skip to main content

Tapping Into Transit on the Grand bus line

Mangia 8.28.13CMT held a Tapping Into Transit Happy Hour for Young Professionals last night at Mangia Italiano on South Grand and had a great time!  We enjoyed meeting so many new folks interested in transit.  We are always astounded by the number of people who care about and support growing our transit system in the region.

Thanks also to Alderwoman Jennifer Florida & Alderman Scott Ogilvie, as well as Young Transit Professional Advisory Board members Carlos Suarez, Justin Chick, Rachel Witt, Mark Phillips, and Katy Mike Smaistrla for attending.

A little after 6 pm, CMT Executive Director Kim Cella welcomed everyone for coming out and introduced some of CMT’s programs of interest to Young Professionals and the South Grand community, particularly the new Ten Toes Walking group starting from Tower Grove Park on Thursday, September 12 at 8:50 am.    We spent the rest of the evening discussing issues of importance to the region and identifying some of the topics that matter to the Young Transit Professional community most.

Below, you’ll find the questions and answers we discussed last night and invite those of you who didn’t make it to weigh in on the questions here.  Let’s keep this conversation going!  Our next Tapping Into Transit activity will be a more formal discussion on a topic related to the ideas generated here.

Tapping Into Transit logoThanks again to those who joined us, we hope those who didn’t make it will be able to participate next time, and look forward to the long term impact the Young Transit Professionals group will have on transit now and into the future

Where do you wish you could take Metro more easily?

  • Neighborhood to Neighborhood
  • Southside (Carondelet, Soulard, Etc.)
  • Soulard
  • Clayton to Airport Directly
  • West County
  • South City to North City
  • Tower Grove Park
  • St. Charles (5th Street)
  • Lafayette Square

What businesses/amenities/attractions would you like to see located near MetroLink Stations?

  • Housing or Dense Housing Close to Stations
  • Rental Car or Carshare businesses
  • Bike Rental/Share
  • Grocery Stores (with vegan food)
  • More retail in the city vs. going to the county (retail clothing, etc.)
  • Trader Joes
  • Late night transit from/around bars on the weekends

What are people’s biggest complaints/fears about Metro in St. Louis?

  • No southside service
  • Not convenient to get places unless downtown
  • Not enough focus on connectivity within the city
  • Travel time to too many destinations significantly longer than drive time.
  • Poor North/South Connectivity
  • No complaints
  • Crime/safety
  • Shrewsbury stop is too infrequent/takes too long to get downtown

What transit topics would you like CMT to address?

  • Pluses and minuses of BRT
  • Park and Ride vs. Walk/Bike and Ride
  • More Long Term Parking
  • Access to Jobs/transportation
  • Why is parking so cheap?
  • TOD around Grand – esp. regarding grocery stores
  • What happened in St. Louis?  People used to take the bus everywhere, why not now?
  • How do we incentivize Metro use?

What would you add to these lists?  What questions would you like to see addressed?  Post a comment here, post one on facebook, or write us at info@cmt-stl.org.  Help us keep this conversation going.


Translate »