on the chopping block for the next fiscal year, took a $4.9 million cut today. That's in addition to $2 million trimmed earlier.
• Transportation money for public schools' bus systems was slashed $8 million, which is in addition to $4 million cut earlier.
• Public hospitals, which saw a $2.2 million trim in their Medicaid payments.

Today's cuts were unexpected because Nixon and state Budget Director Linda Luebbering had said several weeks ago that they thought the $900 million that he'd already cut from the current budget would be enough to keep it in balance.

But they apparently were wrong. Luebbering announced that, as of April 20, this month's state revenues are down 19 percent from April 2009 -- a month that also had been down from April 2008.

With just over two months left in the fiscal year, this year's overall state revenue collections are down 13.8 percent -- about twice what the Nixon administration had projected just a few weeks ago.

Luebbering said in today's announcement that the state's money troubles are exacerbated because "the average income tax refund is up nearly 8 percent compared to last year, while the average payment has fallen nearly 30 percent.

"Also, withholding (income tax) and sales taxes remain historically weak,'' the statement said. "Through March, individual withholding has declined five straight quarters and sales tax has declined 10 straight quarters."

 

via stlbeacon.org

Via the St. Louis Beacon www.stlbeacon.org and veteran reporter Jo Mannies.

Stunning number of cuts by formerly family and disabled friendly Gov. Jay Nixon (D). I understand the state has a budget crisis, but some extremely deserving organizations, NOT just mass transit, really got the shaft today.

Posted via web from Mark Edwards 3.0

TV News Calls On Me For Reaction To Prop A Victory

Its kind of wild when the lady at the front desk calls and says "there's a TV crew here to see you".  That could be a bad thing, or a fortunate moment.  Luckily it was the latter today, as KSDK, the local NBC station, dropped by to talk about the passage of Proposition A Wednesday afternoon.

Alwas a good thing when I can get on TV without the terms "accused", "alleged" or "person of interest" somehow associated with my name.

 

 

Posted via web from Mark Edwards 3.0

I LOVE TRANSIT

An important message for the people of St. Louis County, where the future of the area's mass transit system will be decided in a vote on April 6. Please plan now to vote YES on Proposition A to keep mass transit running in Sr. Louis.

As a mass transit user, I personally thank you.

A Glimmer Of Hope For St. Louis Public Transit

For the next few months, you'll be seeing me write about the public transit situation in St. Louis and the need to pass a modest tax increase in order to continue to provide even bare bones service to the area. This is a topic that's critically important to me as I rely on mass transit to get around (due to a visual handicap) but its also one of the key things that will determine how the St. Louis area develops. Without an effective public transit system, the region will atrophy and ultimately lose even more jobs and residents.

I found a piece of what could be great news today in regards to the upcoming ballot issue, thanks to my co-workers at KMOX Radio.

Posted: Wednesday, 02 December 2009 4:25AM

Metro sales tax officially resurrected; message in focus
Michael Calhoun Reporting
mrcalhoun@cbs.com
CLAYTON (KMOX) -- Last spring, Chesterfield opened its wallet to prevent transit cuts in west county. Now, the
town's mayor is heading up efforts to find permanent funding for Metro.

"After what happened this year, people are now very aware public transportation and the cuts and what it meant to the region," John Nations says.

St. Louis County Councilmembers Tuesday officially resurrected that half-cent sales tax to fund Metro and introduced it for consideration. A tentative vote will happen next week.

Nations says there's little federal help and no state funding, so it's all on Saint Louisans.

"A lot of people rely on businesses which rely on public transpiration even though they themselves don't ride it," he says of the message to come ahead of April's election.

The half-cent sales tax would generate about $80-million each
year.

Look at the campaign finance reports, he says, and you'll find
both Republicans and Democrats agreeing on that.

In the face of $45-million deficit, Metro earlier this year slashed service to parts of the region. A state bail-out helped restore some of those routes.
Copyright KMOX Radio

Why is this good news? Four words. JOHN NATIONS GETS IT. In a region where so few politicians and their stooges have no appreciation for mass transit, Mayor Nations has distinguished himself as someone who understands why transit in St. Louis is important, not only to people like me who use it, but to everyone in the region.

