Current conditions on Grand Avenue Viaduct.

MetroLink’s Grand Avenue Station is about to undergo a substantial redesign with exciting improvements to become the Scott Avenue Transit Plaza – all while the City of St. Louis replaces the Grand Avenue Viaduct with its own exciting design over the MetroLink tracks.

In cooperation and conjunction with the City’s project, Metro is at the same time improving the MetroLink Station, bus waiting area, and passenger amenities: The Scott Avenue Transit Plaza Project!

The project details:

• Wind and rain shelters on the bridge for Metro customers;
• Removal of on-street parking on Scott Avenue at the MetroLink Station and creation of a 50-70 car park and ride lot;
• Removal of current bus shelters on Scott Avenue;
• Construction of a new transit plaza with seating, vending area, landscaping, and public restrooms;
• Access to MetroLink platform will be changed from east end to west end;
• Elevator and stair towers will be moved north, so they touch down in the new plaza area rather than on the MetroLink platform, for better visibility and line of sight;
• New bus turnout area at the new transit plaza;
• Improved and pedestrian-scale, more welcoming lighting;
• Funded by FTA capital grants (money that can’t be used to support operations, in other words) and local match (required to get federal capital dollars).

Meanwhile, the City of St. Louis will be replacing  the six undivided lanes with four divided lanes plus dedicated bus pullouts (no more buses stopped in traffic on the bridge!), widening sidewalks, and improving pedestrian accommodations on the bridge. The city’s intent is to make this a “signature bridge” for St. Louis.

The new transit plaza area will be built under the bridge where the bridge piers (supports) are located now. (Those piers will be removed when the City demolishes the current bridge.) If you’re finding this hard to visualize, please check out the nifty slideshow we put together for Saint Louis University about this project.

Scott Avenue Transit Plaza CCP Feb 09 2010 (2)

Decorative "organic-feeling" iron fencing.

Metro is working with an artist, Barbara Grygutis, who has helped make the design of the plaza more “organic” and welcoming, with touches like enhancing the fence to a decorative iron fence and using different colored paving stones, including some clear blue stones that will be lit from below with LED lights. Ms. Grygutis will also create a lit art piece in her unique style that will help enhance the area. Check out her website for some images of her previous work. Ms. Grygutis’s work on the project is funded from the 1% public art and enhancement funds as required by federal guidelines.

Metro’s project team, overseen by Senior Project Manager Jerry Wittenauer, also includes the engineering firm Horner & Shifrin, as well as The Lawrence Group and its sister company, Austin Tao & Associates.

Why don’t we use turnstiles at MetroLink stations?

The reason for the proof-of-payment system used on MetroLink is that the system would never have been built if it had been designed as a “barrier” system with turnstiles and station attendants as you see in New York and Boston.

The cost of such a turnstile system was far beyond the resources of the St. Louis region, which was financially unable to contribute money for the construction of the original line from 5th and Missouri in Illinois to North Hanley. The “local share” required to match federal construction funds was provided by the City of St. Louis trading the MacArthur Bridge to the Terminal Railway Association in exchange for the Eads Bridge and downtown tunnel, with the value of the trade calculated as the “local share.” Only after the first MetroLink line was built in 1993 did the region levy sales taxes for future construction.

The proof-of-payment system is the current industry standard. Some systems have applied it after determining that they would lose less money to fare evasion than it would cost to build and maintain a barrier (turnstile) collection system. Light-rail systems constructed in the past 20 years are all proof-of-payment systems like St. Louis. They include San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose, Buffalo, Minneapolis, Portland, Seattle, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix (under construction), Denver, Los Angeles. Most of the light-rail systems (not subway) in Europe are also proof of payment, as are some of the bus systems.

Nationally, the rate of fare evasion is 6 percent. According to audits of our system, MetroLink experiences a 4 percent fare evasion rate (MetroBus and Call-A-Ride require fare payment upon entry of the vehicle). While a system that allowed no fare evasion is ideal, building and maintaining an effective barrier system, like turnstiles, would be an incredible and prohibitive cost to the system. Los Angeles Metro (MTA) recently decided to test turnstiles on several of their light-rail stations, but only after they reached a critical mass of ridership and system coverage:

“Turnstiles have been discussed by our policy-makers for many years,” said Jane Matsumoto, a deputy executive officer at MTA who manages the TAP program. “In the past, we did not have the ridership or the coverage of service we do now. Proof of payment was much more manageable then.” – LA Times, Aug. 17, 2009

The Transport Politic has questioned the cost-return for investing in turnstiles. The author estimated that it would take 45 years for St. Louis to make up the cost to install and maintain turnstiles at MetroLink stations.

