St. Louis, A Tale Of Two Cities, Again

I've been hesitant to write this post for quite a while because I rely on the taxis in St. Louis to get around since I'm visually handicapped. I have no reason whatsoever to think that speaking out, even indirectly, against the taxi companies will affect my ability to get a cab when I need one. I find myself far from the center of the debate I'm going to discuss here, and for a multitude of reasons, I don't see myself taking a leadership position in the quest to get Uber and Lyft to St. Louis. Edward Domain is doing a tremendous job in that area and I support the effort fully. However, I do need taxis often and don't want my personal opinions to get in the way of being able to get to things like doctor's appointments. But as they say, No Guts, No Glory, so here's what's on my mind. 

Courtesy Thomas Hawk

St. Louis is two cities, the one real people live in and the one the small group of civic and business leaders think they've created that simply doesn't exist except in their minds. All too often, decisions are made for the latter city, with the needs of people in the real city not taken into account or completely taken for granted. The issue of ridesharing shines a blinding spotlight on the differences between the real St. Louis and the "heavy hitters" perception of the city and St. Louis County.

Using an app to order
a ride via Uber

The region has more than it's share of problems, murder, crime, the economy, the upcoming loss of the St. Louis Rams​ and more. Leaders, at least some of them, are trying to fight all the problems while they try to promote St. Louis as a great place for tech companies to start or relocate. But one of the problems with bringing tech workers to town, and a long-lasting, unsolved problem of the region that these same leaders choose to ignore, is the horrendous transportation system in the region. If you don't have a car, you're basically screwed. Taxis are expensive and often hard to come by. The public transit system serves only parts of the region, needs to be expanded and enriched, but isn't likely to have that happen for a long time. There will be more cutbacks before there are new light rail lines, BRT, or expanded bus service. One alternative that, for the most part, is working well is for people to use a service where they can order a ride that is often less expensive than a taxi using a smartphone app.

In order to try to address the region's inadequate transportation choices for people who either can't or don't want to drive their own car, Uber​ and a group of very passionate supporters want to bring the service to STL. And to be clear, when I say "the service", I'm talking about the affordable UberX service where people giving the rides drive their own cars. St. Louis already has "Uber Black", the luxury car/limousine version of Uber. Right now, St. Louis is the largest metropolitan area in the country without Uber, Lyft​, or any other form of ridesharing. To say the least, the (and I have no other word for this) battle to bring ridesharing to St. Louis has been a spectacle. The Metropolitan Taxi Commission, about half of whose members own or work for local taxi companies, has steadfastly blocked Uber from coming to the region, throwing up roadblocks every time it seems like a deal is done to license Uber. Just this week, it looked like the Commission was close to coming up with reasonable rules for Uber and Lyft to operate under, but the meeting turned into a melee, complete with police escorting citizens out of the meeting room.

Courtesy St. Louis Post-Dispatch

This insightful article by David Nicklaus of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch​ looks at the Uber situation from a strictly business perspective, and like so many other times progress is impeded in St. Louis, cites local history for valuable lessons that the Powers That Be should be paying attention to. But the entrenched, closed circle of St. Louis political and regulatory leadership keeps on finding ways to ignore both that history and the needs of people in the region.

St. Louis is running out of eyes to blacken (as in from getting punched around over and over). The region should have ridesharing and the regulators who are holding that back should get over themselves and take the public's interests and needs into account. Once we get this embarrassing debacle behind us, maybe we as a region can spend our time and energy dealing with far more serious problems.

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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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 St. Louis Bus Changes Are 8 Days Away. Are Riders Safe On The Buses?

The St. Louis public transit agency, Metro will be instituting the final phase of its service restoration program on August 30th.  That's eight days from today, and I'm seriously concerned that Metro has sacrificed customer service and safety in the interest of getting new service up and running ahead of the original schedule they gave their patrons.