After the disastrous campaign to get more money for Metro, the St. Louis transit agency, in November of 2008, a monkey could run a better effort for the upcoming ballot question. The people behind the measure went a quantum leap over that and got one of the region's most visionary leaders to lead the charge and hopefully convince enough people to spring for the half cent tax to fund mass transit in St. Louis.

This isn't a partisan thing, its about what's right for the region as a whole and the patrons of mass transit as well. I hope to share objective information about how the campaign is run, the chances of passing the ballot measure, and call out the creeps should they rear their ugly heads. If you're not from St. Louis, please bear with me as this is an important issue. If you are from St. Louis, watch this space for updates.

FROM THE DESK OF ST. LOUIS MAYOR SLAY

[ Mayor's Desk Home | Search the Archives | RSS/Syndication ]

Saturday, September 26, 2009 Bob Baer and Metro In December 2007, I wrote here that I had every confidence that interim Metro president Bob Baer would do a great job of restoring public trust in Metro’s direction that had been lost by its previous managers. Looking at a new study of public opinion about Metro, it is clear that Bob’s leadership has done that. People’s concerns about Metro’s future have once again focused on issues other than its management. Instead worrying as much about its litigation strategy and lack of fiscal oversight, people now are talking wanting the region’s public transportation system to go more places, to be more convenient to their homes and offices, and to be safe. That’s Bob Baer’s mark at Metro so far: he has reassured us that the transportation agency in back on track. To my surprise and pleasure, Bob Baer has agreed to become Metro’s permanent president. As its top official, he will be very prominent in the public discussion of Metro’s request for additional revenues to maintain and expand public transportation in the region. St. Louis County voters will be the first to weigh Bob’s arguments, most likely at an election this coming year. But, voters in St. Charles County , Jefferson County , and in southern Illinois will not be far behind. (City voters have already approved additional funding.) The stakes are high: a useful and efficient system of public transportation is one of the keys of the region’s economic prosperity. The panic of suburban employers over recent budget-related cut-backs in service surely reminded everyone of the stakes. I do not envy Bob Baer the challenges ahead. I cannot think of anyone else more likely to overcome them. He will have my strong support.

via mayorslay.com

Some observations to the actual words of Mayor Francis Slay's own words (because he would never use a professional PR person to write the blog) are here:

TO MY SURPRISE AND PLEASURE????????? Surprise because Mr. Baer, who is not a bad guy, has accepted the second worst job in St. Louis, the worst being in charge of attracting major national conventions here. But he's pulling in 190K a year, so he should be able to afford enough antidepressants to make the job worth his while.

THE PANIC OF SUBURBAN EMPLOYERS OVER RECENT BUDGET RELATED CUT-BACKS IN SERVICE SURELY REMINDED EVERYONE OF THE STAKES. Yeah, nobody within the city limits must have cared about the gutting of the bus system. Is that what you're trying to tell us, Mr. Mayor? When's the last time you've been to where the buses used to run in South City, or perhaps at AG Edwards/Wachovia/Wells Fargo on Market Street? I forgot, the city is wonderful and the county is EVIL and that's why you want to combine them into one completely dysfunctional unit of government.

HE WILL HAVE MY STRONG SUPPORT. Until I have to tell all the suburbanites on TV or Charlie "I Hate Metro" Brennan's show that I support a tax increase that will not build a nice new Arch Grounds, Sculpture Garden, or Ballpark Village.

Personally, I think Bob Baer, Jessica Mefford-Miller, and other very dedicated people really do want the system to improve and better serve its customers. The problem is that County Executive Charlie Dooley, Mayor Slay, a posse of legislators in Jefferson City, and tens of thousands of citizens are working hard to make sure the St. Louis region STAGNATES because nobody with political and public opinion influence will properly explain the benefits of a good mass transit system and how a small tax increase will benefit everyone in the area, even the elected officials who wouldn't be caught dead on a bus unless it was for a photo op when unused buses are turned into cooling shelters.

