Sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), the 2013 National Dump the Pump Day is a day that encourages people to ride public transportation and save money, instead of driving their cars. This national day emphasizes that public transportation is a great travel option that also helps people save money.

Saving money is on everyone’s minds and public transportation is the quickest way to beat high gas prices. According to the latest APTA Transit Savings Report, individuals in a two-person household can save an average of more than $9,700 annually by downsizing to one car. You can find out how much you can save by putting your information into the fuel saving calculator.

Metro employee ambassadors will be at select Metro Transit Centers during the Thursday morning commute to thank our customers and to hand out Dump the Pump bookmarks.

The locations are: Riverview Hall MetroBus Transit Center, Shrewsbury Lansdowne I-44, Brentwood I-64, Forest Park-DeBaliviere, Clayton, Fairview Heights, North Hanley, Central West End and Civic Center Transit Centers.

Then on Thursday afternoon from 4-6 p.m., “Tony Transit” Patrico from KPNT 105.7 FM The Point will ride MetroLink giving away $50 Visa gift cards and other prizes donated by Citizens For Modern Transit (CMT). To be eligible for one of the prizes, you must follow Tony on Twitter @PatricoWAR.

• College MetroLink Station

To perform track work between College Station and Shiloh-Scott Station, regular MetroLink service will end at College Station for the Red Line Tuesday through Thursday nights (June 18-20) and Sunday night (June 23) beginning at 8 p.m. until the end of service. Customers who normally park at the Shiloh-Scott Station are encouraged to park at the College Station on the affected dates to avoid delays after 8 p.m. This schedule is expected to continue Monday through Thursday nights and Sunday nights through September.

• Eastbound Red Line passengers wishing to travel to Shiloh-Scott Station will board a Shuttle Train at College Station to continue to Shiloh-Scott Station. Shiloh-Scott passengers may encounter delays of 20 to 25 minutes.

• Westbound Red Line passengers at Shiloh-Scott Station will board a Shuttle Train there and ride to College Station, where they can board a regular in-service westbound train. Shiloh-Scott passengers may encounter delays of 20 to 25 minutes.

• Blue Line service will not be affected.

Meanwhile, crews have been working around the clock to restore the signal and communication systems damaged last week by downed power lines near the Emerson Park MetroLink Station. Red Line and Blue Line passengers are still experiencing delays of up to five minutes due to that issue. Customers who transfer are encouraged to board earlier trains so they can make their normal MetroBus connections. The signal equipment should be fixed by the end of this week and that means trains should be able operate normally through that section of the system. The communications system may take longer to restore.

Updates on MetroLink operations can be found at www.metrostlouis.org in the Rider Alert section.

The safety of our passengers and employees is our number one priority at Metro transit. We wanted to make you aware of a current trend taking place around the country where thieves are targeting cell phones and other electronic devices. In order to help prevent you from becoming a victim of theft, the Metro Public Safety Department offers these tips:

• Always be aware of your surroundings. Don’t be so focused on texting, emailing, reading or listening to music, that you don’t know what is happening around you.

• Keep your cell phone and other valuables out of sight. Don’t have your phone, iPad, iPod, laptop or wallet sticking out of your purse, backpack, bag, or pocket. They could become easy targets!

• If you must talk on the phone while in public, stay aware.

•  Use your cell phone’s lock feature and activate the GPS tracking on your phone.

• Do NOT loan your phone to strangers. One of the current crime trends is a stranger will ask to borrow your phone to make a call, and then when the train or bus stops, he or she exits the vehicle taking your phone with him/her.

• Keep the ringer on vibrate or off when in public places to avoid unwanted attention.

• If you are using headphones in public places, keep one ear free so you can hear what is going on around you. We know you want to listen to your music or books on tape, but when your ears are plugged you can’t be aware of what is going on.

• If your phone is lost or stolen, contact the police or Metro Public Safety officers immediately and then contact your service provider.

The 3X Muny Trolley will operate between the Forest Park-DeBaliviere MetroLink Station and The Muny on 20-minute intervals from 7:22 p.m. to 8:02 pm. before the show and for two trips or more if necessary, to the station after the performance ends. The cost is $2 for adults and $1 for children ages 5 to 12.