My impressions of Metro's management and staff have gone up and down in the years I've used their system.  I do think there are some very committed and well meaning people in the plush offices Metro occupies on Laclede's Landing in St. Louis, but I think they're too concerned with getting the service we so desperately need  restored as quickly as possible and have less regard for the level of training of new employees and the conduct of existing operators than they should have. 

Metro wants to get their new routes implemented, but that's meant that they have had to hire a small army of operators, mechanics, and other personnel.  It also means that they're restoring the service with some FIFTY less buses than they'd like to have in order to provide service with the right sized, properly maintained buses they'd like to have. 

Maybe its just my bad luck, but in the last couple of weeks, I've experienced these disturbing incidents on Metro Buses:

• I was thrown from my seat as a careless operator turned his bus at a high rate of speed, injuring my knee and having some of my belongings damaged.  After well over a dozen calls with various Metro people, this case remains unresolved.  In the interest of getting this situation behind me, I think I should not go into details of the accident or the calls with Metro employees.
• A new driver had no idea where he was supposed to go, and despite the fact he was holding turning  directions in his hand, had to ask passengers where and when to turn.
• Buses have been clocked going ten to fifteen miles over the speed limit on a busy winding road in St. Louis County on multiple occasions.
• An operator completely missed going into a Park and Ride lot, part of the route he had driven for months.

I'm happy that Metro has accelerated their rollout of service changes, but have they done so at the potential risk of passenger safety and customer service?  I'm guessing I can't just pick up the phone and chat with the people who run Metro about this.  So I took advantage of a public bi-weekly chat the local newspaper runs.

Here's a conversation I had with Metro's COO Ray Friem during an STL Today Web chat last week. 

MarkE: I saw the same thing at the Ballas Center last night. That computer is an embarrassment, has been vandalized, and should be removed. On another note, are you comfortable with the level of safety your riders are experiencing based on the large number of new bus operators?

Ray Friem: We are committed to taking care of the kiosk you mention. 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.

 Do we have "days/weeks/months" to train people driving 40 foot buses?  How many other people get injured on Metro buses due to (what I contend is) operator error?  Would the same thing that happened to me be a bigger problem for an elderly person?  

Over the next week, Metro management and other employees will be taking time away from their jobs to promote the service changes.  Here's how their news release describes the campaign:

Metro will help customers prepare for changes to more than 50 bus routes starting on August 30 by delivering literally busloads of information to many of the Transit Centers across the region starting Monday, August 23, through Friday, August 27.
“Information Buses” – buses loaded with Metro transit experts, new route schedules and other information about the service changes that start August 30 – will be at many of the Transit Centers. Information tables staffed by transit experts with schedules and information to distribute to customers will be located at other centers.

I agree that it's important to let riders know what is about to happen to their bus routes and what kind of new service options are available to them.  But at a time when the COO of the organization admits that his employees are enduring "on the job training", couldn't these "Metro transit experts" be using their time to show employees how to drive safely and provide customers with decent service?

I want to ride Metro.  The new service on August 30 is a tremendous leap forward and will bring a bus much closer to my house and to thousands of other potential riders.  But I want to feel safe and confident that the operator knows what he or she is doing when I get on the bus.  Right now, I don't feel that way, and I find it hard to champion the work Metro is doing when I look behind the curtain and see what is really going on.

Metro is about to hire a new $200,000 a year CEO, perhaps before the restoration of service takes effect.  I hope this person has actually ridden a Metro bus as part of their research, because it looks like they're in for a very bumpy ride if the agency doesn't improve its safety and customer service.

St. Louis Returns Public Transit To The 20th Century

Thank you, voters of St. Louis County, for passing Proposition A and funding public transit in our region!

After a heated and sometimes ridiculous campaign, it looks like the voters of St. Louis County passed Proposition A, a half cent sales tax that will fund public transit in the St. Louis region.  I for one could not be more happy about this, as my very poor vision prevents me from driving and I rely on public transit to get to and from work, as well as to other business and personal destinations around St. Louis.