COMMENTS ARE WELCOME AT HTTP://MARKONTHEWEB.BLOGSPOT.COM

Posted via web from Mark Edwards 3.0

MASTERMIND OF FAILED ST. LOUIS TRANSIT FUNDING CAMPAIGN "RESIGNS"

From the Tuesday, September 22 St. Louis Business Journal:

St. Louis County lobbyist Cline to resign

St. Louis Business Journal

Darin Cline

View Larger

Darin Cline plans to resign as St. Louis County’s chief governmental lobbyist.

Cline’s duties include acting as liaison to the state of Missouri.

Cline also was County Executive Charlie Dooley’s campaign manager in 2006.

“He had an opportunity to get back into full-time political consulting, and it was an opportunity too good to pass up,” said Mac Scott, Dooley’s spokesman. “The county executive wishes him well.”

Cline did not return a request for comment.

All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

Here's the story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Curiouser and curiouser...

Home "> Blog Zone "> Political Fix "> Political Fix "> As the rumor mill turns: Dooley aide resigns amid political frenzy

09.22.2009 9:18 am

As the rumor mill turns: Dooley aide resigns amid political frenzy

By Jake Wagman

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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Cline

As our St. Louis County beat reporter Paul Hampel reports in today’s paper, there was intrigue out of Clayton last night, where an aide to County Executive Charlie A. Dooley abruptly resigned.

His departure has nothing to do with persistent rumors of a federal probe into county government, Darin Cline, Dooley’s director of intergovernmental relations said.

Nor, Cline added, was he leaving because of a pending IRS inquiry into his personal finances, though that at least is real, Cline acknowledged.

“My attorneys and my accountant are handling that matter on my behalf,” Cline told Hampel.

Welcome to St. Louis politics, circa August/September 2009.

Since the guilty pleas of two state lawmakers that straddled the city limits — former State Sen. Jeff Smith represented St. Louis, ex-State Rep. Steve Brown calls Clayton home — suspicions have run rampant among Democrats across the region.

Adding to the frenzy is that Smith was caught on a wire worn by Brown, who in turn was busted with the help of recorded conversations he had with now-jailed Democratic strategist Milt “Skip” Ohlsen III.

In other words: You never know who is listening.

Cline’s departure may have more to do with politics than justice — with Dooley gearing up for what could be a tough re-election campaign, he does not need any distractions on the Ninth Floor.

That’s not to say the feds are done with their crackdown of political corruption. But it’s anybody’s guess if the next conviction, should there be one, will finally temper speculation — or add to the paranoia of who might be on deck.

Tags: Charlie Dooley, Darin Cline, Jeff Smith, Skip Ohlsen, Steve Brown

I've written about this gentleman many times before in this blog, and from everything I've been able to ascertain, this is the person behind the embarrassingly amateurish and woefully unsuccessful campaign to add a one half cent sales tax in St. Louis County to fund mass transit. The campaign was run out of St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley's office because Metro, as a public agency, can't conduct a political campaign.

Cline seems to have been the henchman, I prefer the term HACK, charged with running the campaign, and his efforts were so horrid that a freshman PolySci student would have been sent home with his tail between his legs after having proposed a campaign that so underestimated the needs of the people and the importance of the issue. In a real business, this guy would likely have been fired for blowing the campaign, endangering the economy of the entire St. Louis region, and not carrying out his duties on behalf of the people of St. Louis County.

I don't know Darin Cline, but not for lack of trying. I've tried to link to him on Facebook and LinkedIn, but clearly this man wants nothing to do with me. I've written him asking to meet to discuss how I can help the disaster that is mass transit in St. Louis County. Not a word in reply. Maybe its the whole thing about me caring about the St. Louis region. Whatever the reason, it looks like Cline's days are numbered and he might be taking up residence in lovely Terre Haute, Indiana.

As of now, a tax to help raise money for mass transit in St. Louis is due to go on the ballot in April of 2010. County Executive Dooley is in for a major battle for re election, as he has proven once and for all that he is no Buzz Westfall, someone who would have NEVER let Proposition M fail in 2008.