During the day, the #3 Forest Park Trolley conveniently connects area residents and tourists to all of the Forest Park attractions and the Forest Park-DeBaliviere MetroLink Station. For $2 for adults, $1 for children 5 to 12, and $1 for seniors 65 and older and disabled customers (with a valid Metro Reduced Fare Permit), visitors can ride the #3 Forest Park Trolley all day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Labor Day. Visitors don’t have to worry about driving in traffic congestion in the park, finding parking or moving their cars as they enjoy more than one attraction in the park by hopping on and off the Trolley. The #3 Forest Park Trolley conveniently drops off and picks up passengers at the front door of the park attractions.

Customers purchase tickets aboard the Trolley bus and the ticket is valid for unlimited rides on a single day on this #3 Forest Park Trolley route only. All Metro tickets, passes and transfers are accepted on the route as well. The Trolley runs every 20 minutes. A schedule and map of the route for the #3 Forest Park Trolley is posted on our website. Customers can also call Metro Transit Information at 314-231-2345 or 618-271-2345 from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for more information.

The Forest Park Trolley service is a partnership between Metro and Forest Park Forever and its Park Partners: Saint Louis Art Museum, Missouri History Museum, Saint Louis Science Center, and Saint Louis Zoo.

Were you able to guess when this week’s Flashback Friday photo was taken?

This photo of Central High School from the Missouri History Museum was taken in 1906 and shows a streetcar moving along Grand Avenue at Finney Avenue.

Central High was founded at a different location in 1853 and is the oldest public high school west of the Mississippi River. The building you see opened in 1893 at Grand and Finney. It might still stand today if not for a deadly tornado that hit it on September 27, 1927. The twister claimed the lives of 76 people in St. Louis. Five Central High students were killed when the school’s tower collapsed during the tornado. The school was then relocated to nearby Yeatman High School after the tornado.

Having moved several times over the years, it is now called Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and is located at 3125 S. Kingshighway. Former UMSL Chancellor Blanche Touhill once taught at Central and former St. Louis Mayor Freeman Bosley, Jr. is a Central Alum.

Happy Friday!

Every year, thousands of participants and volunteers avoid the street closures, traffic jams and parking issues in downtown St. Louis by parking at one of Metro’s free Park-Ride lots and taking MetroLink or MetroBus to the event.

Some of the more popular Park-Ride lots like North Hanley, Shrewsbury and Fairview Heights fill up quickly, so customers may want to think about utilizing other Park-Ride lots like Swansea in Illinois or the Brentwood I-64 garage in Missouri.

Metro will have extra staff to assist passengers Saturday morning, including ticket agents set up at the highest traffic MetroLink Stations: North Hanley, Delmar Loop, Forest Park-DeBaliviere, Central West End, Clayton, Brentwood I-64, Shrewsbury Lansdowne I-44, Civic Center, East Riverfront, 5th & Missouri, Fairview Heights, Swansea, Memorial Hospital, College, and Shiloh-Scott. The ticket agents will accept cash only, no credit or debit cards. Metro passes can be purchased with credit and debit cards at the Ticket Vending Machines at MetroLink Stations.

However, customers will not be able to use their credit or debit cards to purchase passes at the Ticket Vending Machines at Emerson Park MetroLink Station on Saturday because of a power issue there. Passengers who plan to board at Emerson Park may want to purchase passes at another MetroLink station in advance and then validate their tickets on Saturday prior to boarding the train. They can also purchase Metro passes with cash Saturday at the Emerson Park Station.

Some MetroBus routes will be detoured starting starting tomorrow morning (June 14) because of downtown street closures for the Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure. Reroute information is posted under the Rider Alerts section of Metro’s website.  Participants who plan to take Metro to the event Saturday can also plan their trip on the website. Metro Transit Information representatives are available to answer questions tomorrow, June 14 from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at 314-231-2345 from Missouri or 618-271-2345 from Illinois.

Metro is proud to be one of the sponsors of the 2013 Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure.

Patrons may use the regular Forest Park Trolley which is $2 to ride all day to access the festival up until 7 p.m. Then after 7 p.m., Metro will operate the Trolley as a free shuttle for the festival, running every 20 minutes to transport riders between the festival grounds at Central Fields and the Forest Park-DeBaliviere MetroLink Station.

The festival’s hours are below:

Friday, June 14th 6 p.m. – 10 p.m. (*11:05 p.m. last shuttle leaves festival)

Saturday, June 15th 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Saturday, June 15th 7 p.m. – 11 p.m. (*12:05 a.m. last shuttle leaves festival)

The 7-year-old festival features beer tastings of over 80 different styles of beer from 20 St. Louis breweries, food, live music and brewing demonstrations.