Metro tried to get a similar measure passed in November of 2008, but it failed miserably due mostly to the incompetence of a soon to be indicted old school political hack who had no idea how to get the people of St. Louis to understand the importance of mass transit.  That resulted in draconian cuts in service and complete removal of transit service to thousands of people, including me.

 
By passing this measure, the people of St. Louis County have begun to see the importance of public transit, not just for people like me or people who can't afford an auto, but for the region as a whole.  Metro, the region's mass transit agency, has been struggling to provide even a bare bones level of service due to the often provincial attitudes of people who most likely have never set foot on a bus and the tunnel vision of local radio talk show hosts. 

Yes, the agency has made some simply horrendous mistakes over the years and has not been a good steward of the public's money.  But a new administration, led by Ray Friem and Jessica Mefford-Miller, have made substantial changes and improvements in the way the agency does business and improved what was a horrible situation considerably. 
This measure would not have passed without the tireless efforts of Chesterfield, MO Mayor John Nations, a rare visionary who saw the importance of mass transit to the entire St. Louis region.  He should be commended for everything he's done, both before this campaign and while leading the push to get Proposition A passed, to keep the buses and trains moving in St. Louis.

But most importantly, the measure couldn't have passed without the voters of St. Louis County (OK, 22 percent of the registered voters in St. Louis County) coming out and voting for this very important initiative  I thank you, both as someone who needs public transit every day and as someone who sees the potential for the St. Louis region to be better than it can be now.  No region can prosper without a good mass transit infrastructure, and it looks like St. Louis is about to begin to make up for years of neglect, partisanship, and ignorance and come up with a practical, affordable, and workable plan tor a much needed public transit system.

Posted via web from Mark Edwards 3.0

TODAY IS THE DAY TO VOTE YES FOR PUBLIC TRASIT IN ST. LOUIS

You have been invited by The St. Louis Region to Vote Yes On Proposition A For Public Transit.

The St. Louis Region needs your YES vote on Proposition A on April 6th.  Please read the invitation for all the details.  On behalf of everyone in the area who needs the lifeline of public transit, I thank you for taking the time to vote Tuesday.

VIEW INVITE

If the link doesn't work, please click here.  And please share this with everyone you know who lives in St. Louis County!

Posted via web from Mark Edwards 3.0

More Reasons To Vote YES on Proposition A in St. Louis

Some things about the upcoming St. Louis County Proposition A vote from The St. Louis Beacon http://www.stlbeacon.org/content/view/101349/74/

Please plan now on voting YES on Proposition A on Tuesday in St. Louis County.

John Nations: The facts support 'Yes' on Proposition A, the one-half cent sales tax for Metro