Dooley, and EVERYONE in St. Louis, needs someone with an understanding of the importance of public transit, the economic value to the future of the St. Louis region that comes from a complete transit system, and the ability to communicate a message that will get people to vote for a small tax increase in April. Darin Cline is all but gone, what's the chance Dooley and his cronies can do better and actually get the ballot measure passed?

Great Expectations Lead to Great Disappointment

Monday, August 3rd. The day Metro bus routes throughout St. Louis were restored. I got up, actually on time, called a cab to take me to the bus stop, and it came quickly. OK, I thought, we're on a roll here. Even the Bus Stop sign had been set up correctly, telling me a bus would soon come.

And come it did. Right on time at 5:56AM. But there were issues. The farebox didn't want to take my money, and the operator had to turn it on and off about a dozen times before it took one of my two dollar bills. Finally, he just gave up and told me to have a seat because the farebox was messed up and it wasn't worth wasting the time for the other dollar. BONUS!

The bus wasn't exactly packed when I got on as this video shows:

But as we went along, more and more people did get on, leading to a high of 14 passengers. Metro chose to use a smaller bus, so it seemed pretty full. But there were issues. The fare box still wasn't working, so people who wanted to pay cash got a free ride. The air conditioning kept turning itself off, so the operator told us we could open the windows if it got warm. Twice, he had to restart the bus because of some ind of problem with the air pressure, whatever that means. Not a good look since Metro has had MONTHS to maintain the buses that have been off the streets since the service cutbacks.

As we reached about 45 minutes into the trip, the bus finally gave in and broke down at the corner of Lindell and Compton, just a few blocks from the new bus stop Metro put up (see yesterday's post) for my convenience, but too far for me to walk to work. The operator talked to his dispatcher, who tole him to not try to restart the bus and have the passengers wait until the next 58X bus came along, which was supposed to be another half an hour. Of course, while the decision to scrub the mission (thank you NASA) another bus going in the same general direction as ours flew past us on our left.

The poor operator was only following directions, but the combination of missing what could have been a ride downtown, where most of the other passengers were going, and knowing it would be (now) about 25 minutes until a replacement bus would be on the way led to some of the "bus behavior" I've come to know and love in St. Louis:


Most of the passengers got off the bus, hoping something would come along to take them downtown. I waited on the bus with another passenger until the next bus came, which was about half an hour after the original bus broke down. The new bus stop was where it was supposed to be, although I couldn't see one on the other side of Compton for the ride home, and I got off and took the two block walk to the office. The trip took just under two hours from when the cab came to my house until when I hit the office.

So let's review the pros and cons of Service Restoration Opening Day:

PROS

• The bus came on time
• No problem finding a seat
• Half price fare
• As promised, Metro put a bus stop near my office
  

CONS

• Metro didn't collect what they should have from the farebox (an important source of funding) because the farebox was broken
• The bus had multiple mechanical problems on its first day on the newly restored route
• The unavoidable confusion and lack of communications when the bus broke down made many people miss a bus that could have gotten them to their destination almost on time
• Half hour wait for a replacement bus to pick up stranded passengers
• In the end, the best laid plans of Metro were negated by poor execution

I started the day with such high hopes. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that there were problems, but the problems make Metro look less than competent to their customers and the people their customers tell about the experience, and that's a shame knowing what I know now about what it took to get the bus I took on the road at all.

And me? I'm thinking of taking a cab home tonight. Yes, its more expensive (by a long shot) but I don't have to worry about delays and equipment issues. Maybe, hopefully, Metro needs just another day to "iron things out".

Words Of Praise For St. Louis Mass Transit Agency

Anyone who has read this blog or looks at the archives is well aware that I pull no punches in sharing my opinion of the St. Louis area's mass transit agency, Metro. Due to my visual handicap, I can't drive, so I have always relied on public transit, and the system in St. Louis is plagued with problems. I know how hard it is to run a public transit agency, but I firmly believe that Metro is a shambles, run poorly, and not providing the service that will keep the St. Louis region as vibrant as groups like the local version of the Chamber Of Commerce claim it is or want it to be.