Does that mean that MetroLink will always use a proof-of-payment system? No. As Los Angeles Metro is discovering, when a system reaches a critical point of ridership and system coverage, the cost-benefit of a barrier system becomes much higher, and it becomes more profitable to invest in turnstiles. As Metro ridership and scope hopefully increase in the future, we will have to evaluate the next steps in fare collection and enforcement to accommodate the needs of the system.

It’s always important to remember that public transit is more than buses and trains. Watch:

Metro Means Freedom – Stuart & Dianne Falk from St. Louis Metro Transit on Vimeo.

The Uppity Theater Company is the sponsor of the DisAbility Project Theater Group. You can schedule for them to come out and speak to your organization, business or school on a variety of topics from asthma to ADA accessibility to finding love. The group seeks to raise public awareness about disability and empower and honor the disabled through the stage. Schedule a performance for your organization!

Transit rider John gets up every workday morning at 3:15 a.m. to catch several buses to get to his job at St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield from his home in North St. Louis County. He is one of the hundreds of people who take transit to the healthcare businesses in Chesterfield, and one of the thousands of people who take transit to work every day. People may not realize it, but transit riders are all around us, keeping the St. Louis economy going and making this a better community. What if people like John couldn’t get to their jobs?

Watch:

Metro Means Business – Healthcare Employee John from St. Louis Metro Transit on Vimeo.

For more transit rider stories, visit here.

However, TripFinder will be phased out. We’ve decided to embrace Google Transit in the future for several reasons, including Google’s free licensing policy, its visual schematic, its ease of integration with other online applications (you can post it to your blog, e-mail, etc.) and its use on mobile phones. But we want to make the transition as smooth as possible. Some differences do exist between TripFinder and Google Transit as trip planning applications, and there are positive and negative aspects to both. We will, however, use all of the feedback that you have provided on the blog and to Customer Service to create a series of tutorials on the use and features of Google Transit to help make this transition easier and more convenient. But in the meantime, we want our riders to be able to find their way on transit.

Steps Moving Forward

1. TripFinder link will be available on home page of www.metrostlouis.org.

2. Communications, Customer Service and IT will create a list of complaints and concerns regarding the use of Google Transit.

3. Nextstop will present a list of uses and features to highlight during tutorials for readers’ review and comment.

4. Online video and written tutorials will be created and placed online.

5. Tutorials will be open to feedback and review.

6. TripFinder will be phased out within several months. We will keep you posted on the exact date.

We suggest trying to use both trip planning applications to compare and learn, and please continue to give us feedback. Look for tutorials on how to use Google Transit and its applications in the near future!

Part of the Moving Transit Forward team: (left to right) Renee Ducker of URS, Jayson Hagen, Mark Phillips, Jessica Mefford-Miller, Ken Kinney of URS and Todd Hennessy

The Board of East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EWGCG) today unanimously approved and adopted Moving Transit Forward, the long-range plan Metro developed through transportation research and community input.  The plan offers options that EWGCG, the region’s planning agency, can use when deciding next steps for public transit in St. Louis.  Once EWGCG makes those decisions on transit service, Metro implements and operates those services.

Metro’s Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the plan on February 12.

The plan is a blueprint designed to help EWGCG decide how best to meet transit needs in all sectors of the region in manageable time frames. The projects discussed in each phase are:

Short-Range (1-5 years)

• Restoring services cut last year to increase coverage and frequency back to levels before the reductions
• Planning and design for the next MetroLink extension that would be determined by EWGCG
• Two Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) routes. BRT offers higher speed, high capacity service (also to be determined by EWGCG)
• Improved passenger amenities and technology

Medium-Range (5-10 Years)

• Construction and operation of one light-rail expansion route
• Additional BRT routes
• Additional transit centers

Long-Range (10-30 years)

• Planning, construction and operation of a second light-rail alignment
• Begin planning and engineering for a third light- rail extension

The plan is designed to meet citizens’ request for fiscally responsible and realistic options for transit in St. Louis.  Metro cannot build any project outlined in its long-range plan until EWGCG officials approve it, and all possibilities depend on obtaining a new, long-term source of local revenue and increases in state and federal support.  A timeline for reviewing the projects will be determined by the EWGCG.

Check out the details of the long-range plan on the Moving Transit Forward website.

The Hive at Delmar Loop Transfer Center. Photo by Dan Donovan.

Last night, a story on KTVI discussed the installation of two public art pieces at MetroLink’s Delmar and Richmond Heights stations, asking why Metro had spent money in that way. We tackled this question last October when Metro President and CEO Bob Baer was interviewed for the story, and we did a short video about the Hive artwork at Delmar.

But we think the answer to the question of why we install art at transit stations is relatively simple: It’s required as a condition on the funding we get through the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) and it’s a valuable way to enhance public transit as a vital part of our community.

