Dr. Tsung-Chung Kao, a professor and scholar from the Railroad Transportation & Engineering Center at the University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign visited St. Louis this week and gave a highly enlightening glimpse into what High Speed Rail (HSR) in the United States-more specifically the Midwest region-would look like. Drawing from his experience in his home country … Continued
More than 75 CMT members, friends, developers and interested citizens joined CMT this morning for the Opportunities Around Light Rail Panel Discussion. Local ‘champions’ highlighted opportunities around their stations, and Amos Harris, partner with Spinnaker St. Louis, highlighted his brand new TOD in the $250 million Mercantile Exchange Development atop the Convention Center Staton. One of the most … Continued
The Washington University Office of Sustainability is hosting its first-ever conference this fall to explore innovative ideas and strategies that advance a sustainable urban future. For the first time in human history, the majority of the world’s population now lives in cities. The conference is FREE and open to all students, faculty, staff and community … Continued
The Mile-High city of Denver has a Transit Oriented Development Fund which will generate and preserve at least 1,000 affordable homes for the areas along the existing and future transit corridors. With new transit station openings approaching, $15 million is available to purchase and hold sites, which are within one-half mile of fixed-transit stations or … Continued
CMT’s keynote speaker, Laura Aldrete, spoke about the impacts of Denver’s transit program on the local economy and development. Aldrete oversses the Denver office of Parsons Brinckerhoff’s PlaceMaking Group. Prior to her position at Parsons Brinckerhoff, she served as the assistant director of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, working to realize community revitilazation in blighted … Continued
Fresh food markets and $250 million MX highlight of awards ceremony at Annual Meeting. This year CMT’s Sandra Schoenberg Kling New Initiatives Award honored a great new way in St. Louis to deliver healthy foods to many of our communities through the transit system – Metro’s Mobile Markets. For the first time, St. Louisans can access … Continued
The Citizens for Modern Transit (CMT) membership unanimously elected Jeffrey Aboussie, Building and Construction Trades Council of St. Louis, AFL-CIO; Bob Baer, former CEO of Metro; C.K. “Chip” Casteel, Jr., St. Louis Regional Commerce and Growth Association; Bill Hartmann, St. Louis Community College; and Marcus Long, St. Louis College of Pharmacy to three year terms … Continued
Citizens for Modern Transit capped off the 28th Annual Meeting with the release of the FY12 Annual Report. Attendees received copies which highlight some of the successes of CMT in FY12: 1. Record membership levels for the organization 2. TOD Advocacy work including two Urban Land INstitute (ULI) Technical Assistance Panels at the Belleville and … Continued
Rail~Volution is a conference of passionate people who want to engage in thoughtful discussion about building livable communities with transit. This year, the event will take place in Los Angeles, CA from October 14-17; the conference will include over 75 workshops, networking events, and toolbox sessions. People from all perspectives, dedicated to transit, livability, and … Continued
FY12 proved to be a year of connecting people and places with transit. Citizens for Modern Transit (CMT) prides itself on being able to make this connection for St. Louis through events and programs, advocacy and education. Transit has the ability to not only move people from point A to point B, but connect people … Continued
Citizens for Modern Transit is hosting a Walkabout at the N. Hanley MetroLink Station on Friday, October 12 to look at the possibilities for the neighborhood and community around MetroLink. Please join us! CMT received a grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health to look at areas surrounding MetroLink stations in our communities. We are asking for … Continued
Dominium Development and Acquisition will be advancing with negotiations for its proposed historic redevelopment of the Arcade Wright Building in downtown St. Louis. The proposal will now go to the building owner, the city’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority, who is being offered $6 million for the Arcade as part of a project that could … Continued
Across the country, cities in the U.S. are putting dollars towards streetcar systems to revitalize their downtown neighborhoods. These projects are receiving major support, but also some skepticism. In Caroline Porter’s Wall Street Journal Article, she says, “Proponents say the streetcars would boost economic growth and catch the fancy of younger generations.” Most of the … Continued
Cities all across the U.S. have big plans for their individual train stations. So many of the rail depots across the country have rich history that is coming back to life with plans to revamp their existing structures. Union Stations in such cities as Denver, Los Angeles, St. Paul, Charlotte, Washington, D.C. (as mentioned in … Continued
The Federal Transit Administration’s MAP-21, or Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century, was signed into law at the beginning of July by President Obama. This will extend SAFETEA-LU through September 30, 2012, and will go into full effect after through September 30, 2014. MAP-21 will provide a steady flow of funding for FTA … Continued