I stand by my thoughts about Metro, and have learned a lot in the last few months about why they are in the shape they are in. Much of it is because they are stuck in the vortex of the "St. Louis Way" of politics, with inadequate support from the region's political establishment and even less support from local opinion leaders like Charles Brennan at KMOX Radio. Full disclosure, I work for the company that owns KMOX, but not for that radio station, and any comments made on this blog are purely personal opinions. Like all public transit agencies, Metro is fighting an uphill battle, but they indeed face more obstacles than most, and that is a sad commentary on the St. Louis region.

That being said, I have words of praise for Metro, and a glimmer of hope for the future of the agency and mass transit in St. Louis. On August 3rd, Metro will restore service that was cut after the loss of funding, both to the city of St. Louis and the suburbs, where I live. That will not only restore bus service to many areas of the St. Louis region, it will bring some 300 people back to work at Metro, and hopefully bring growth to businesses along the newly restored bus routes.

Thanks to the efforts of the city of Chesterfield and funding from the public and private sector, transit service was restored to my area well before the rest of the region. The route they restored first certainly was a help to me, but not an ideal solution. I had to take a taxi, a bus, light rail, and another taxi to travel between my home and office. But at least I was able to use Metro again.

On August 3rd, Metro will reinstate the route I used to take, which stopped literally right in front of my office. This is what the bus stop looked like when that service was suspended, and the way it looks now. That's because when Metro decided to restore the route, they changed the way it ran in Midtown St. Louis, and the bus, actually NO bus, will pass by my office. While I know that affects ME, I also understand and appreciate that the new routing will help provide some kind of bus service to other areas that also had to do without.

Taking this newly restored route will not be a perfect solution either, as I'll have to take a taxi to a bus stop further from my home to get to the bus. However, the bus ride (which will be just under an hour) will take me to the area I work in without having to change to other buses or light rail. After checking out the new route, both on the internet and in person, I discovered there were no bus stops on the new route within a reasonable walking distance of my office. While the bus passes a couple of blocks away from the office, Metro didn't have a place for it to stop.

I contacted Jessica Mefford-Miller, Metro's acting chief of planning and system development, with the request that Metro consider adding a bus stop on Compton, a street just west of my office, so I could board the bus there. I made the request about a week before the service was to be restored, and I honestly had very little hope of even getting a response, let alone any action on my request. I have had very low expectations for Metro, but I know you never get if you never ask.

Much to my delight, I received a very prompt response from Ms. Mefford-Miller and we communicated via email a number of times during what had to be a horribly busy week for her. On Friday afternoon, I received this e mail:

Mr. Edwards,

Today Metro installed a bus stop on Compton between Market and Laclede. I hope you will find this additional stop will allow you to make your trip aboard Metro. We look forward to having you back.

Frankly, I was stunned. Someone at Metro was kind enough to take one person's needs into consideration and make using their system easier. I know Ms. Mefford-Miller and Ray Friem, Metro's COO, were instrumental in getting the first wave of service restored to Chesterfield, and Ms. Mefford-Miller's actions again showed me that there are people at Metro trying to make things better.

I applaud Metro (yes I said those words) for their efforts to obtain the funding to bring service back, for their planning the new service to help as many people as possible use public transit, and for overcoming the obstacles that challenge them on a daily basis in order to get all of this done.

I'm writing this before I board the newly restored bus, so I can only hope that its full of riders and that St. Louisians actually ride Metro, showing that the public will use mass transit. I understand Metro will try to get a new version of the failed tax increase it needs to operate on the ballot in the April, 2010 election. The last time the agency tried to get a tax increase, they enlisted the help of old school St. Louis political hacks who ran perhaps the most embarrassing campaign I've ever seen.

I hope the people at Metro who clearly do "get it" will not trust their agency's future to people who probably have never taken the bus and who don't have the vision to see the importance of mass transit to our region. Metro can't legally run their own ballot issue campaign, but surely they can find people who have more of a clue than the last set of goons they used that led to the defeat of Proposition M.