“Tony Transit” Patrico

Free money… That phrase always has a nice ring to it.

While you can save gas money each and every day by taking Metro transit instead of driving to work, “Tony Transit” Patrico of KPNT 105.7 FM The Point will literally be giving away $50 Visa gift cards and other prizes again tomorrow (June 14) when he rides MetroLink. The gift cards are courtesy of Citizens for Modern Transit (CMT). He’s calling his celebration “Where’s Tony Transit?”

Riding MetroLink between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., Patrico will turn ‘rush hour’ into ‘happy hour’ for some passengers who are Twitter-savvy enough to spot him during his trip.

Here is how it works:

1. Follow Tony Patrico on Twitter at @PatricoWAR and listen to Tony mornings on 105.7 to find out where he will be boarding MetroLink.

2. Once he boards, follow @PatricoWAR on Twitter and find Tony Transit on the train. If you are the first one to show him his latest ‘transit’ tweet, he will present you with a Visa gift card or another prize.

3. Sit back and enjoy your ride home on public transit!

Tony Transit will hop onboard MetroLink one more time this month – next Thursday (June 20) on National Dump the Pump Day. That day, Metro also will join Patrico, CMT, American Public Transportation Association (APTA), transit agencies, environmental groups and others across the country to celebrate the 8th Annual National Dump the Pump Day. Find out how much money you could be saving on gas by taking transit.

Around 11 p.m. last night (June 11), a pole holding high voltage power lines was knocked down near the Emerson Park Station.

Various equipment enclosures housing MetroLink signal and communication equipment sustained damage. Power was restored this morning but signal equipment was either damaged or destroyed as a result of the power surge. New equipment must be delivered and installed. Delivery is expected to require several days.  Until then, MetroLink trains operating between the 5^th & Missouri and the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Center Stations will run at reduced speeds and must stop at some crossings where MetroLink intersects with vehicle traffic. This stop and proceed operation is required to protect the safety of MetroLink and vehicle passengers.

Currently, MetroLink is running 5 to 10 minutes behind schedule due to the power problem. While, most of you will notice MetroLink delays of 5 to 10 minutes, we recommend allowing extra time if you transfer to MetroBus vehicles. It would be a good idea to arrive at the station in time to take a train or two earlier than your normal train so you can make your regular bus connections. That will mean boarding MetroLink 15 to 20 minutes earlier in the morning. During the afternoon rush hour, you should factor in an extra half hour to make your normal connections between MetroLink and MetroBus.

As a result of this unscheduled service disruption, the single track operation scheduled between the College and Shiloh-Scott MetroLink Stations has been cancelled through the end of this week.

BSDA/Metro announced last year plans to restructure more than $400 million of its long-term debt to lower its long term borrowing costs and strengthen the Agency’s financial position.

“We are pleased that Moody’s spent considerable time reviewing our financial plans, extensively researching our history, and is agreeing with us that our financial strategies are significantly strengthening our company.  Our refinancing strategy will allow us to reduce our long term borrowing costs while maintaining our industry leading efficiencies in operations to provide the greatest return for the dollars entrusted to us,” said Bi-State Development Agency President and CEO John Nations. “This is the result of many hours of hard work on behalf of BSDA/Metro employees.”

The Aa3 rating reflects strong debt service coverage and will positively impact cash flow by lowering the cost of borrowing. Proposition M, Proposition M2 St. Louis City quarter cent sales tax. and the Proposition A half-cent sales tax represent a combined pledge that has significantly strengthened the bond offering.

The upgrade of the Series 2009 bonds to A1 ultimately reflects the elimination of a challenging debt structure that included a bullet maturity this fiscal year and exposure to variable rate demand bonds.

BSDA/metro is looking forward to completing the bond restructuring within the next few weeks.  The result of the restructuring will lower the cost of debt over the next 30 years.

The Bi-State Development Agency owns and operates the St. Louis region’s public transit system which currently includes 87 light rail vehicles on the 46-mile MetroLink system which will celebrate its 20^th year in service in July. BSDA/Metro operates a fleet of 374 MetroBus vehicles on 75 MetroBus routes and operates a paratransit fleet of 121 Metro Call-A-Ride vans.

In addition, BSDA/Metro owns and operates St. Louis Downtown Airport and surrounding industrial business park as well as the Gateway Arch Riverboats. It is responsible for operating the Gateway Arch Trams, the Gateway Arch Revenue Collections Center, the Gateway Arch Parking Facility, and St. Louis Riverfront attractions.

The #1 Gold Line will only serve Mallinckrodt Center at Washington University on trips that begin or end at the Center. The #2 Red will not provide service on Wydown or Big Bend but will serve Mallinckrodt Center.  The Green Line will not serve Clock Tower.

More detailed information about the reroutes is available on our website, or by calling Metro Transit Information Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 314-231-2345.

- College MetroLink Station

To perform track work between College Station and Shiloh-Scott Station, regular MetroLink service will end at College Station for the Red Line Monday through Thursday nights (June 10-13) and Sunday night (June 16) beginning at 8 p.m. until the end of service. Customers who normally park at the Shiloh-Scott Station are encouraged to park at the College Station on the affected dates to avoid delays after 8 p.m. This schedule is expected to continue Monday through Thursday nights and Sunday nights through September.

- Eastbound Red Line passengers wishing to travel to Shiloh-Scott Station will board a Shuttle Train at College Station to continue to Shiloh-Scott Station. Shiloh-Scott passengers may encounter delays of 20 to 25 minutes.

- Westbound Red Line passengers at Shiloh-Scott Station will board a Shuttle Train there and ride to College Station, where they can board a regular in-service westbound train. Shiloh-Scott passengers may encounter delays of 20 to 25 minutes.

- Blue Line service will not be affected.

Updates on MetroLink operations can be found at www.metrostlouis.org in the Rider Alert section.

Were you able to guess when this week’s Flashback Friday photo provided by the Missouri History Museum was taken?

This photo of the Eads Bridge was taken in 1903 from a building on Laclede’s Landing. The trolley line that linked St. Louis with East St. Louis stopped running across the bridge in 1935, and the rails were removed from the surface level in 1942.

The river crested at 38 feet that year and the bridge was an extremely popular gathering spot for locals to view the flooded river. The 1903 flood did the most damage at East St. Louis, swamping the riverfront railyards and inspiring the construction of the first levees on the Illinois side.

And here’s a photo of the bridge and current flooding on the Mississippi River taken yesterday.

Have a great weekend!

]]> http://www.nextstopstl.org/9757/flashback-friday-eads-bridge-trolley/feed/ 0 http://www.nextstopstl.org/9757/flashback-friday-eads-bridge-trolley/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/nextstopstl/~3/n9MFDBAY4hs/ http://www.nextstopstl.org/9733/chat-live-with-metro-transit-today-at-noon-about-using-metro-for-summertime-family-fun/#comments Wed, 05 Jun 2013 11:30:03 +0000 Matt http://www.nextstopstl.org/?p=9733 The first Wednesday of the month is upon us and you have special access to key Metro Transit officials with the lunchtime Metro Transit Chat Live on stltoday.com.

As part of a partnership with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Ray Friem and Jessica Mefford-Miller answer your public transit questions today from noon until 1 p.m. live online. Ray is our Chief Operating Officer of Transit Services and Jessica is our Chief of Planning and System Development.

This week’s chat will discuss the following:

With school out for the summer, families will be visiting St. Louis’ favorite attractions and Metro Transit is their connection to the fun — whether it’s going to the Gateway Arch, St. Louis Zoo, The Muny Theatre, or watching the Cardinals play. Find out what transit services are available to these destinations so you can avoid sitting in traffic and paying for parking.

Submit your questions at stltoday.com/chat.

On special Sundays, Metro customers and employees may purchase Right and Left Field Loge tickets for $16 each and Right and Left Field Box tickets for $25 apiece. Tickets for select Monday through Thursday home games may be purchased by Metro customers and employees for $11 each for Right and Left Field Loge seats and for $20 apiece for Right and Left Field Box seats.

To take advantage of these great Cardinals tickets discounts, go to www.cardinals.com/metro and click on the green “T” next to all the games you want to purchase tickets for. Then enter the coupon code METRO13, click Apply and you can proceed to buy the discounted tickets.

The coupon code is valid for 28 games from tomorrow night through September 25. Notable upcoming games include Stan Musial Poster Night on June 6 and Replica 2011 World Series Game 7 Ticket Night on June 23.

Let Metro and the Cardinals help you save money on your tickets and avoid sitting in traffic before and after the game. It’s a win-win situation.