By John Nations, Special to the Beacon

Posted 11:30 a.m. Wed., 03.31.10 - An unbiased review of the facts surrounding Proposition A in St. Louis County on April 6 will lead to a fair and obvious conclusion: The public-transit system in the St. Louis region benefits all of us, but cannot continue operations or make improvements without the new, long-term funding source provided by the half-cent sales tax in Prop A. But opponents of Proposition A are desperately attempting to kill public transportation in St. Louis by misrepresenting the issue and misquoting its supporters. Opponents appear to be hoping that you do not find out the truth about Proposition A. John Burns wrote an article in this space a few days ago, which misleads the voters. It's time to cut through the political rhetoric and get to the facts that you need when you go to the polls in St. Louis County on Tuesday, April 6. BURNS: "Only 10,300 St. Louis County residents use mass transit." FACT: Burns's numbers come from an old census questionnaire and not from the actual Metro verifiable ridership figures. Which would you rather rely on? The numbers for 2006-2007, before the service reductions last year, showed 15.6 million boardings of Metro vehicles a year in St. Louis County. Further, Burns' numbers do not count the thousands of daily riders in St. Louis County who are not county residents but who rely on public transportation to get to their employment in the county. Nor does the include the thousands of students, disabled, and elderly. We will not have successful businesses in St. Louis County if we do not allow people from outside the county to get to their jobs. BURNS: "Metro has ... repeatedly asked for tax increases." FACT: Metro has been in operation for 60 years and has had only two small sales taxes in St. Louis County during that entire time, during which there has been tremendous change in the St. Louis region. The last increase was in 1994 -- 16 years ago -- and the only other tax levied to support public transportation was in 1974. Since then, federal funding for operations was eliminated and in the last four years, the cost of fuel has quadrupled. The St. Louis County Council voted to put Prop A on the ballot in April because so many citizens were distressed by service reductions after the defeat of the sales tax in 2008. Read more from beacon How much will Prop A for Metro cost county residents? TRANSITion: Who rides Metro? Low-income workers need Metro to get to their job TRANSITion: Without state or federal help, Metro depends on sales taxes to pay for operations TRANSITion: From horses to high speed, the history of the region's mass transit TRANSITion: Metro explains what Prop A's half-cent sales tax would buy BURNS: "Metro made the disastrous decision not to apply for federal funding" for Cross County MetroLink expansion. FACT: Metro did not, and in fact could not, make that decision. That authority legally resides with the East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EWGCG), the region's planning agency. Also note that EWGCG, the St. Louis County Council and the Metro Board have all agreed to pursue only future expansions that are supported by federal funds. BURNS: "The plan doesn't contain simple information such as where a new light-rail route will be built and by what date." FACT: After more than 30 regional public meetings, Metro has produced a long range plan which has been adopted unanimously by both the Metro Board and by East-West Gateway. The plan's priorities are (1) restore service cuts implemented in 2009, (2) expand the bus system and improve service throughout St. Louis County with expanded Metro Bus, Call-A-Ride for the elderly and disabled, and new Bus Rapid Transit, and (3) plan for future light rail expansion, which will only happen if economically feasible and with continued extensive public participation. Metro is not empowered to decide where a future light rail would be; that decision belongs to East-West Gateway. BURNS: Metro "hasn't proven to voters that it can successfully manage itself." FACT: More than 20 independent reviews and audits over the last two years have given Metro's new management team a clean bill of health. In fact, Metro has won awards for excellence in financial reporting, budget practices and risk management. The region's political leadership and more than 250 endorsements confirm that there is a "New Metro" which has definitely earned the public's trust and support. BURNS: "Metro doesn't allow the public to look at its books." FACT: Metro is a public agency and its financial statements, audits, budgets and nearly every other document it has are open to public inspection -- many of them online -- and are discussed in public meetings by the Board of Commissioners. Visit MetroStLouis.org and click on the "Inside Metro" tab. BURNS: "With all of this oversight, why are they $50 million in the red?" FACT: Oversight does not create revenue. Only revenue from fares, which Metro has increased four out of the last five years, is keeping pace with inflation. Federal funds for operating systems like Metro ended in 1999, leaving (in today's dollars) a $30 million annual gap. Many regions filled that gap with state and/or local support; ours did not. Missouri contributes about 1 percent of operating funds while the national average from states is about 23 percent. Revenue from regional sources has been flat or declining. Those are the reasons Metro needs more revenue. Opponents want you to believe that the funding situation began with the latest light rail extension, but the truth is that Metro has been talking about this for more than a decade. BURNS: "Metro has demonstrated it doesn't care about its employees or the poor." FACT: Metro's employees and the poor, who are among the highest number of Metro riders, are among the biggest supporters of Prop A. They all know how essential public transit is to them and to the region as a whole. Metro took many steps to avoid layoffs or service reductions, but it can only go so far when costs increase and revenues decrease. All one has to do is look at the many groups who are supporting this issue to realize how shameful Burns' political tactics are. Those are the facts and they're readily available to anyone interested in the truth. And they clearly support a "yes" vote on Proposition A. John Nations is mayor of Chesterfield, chairman of the Advance St. Louis campaign supporting passage of Proposition A, and a long-time advocate on employment and transportation matters in the St. Louis region. To reach him, contact Beacon features and commentary editor Donna Korando.

Posted via web from Mark Edwards 3.0