For now though, I'm grateful for Metro's efforts and optimistic that the darkest days are behind the beleaguered agency, the people who need its services, and the region that so badly needs good public transit.

CUTS IN ST. LOUIS BUS SERVICE MAY BE RESTORED

Friday, May 22-I just got this note from Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill's office with very good potential news for the St. Louis area's Metro transit system.

Good news for Metro St. Louis and the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority
– a bill that passed the Senate late yesterday included language that will allow transit agencies in large cities to use some of their stimulus funding in a way that will help them to preserve services and avoid layoffs. A provision included in the legislation will make it possible for transit agencies to use up to 10 percent of their stimulus funding for operation costs. Last week, McCaskill asked that funding be available for operational costs, rather than for construction and capitol improvements only. The
legislation goes to House-Senate negotiations next, and we will keep you
updated on its progress.
READ MORE ABOUT MCCASKILL’S REQUEST

We still have a LONG way to go before Metro can even begin to restore a fragment of service they've lost, but with The possibility of some money from the State of Missouri to help fund the transit system, there is a faint glimmer of hope that some service might be resorted.
I'm being a bit more pragmatic than some only because both Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and President Obama have the final say on if the money will flow to Metro or not. Beyond that, the people who run Metro and their sometimes unpredictable Board Of Commissioiners need to finalize the services changes they're currently pimping on their website and actully make them happen.

Let's just hope the hard work of Senator McCaskill, the few people who really care about mass transit in St. Louis, and others isn't negated by the incompetent leadership at Metro.

UPDATE MAY 23 The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that Metro plans to use the state money to restore and expand routes in August.

Again, one can only hope all this news is true, the bills that will provide the money will be signed by the President and Governor, and that Metro doesn't manage to find a way to screw things up.

A man can dream.

ST. LOUIS METRO AT ITS FINEST

As a media consumer and media professional, I've always been of the belief that brevity is key in communicating a message. Obviously, the good people at Metro, the agency responsible for the transit disaster in St. Louis, missed that memo.

Submitted for your approval and available by clicking the headline on this post, the newly posted Metro Customer Focus for April 2009.

Where do I begin to discuss the faults with this attempt to tell their tale of woe by FINALLY trotting our their President and CEO to talk about everything they're trying to do to get transit service restored to St. Louis?

Here are a few observations:

• THE VIDEO IS 24 MINUTES AND 26 SECONDS LONG. Mind you, that's less than the time between most bus service in St. Louis, but its FAR too long to hold even the most interested person's attention so whatever messages are supposed to be communicated are lost in the blur of the diatribe.
• Someone at Metro or their overpaid production company found the new technology called STEREO for this presentation! You get to hear the Metro Director of Communications asking questions in the right speaker and the Boss answering them in the left speaker. Let's hope everyone watching on their computer has two good working speakers so they can enjoy the miracle of binural sound.
• There's no transcript of ability to download the unnecessarily long video, so if you have a life or can't plant yourself for 24:26, you're out of luck.

Again, Metro shows its true inability to connect with the rest of the free world by trying to get their message out, but in a completely ineffective way. How much did the production, hosting, and bandwidth cost, and will they see any kind of ROI? Could the money be used somewhere else, like getting people to ride the nearly empty busses they've put into my part of the St. Louis area?

I pray that their efforts to make operating funds come from the State and Federal governments are just a little bit better thought out than this, another classic Metro public relations fiasco.

LAST MINUTE DEAL SAVES SOME WEST COUNTY BUS SERVICE

From stltoday.com:

Metro OKs buses to job centers
By Ken Leiser
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
03/27/2009

Buses will continue to roll to employment centers in the Chesterfield Valley through the end of the year under a tentative agreement announced today.

Massive service cuts will take effect on Monday and were to cut off bus service west of Interstate 270. But Chesterfield Mayor John Nations today pledged more than $173,000 to create a new route that will reach employers along the Highway 40 corridor.

That will represent the local match for a federal job access and reverse commute grant, said Metro Ray Friem, Metro's senior vice president for transit operations. Fare collections will cover the remainder of the cost.

Metro's board of commissioners authorized its top executive, Bob Baer, to negotiate details of the agreement with Chesterfield and others who are working to maintain bus service to far west St. Louis County through Dec. 31.

"Public transportation is an extremely important element of building a good business climate and consequently creating a good quality of life," Nations told reporters after today's Metro Board of Commissioners meeting.

The new route would begin at the Clayton MetroLink station, then go to the Ballas bus transfer center and points west along Highway 40.

Nations said there are 26,000 jobs in Chesterfield alone and public transportation is "an integral part" of that effort. It is critical to the nursing homes, hospitals and service sectors.

Chesterfield's pledge could include a mix of public and private money from businesses that have so far agreed to cover part of the cost, Nations said. Businesses may wind up funding the entire local share.

Some Metro commissioners expressed concerns about authorizing the 11th-hour deal without all of the specifics in hand. But others said it was important to prevent a disruption in bus service to parts of the region.

Metro, the region's largest transit agency, will dramatically scale back the reach of its bus system - wiping out two dozen bus routes and modifying others. Beginning Monday, service will be suspended to 2,300 of the 9,000 bus stops and bus shelters in the Missouri half of Metro's system.
MetroLink trains will run less frequently on both sides of the Mississippi River during peak commute periods.
Buses and trains that remain are expected to be more crowded.

This is significantly less service than there is today, but it is service that will reach the retail centers, nursing homes, and hospitals that were about to be cut off from public transit.

I applaud the hard work of The City of Chesterfield and especially Libbey Malberg, the city's Assistant City Administrator for Community Services & Economic Development. This is a rare example of a city government (Chesterfield, NOT St. Louis) working hard and committing resources in order to maintain jobs and quality of life for its citizens.

Of course, Metro has not posted official word of this deal or released the final route map and schedules. If this route starts Monday, they've got some quick work to do, something they aren't always known for.

In any event, this is a little victory, and for that I am thankful.

ST. LOUIS PUBLIC TRANSIT TO BE WORSE THAN BEIRUT

AS WITH ALL POSTS ABOUT THE PUBLIC TRANSIT SITUATION IN ST. LOUIS, THESE COMMENTS ARE PURELY PERSONAL OPINION AND NOT CONNECTED IN ANY WAY WITH MY EMPLOYMENT OR EMPLOYER.

Monday, March 30 is the day that the St. Louis region regresses to the Stone Age in terms of its public transit system, or lack thereof.

The March 22nd St. Louis Post-Dispatch has two well written articles about the situation. The first story, which the graphic comes from, is an overview of the transit changes to come. Story number two looks at the way regular people will be affected by the changes.

A peek at my previous posts will make my thoughts on how we were forced into this service reduction plan clear, so I won't waste bandwidth repeating them here. I urge you to look at those posts to get some background on this horrific situation.

Yes, as a visually handicapped person, I am directly affected by these changes since I don't drive and Metro is cutting any buses that come near me on March 30th. I've been fortunate enough to be included in meetings and communications about Metro's overtures to return service to the Chesterfield Valley, an important business destination, and some of the nursing homes in my area that rely on bus riders for employment.

Metro's publicized that they want to do everything they can to help restore the service, they've just forgotten to mention to the public that they've asked the businesses and governments in the West St. Louis County area for $300,000 to start the greatly reduced route and keep it running until the end of the year. They've also not mentioned that there will be at least a $600,000 shortfall should that service extend into 2010, and that's ONLY assuming they get a million dollars in Federal matching funds and $400,000 in farebox revenue. So yes, they've offered to help, but in today's economy, it seems fairly safe to assume that the resumption of service is a longshot at best. I think I'd rather bet on the St. Louis Rams to win the 2010 Super Bowl.

