Register to Vote

Voters in St. Louis County apparently will have an opportunity to vote in November to increase funding for Metro so the transit agency can expand MetroLink and secure its operation for years to come. The St. Louis County Council is expected to begin the process of putting the measure on the ballot. If you would like to vote, you must be registered. For information on registration, to go to the St. Louis County Board of Elections, Click here.

If the voters approve a half-cent increase in the County sales tax, it is expected to trigger a quarter-cent sales tax that St. Louis City passed in 1997, but has not been collected since the vote failed in the county in '97. Together, the measure would generate an added $80 million or so per year for Metro.

St. Louis County to Seek Transit/Road Funding

Veteran St. Louis Post-Dispatch Reporter Phil Sutin recently wrote the background on St. Louis County's effort to fund transportation. Sutin has covered this topic for years and his article that was on the Political Fix website provides great background to the issue. Click here to read the article.

State Transportation Proposal would hurt MetroLink

Representative Neil St. Onge (R-Baldwin), chairman of the House Transportation Committee, is floating a state transportation funding initiative aimed at rebuilding Interstate 70 and doing it with the same funding source as MetroLink expansion funding, a half-cent general sales tax.

Currently roads and bridges in Missouri are funded through motor fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees. Funding a major road rebuilding through general sales tax would be a major departure from current policy, although his plan would also include a four-cent increase in gasoline taxes and a six-cent increase in diesel fuel tax, a sales tax on motor fuel sales, and small increases in registration fees.

The problem with the sales tax as the funding source is that St. Louis City and County would contribute roughly $100 million per year toward the rebuilding that would occur outside the metropolitan area. A part of St. Onge's scheme is to add dedicated truck lanes. The plan would rely on funding from the Metropolitan area and yet provide no direct benefit to the Metropolitan area. Rep. St. Onge would like to have a vote in August 2008, about the same time period that Metro would like to go to the voters with a half-cent sales tax to fund Metro's operation and expansion.

Rep. St. Onge's plan would raise about $4.2 billion and would sunset in six years, leaving me to wonder if his plan would pass, how would he expect to continue the maintenance of the roads if the tax were to be eliminated in six years?

The Post Dispatch has already editorialized against a similar proposal of Senator Stauffer who is chair of the Senate Transportation Committee. Hopefully the Post, St. Louis area elected officials and the business community will oppose this and other state transportation funding plans that do not include significant funding for MetroLink expansion and improving passenger rail service in the state, similar to what Illinois has accomplished.

February MetroLink Ridership

MetroLink ridership continued to be strong with the opening of the Cross County Extension. Ridership was up 24.8 percent for the month of February. Ridership for the first eight months of the fiscal year was up 28.8 percent. Average weekday ridership for February was 56,533, up 40 percent over last year. Good numbers for MetroLink which will continue to grow.

Ridership for November

Ridership on MetroLink continues to be impressive with the addition of the Cross County extension in August. For November ridership was up almost 41 percent with a 1.5 million riders in November. Average weekday ridership was 57,557 on MetroLink. (Remember Thanksgiving Week cuts into ridership in November and the December Holidays also curtail average weekday ridership as people take time off from work.)

Cross County MetroLink and Pedestrians

This spring CMT will be rolling out a pedestrian/transit program called the "Ten Toe Express." Since transit riders tend to be pedestrians, the program will focus on encouraging people to view the pedestrian portion of their trip as a positive aspect, working in some exercise as part of their work commute for instance. We have funding from the Missouri Foundation for Health to work with senior citizens to use transit to improve their mobility and as well as increase their level of exercise.

All this brings me to the point that our "Ten Toe Express" team spent the day doing walking audits of each of the MetroLink Stations. I teamed with Dr. Laura Brennan-Ramirez on the Cross County Stations. We focused on a half mile radius of each station. (When we planned the day weeks ago, it seemed like a good idea, not knowing it would be a coldest morning of the winter.) Dr. Ramirez and I noticed a number of things at the stations and want your observations as well.

Exit signage in the Skinker and Big Bend tunnel stations is confusing to me. Kayak's Coffee is a great location on a cold day.

Going south on foot from the Central Avenue Station is circuitous at best. Richmond Heights to the Galleria or Boulevard is difficult. Made more difficult today by the fact the snow plows had filled the sidewalk on the north side of Galleria Parkway with snow. Thankfully, St. Louis County and Richmond Heights are aware of the issue and are supposed to be working on a plan to address pedestrian access to the station. Pedestrians are prohibited from going east from the station. The Tropicana and surrounding parking lot appears to be a good place for transit oriented development. Steady traffic during the day today to and from the Richmond Heights Station.

At Maplewood, sidewalks on the North side of Manchester are too narrow or non existent headed west. This needs a remedy. There were walks east bound with the caveat, "walker beware."

Sunnen stations has walks the lead to the station, but unless you work at the business park, where would you want to go. We did observe one pedestrian with bags walking to the station from the south. Also there as a sign at the South platform that read "Access to All Trains."

We will be sharing the observations with Metro and the affected municipalities. Let me know what you observe.