Under the Transit Enhancements Section of FTA regulations, a transit agency in a region with a population of 200,000 or more must spend at least 1 percent of the federal funds it receives on projects that enhance transit activities. While one percent is the FTA minimum, communities often spend more to ensure that transit enhances, rather than detracts from, the urban landscape. The FTA requires that level of spending because it believes the visual quality of the nation’s public-transit systems has a profound impact on transit customers and communities at large. Public-transit systems should be positive symbols for cities to attract local riders, tourists and the attention of decision-makers for national and international events. Good design and art can:

•    Improve the appearance and safety of a facility
•    Give vibrancy to public spaces
•    Make customers feel welcome
•    Contribute to the creation of livable communities.

How does art help accomplish that?

•    More attractive spaces add value to the homes and businesses around the transit plazas
•    People take better care of more attractive spaces, which reduces the cost of repairing vandalism
•    It attracts customers, adding to a sense of safety and comfort while using the space
•    Regions enhance their public spaces to attract tourism

An added bonus is the financial impact on the community through the employment of local engineers and fabricators used on the projects.
Let’s look at how much was spent on the Hive sculpture at the Delmar Transit Plaza in July 2009.

•    FTA grant: $69,291
•    Local matching funds required by the FTA: $17,322
•    A total of $86,613

How much was spent on the Mime sculpture at the Richmond Heights MetroLink Station in July 2009?

•    Local capital funds from the Cross County project: $140,000

These artworks are installed across Metro’s system by our Arts in Transit program, which began in 1986 to coordinate the efforts of artists, engineers and architects in the design of the MetroLink light-rail system. It has since installed many public art pieces, as well as developed a curriculum guide for teachers, coordinated ongoing community projects, and installed literary works in buses and trains.

Questions about our public art in transit? Leave your comments below.

So we’d like to give you a token of our appreciation and recognition of your Honor.  On March 18th at 9 a.m., all of the current mayors of MetroLink stations in St. Louis at that time will receive a goodie bag of Metro items guaranteed to demonstrate your superior governing clout, including a Metro glass mug, pens, buttons, writing pads, reusable tote and most deliciously, a special-edition handmade “MetroLink Mayor” cookie from Mississippi Mud House on Cherokee Street in St. Louis.

An example of one of owner Casey Miller's creations.

As ambassadors of transit, we appreciate your service to the great nation of Foursquare and MetroLink riders everywhere.  Keep it up!

Bus stops in St. Louis area that have already received ADA upgrades

Working list of bus stops to receive ADA-compliance upgrades in 2010

A little background: The Americans With Disabilities Act was enacted in 1990 to provide protection against discrimination for individuals with disabilities. Part of that mission includes ensuring that public facilities, like courthouses and bus stops, are accessible to all. It’s particularly important for transit to be accessible, because people who are dependent on transit due to disability absolutely must be able to access our facilities! Our old bus stops were “grandfathered in” but any new stops we build have to be ADA-compliant. What to do about those old stops, though? We want to upgrade these stops to make our system as accessible as possible, even though the law says we don’t have to. That’s where the Freedom Grant comes in – it supplies the funds necessary to bring the old stops into compliance and provide much-needed mobility to our transit-dependent customers. I recently sat down with Dave Sander in Metro’s Engineering Department and with Lance Peterson and Linda Baker in Metro’s Planning Department to discuss Metro’s Bus Stop Enhancement program. Here’s what I learned:

• Metro planners surveyed each one of our 9,100+ (at the time) bus stops to determine which were ADA-compliant and which were not.
• Metro planners developed criteria to help prioritize which stops needed help first; factors included: Number of customers using the stop, whether the stop was a transfer point (a place where you can get off one bus and catch another), whether ADA-compliance was technically possible at a stop, who the stop serves, the condition of adjacent sidewalks, and more.
• Metro partnered with Paraquad for input and reviewed customer complaints, along with the above criteria, to decide which stops would be addressed first.

Bad sidewalk at St. Louis Ave. & Newstead

“Enhancements” are different depending on the location of each stop, but include:

- creating the concrete “landing pad” for boarding the bus
- adding a concrete pad for a bench
- correcting the slope of adjacent sidewalks
- adding missing accessible curb ramps,

and even in some cases fixing sidewalks that were, as the planners put it, in “deplorable” condition – even if those sidewalks don’t technically belong to Metro. In some cases, fixing the sidewalks was the only way to get the slope down to ADA compliance. The planners then share that information with St. Louis County, the City, and the municipal streets departments to alert them when sidewalk conditions are bad. At the same time, Metro is using the information gained from this project to evaluate each bus route, stop by stop, to eliminate unnecessary stops and improve operating speeds and efficiency. And the planners are adding a unique stop number to each stop, so if customers have a question about schedules or routes, they can give their stop number to Customer Service when they call. The contractor is getting permits and, weather permitting, construction can start any time.

Do you have any bus stops to nominate for this program? If you do, let us know here at the blog and we’ll check with Planning to see whether your stop is on the list.