Forget my personal situation. I'll figure out how to get to work. I'm every bit as concerned about the long term impact these changes are about to have on the St. Louis region. Here's the bottom line. St. Louis becomes a THIRD class mass transit region on March 30th. Metro's years of mismanagement, the horrendous Prop M campaign orchestrated by St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley and his cronies, and lack of honest public education about the economic impact of a horrid public transit system will converge into a perfect storm that will put people out of work, leave employers scrambling to find workers-even in this recession, and make anyone looking to expand or bring a business to St. Louis think twice.

I've said in other forums that St. Louis has a worse public transit system than Beirut. Here's proof.

I've had a number of conversations with senior Metro staffers about this situation, and it does seem that they do have real sympathy for the individuals about to the stranded and the huge hit the already staggering St. Louis economy is about to take. They had a plan to essentially launder Federal Highway Administration money and get their hands on it for operating revenue, but the Feds saw right through that and stopped it. They say they're still working on ways to increase service, and if nothing else they're putting another tax increase on the ballot in April, 2010. However, anything they do at this point to address the problems they've gotten themselves into over the years is far too little, and far too late.

We as citizens of the St. Louis region should be embarrassed and ashamed of our "leaders" and the Metro Board Of Commissioners for letting this happen.

St. Louis Moves Closer To Second Class City Status

Please let me make it perfectly clear that this, uh, rant is my PERSONAL opinion only and has no connection to my employment or employer.


On November 4th, voters in St. Louis County voted down a half cent sales tax that, among other things, would fund public transit in the region, called Metro. Prop M was defeated because St. Louis is simply not a "mass transit" town, and the people behind the measure had no clue how to get it sold to the electorate. I have to share my thoughts on this, both because I am deeply concerned about the economic future of the St. Louis region and because I rely on public transportation due to my visual handicap.

The failure of Prop M will hurt not only the riders of Metro, but the region as a whole. Businesses in places like the Chesterfield Valley (near where I live) and the Hospital Corridor (St. John's, MoBap, St. Luke's) will be unable to hire employees who have had no other way to get to work than public transit. Business in the city will even have problems getting people to work for them when applicants have no other means to get to work than public transit. Let's face it, some of these people are the ones who need (and will take) jobs the most. Frequency of service throughout what's left of the MetroBus and MetroLink system, will be reduced, and in the end fares will go up.

Nothing good has come out of this service reduction manifesto. The campaign to get the measure passed was a joke, filled with touchy feely claims about air quality and oversized postcards delivered every day (one day I got THREE different ones) that said NOTHING of substance about the measure. Despite what was said by others, it was almost impossible for a reasonably intelligent St. Louis County resident to get the full details of the proposition within the context of the campaign to pass it. This was mishandled by Metro, St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley's office, and stakeholders in Metro's continued viability. In short, it was one of the most ill conceived and poorly executed campaigns in modern history.

We can't change what's going to happen in March, but we should hold those responsible for this fiasco accountable for their actions. How many Bi-State Board members ride the bus on a regular basis? I'm guessing not many. When's the last time Mr. Dooley (pictured) or his lackeys stood out in the cold waiting for a bus that is woefully behind schedule or simply never comes? The smart money says NEVER. These people were charged with getting this measure passed, and they failed in grand style. Now hundreds of thousands of people in the region will pay for their folly, both the people who depended on Metro to get around and the business owners who needed public transit to get their employees to and from work.

Can the system be fixed? Probably not. Our region has had substandard mass transit for years, and its gotten worse. Good luck attracting new business to the area once they find out their workers pretty much have no option but to drive to work if they live in the suburbs. Fat chance attracting major conventions and athletic events when there's no viable public transit in St. Louis.

Can the people who made the measure fail because they weren't men (or women) enough to tell St. Louisians what would REALLY happen if the measure failed be held accountable? ABSOLUTELY. And once employees and employers see what a disservice their elected officials and Metro have done for them, opposition will come forward.

Hey Charlie, what time will your driver pick me up to take me to work on March 30th? Since you and your stooges, along with the completely disconnected Bi-State Board have made my bus vanish, I'm sure you'll want to make sure that I, as someone who can help vote you and your henchmen out of office when the time comes, will want to make sure I can keep working and paying taxes.

Or do you even care?