As the region begins to talk about what’s next for public transit, community engagement is underway on the possibility of Bus Rapid Transit in the Northside-Southside corridor in the City of St. Louis. The Northside-Southside corridor has been a focus of regional transit planning for more than two decades. Last fall, the region shifted from exploring a light rail project along this corridor to studying the feasibility of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) options. This change was driven by several factors, including the significant cost of a light rail expansion, estimated at over $1.2 billion; evolving metrics at the federal level for critical funding; and the lack of sufficient matching funds for a project of this scale.
The City of St. Louis requested this pivot in early September 2025 due to the changing federal funding conditions under the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) Capital Investment Grant (CIG) program. According to a statement from Mayor Spencer’s office released at the time, her administration felt that the project was uncompetitive and beyond city’s available funding capacity. She requested the exploration of alternatives.
The Bi-State Development Board of Commissioners then voted on September 26, 2025, to revise the Program Management Consultant contract to evaluate alternative transportation options for the Northside-Southside corridor, including Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The proposed 15-month, $10 million study, plus 10 percent contingency effort, will cover program management, environmental work, alternative analysis and preliminary design of the project up to 30 percent.
Community engagement is now underway with the project management team led by HNTB. There are opportunities for to join in and be a part of this community-driven plan.
Other ways to be a part of the conversation:
