...with embarrassment AND rage!
Okay, so OPTINSTL IS SO WRONG! Allow me to explain- the new North County transit center was planned originally for the Metrolink. While the bathrooms are great, the bus center is essentially worthless without a train. Why did OPTINSTL not notice there is no train right away? Because it is such a no-brainer! WHY WASTE 10 MILLION DOLLARS ON THAT "TRANSIT CENTER" WITHOUT A METROLINK???
Like the other bus transit centers, the overdevelopment of the CWE with Cortex, the extra-long Grand buses, North County transit center is just another big fat joke at the expense of the transit-dependent public. The self-congratulations and PR will just keep coming from $80-350K-a-year executives that drive cars from their county homes. They will keep spending money on stupid sh*t that makes it appear they are doing something, and leave the riders to stand around out in the sun and rain and snow, waiting for their slow buses on stupid routes.
Please, transit rider, CALL METRO AND COMPLAIN. ASK THEM QUESTIONS! TELL THEM WHAT YOU NEED!
They will not change until we make them change!
EVERY DIME THEY SPEND IS PUBLIC MONEY!
OPTINSTL
OCCUPY! PUBLIC TRANSIT Image by Eric Drooker for Occupy Wall Street, click on image for Drooker's website
Showing posts with label bi-state development agency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bi-state development agency. Show all posts
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Friday, March 18, 2016
NEXTSTL POST NAILS IT ON NORTH COUNTY TRANSIT CENTER
Great article on North County Transit Center.
https://nextstl.com/2016/03/north-county-transit-reconfiguration-symptom-not-treatment/
EDIT/PS: Optinstl doesn't always agree with Nextstl but they are always a good source of info. Metro DOES need to focus on the areas like North County that are mostly transit dependent. But Nextstl also seems to support Cortex, which is the biggest waste of money and a giant boondoggle that really only benefits Cortex itself. The CWE metrolink serves this area just fine. (Regardless of Cortex being non-profit entity, nothing they are proposing there is going to fundamentally change the area. Like Ballpark Village, it will just pull business away from previously existing local businesses, and it is unlikely that it will flourish- if it does indeed flourish at all- for more than a decade.)
Was just reading this post on Cortex. https://nextstl.com/2016/03/202424/
We heard Field Foods was going to be the economic saviour with a grocery store two years ago. Fields is a Boston investor's high end boutique grocery store that got a $12 million dollar grant for the food desert in Peabody Clinton area, NOT the Lafayette Square area. And while the cashiers and other low paying staff come from the area, the management and executives are all from Boston- or were when the store first opened in January 2014. The store has hardly lived up to any of its' promises in terms of sales tax revenues, and mostly seems to compete with locally owned Culinaria downtown.
And remember when Lofts were going to revitalize downtown? A lot of DINK'S (double income no kids) moved down there, and shocker, the area is declining again as they have kids and move back to the suburbs or more kid-friendly areas of the city.
The only thing that is going to revitalize St. Louis is a living wage and development in areas that need jobs and public transportation. Anything North of Delmar, for starters.
https://nextstl.com/2016/03/north-county-transit-reconfiguration-symptom-not-treatment/
EDIT/PS: Optinstl doesn't always agree with Nextstl but they are always a good source of info. Metro DOES need to focus on the areas like North County that are mostly transit dependent. But Nextstl also seems to support Cortex, which is the biggest waste of money and a giant boondoggle that really only benefits Cortex itself. The CWE metrolink serves this area just fine. (Regardless of Cortex being non-profit entity, nothing they are proposing there is going to fundamentally change the area. Like Ballpark Village, it will just pull business away from previously existing local businesses, and it is unlikely that it will flourish- if it does indeed flourish at all- for more than a decade.)
Was just reading this post on Cortex. https://nextstl.com/2016/03/202424/
We heard Field Foods was going to be the economic saviour with a grocery store two years ago. Fields is a Boston investor's high end boutique grocery store that got a $12 million dollar grant for the food desert in Peabody Clinton area, NOT the Lafayette Square area. And while the cashiers and other low paying staff come from the area, the management and executives are all from Boston- or were when the store first opened in January 2014. The store has hardly lived up to any of its' promises in terms of sales tax revenues, and mostly seems to compete with locally owned Culinaria downtown.
And remember when Lofts were going to revitalize downtown? A lot of DINK'S (double income no kids) moved down there, and shocker, the area is declining again as they have kids and move back to the suburbs or more kid-friendly areas of the city.
The only thing that is going to revitalize St. Louis is a living wage and development in areas that need jobs and public transportation. Anything North of Delmar, for starters.
KIRKWOOD DEATH; LOOP TROLLEY; NORTH COUNTY TRANSIT CENTER
I assume this fatality was either a cargo train or Amtrak. However, this would be the second time in two weeks that someone has been hit on the tracks. (See last post.)
http://www.kmov.com/story/31501918/emergency-crews-responding-after-pedestrian-hit-by-train-in-kirkwood
For the most part, train tracks are privately owned and leased. If you have ridden on Amtrak you learn this, because they have to stop A LOT for cargo trains, and local Metrolinks. Not all of the tracks are well maintained, and Amtrak often has to stop or has problems due to problems with the tracks. Sometimes these are long waits because they have to wait for the track owning companies to come make the repairs.
No entity that is private and for profit is going to put safety first. No entity that is funded by government money but not publicly owned is going to put safety first. Railroad tracks, like public transit, should be owned by the public and maintained at the highest standard. Amtrak is completely subsidized by the government.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-industry-standard-should-be-safety.html
The Loop Trolley has encountered another error. Shocking (*sarcasm*). The main focus is on the fact that cars might be hit. With that narrow a margin, this screams "pedestrian injury/fatality." PLEASE REMEMBER that the Trolley got a big chunk of money for "urban revitalization" (http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-loop-trolley-sucking-up-more.html). Originally the Trolley was to run down Forest Park Parkway. But to keep the Urban Circulator funds, they had to re-route the trolley through an "urban area"- in this case, the part of the Loop in the city. (Let's not forget that this Trolley is about making sure no local "park and ride" and rural tourists have to set foot on a Metro bus to go drink beer and eat cheeseburgers at Blueberry Hill. That is ALL this trolley is really about.)
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2016/03/18/trolley-tracks-east-of-skinker-may-be-too-tight-for-comfort
I find the city and county planners, street services, and MODOT, do be completely blind to pedestrians and pedestrian safety. The lights at the corner of Skinker and Delmar are a perfect example. (I haven't actually been at that corner in awhile, completely avoiding it even if I had to go to the Loop by turning on Olive or Vernon, since I am always coming from the north. So maybe they fixed it. I doubt it. I pointed it out to them a few times when I first moved back here.)
Stand at any of the corners and watch the light sequence. In each cycle there is a 30 second or so period where traffic is only moving from two directions- meaning no left or right turns. The car traffic has usually slowed at this point. During this time there is the inevitable crossing of pedestrians against the light, because of the lag. There is also a turn light that comes up during this time, which adds to the confusion. I can't recall which direction now, even though I used to encounter it daily a few years ago. Day and night I've seen near misses as someone comes speeding to catch the light before they think it is going to change, and pedestrian confusion- that is, stepping out into the walkway because the instinctual, intuitive understanding of how traffic lights are normally sequenced, and not expecting that out of sequence turn light.
(There is one turn light that looks like it was added much later than the rest. At one point I made a little diagram of where the light needed to be sequenced. I'm pretty sure it was the right turn onto Delmar from northbound Skinker, and the lag was the north-south flow of traffic on Skinker. But I can't recall exactly and have no idea where those notes are. This is all from memory.)
Even with all the focus on Washington University students- many of whom walk and bike in the area, and live in the Loop- the people that make all the decisions do not walk or use public transit. You need nothing more than a heavy snowfall to prove this. The ploughs come out immediately, and the streets are clear. But all the snow is piled up on the sidewalks. Even in the Loop and other areas with heavy foot-traffic, shoveling sidewalks is the responsibility of the property owners and businesses.
North County though, has to be the worst in terms of street planning and pedestrian safety. To get to the new North county transit center on foot- and a lot of times it is faster to walk from your last connection than wait for a bus- you have to walk on a shoulder. The bus stops in front of Centene have no shelter and trash cans. The bus stop across from Centene-- west/south side- is on the shoulder and then there is a slope into a little ditch before the fence separating the 270 freeway. Super fun to stand there at night. (Again, *sarcasm*.)
(http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/metro-does-not-take-responsibility-for.html)
It's always strange to me, when people talk about our "infrastructure". Only in the last two hundred years have roads been mostly for something other than pedestrians. Their were pedestrian fatalities from carriage accidents, but certainly not as many. Horses in a wooden carriage versus horsepower and 2000 pounds of metal are a very different situation for the person on foot.
I heard President Obama say, when one of the highway bonds was up for the voters, "This is what we do- we build roads and bridges." (Or something like that.) True. But no one in the world has more than 65 years of experience building and maintaining roads solely for use of the internal combustion engine. In this country the population of people and the amount of cars on the road doubled since the 1970's and we are only now seeing what a mistake it was to ditch the railroads for trucks and public transit for private automobiles.
All one has to do to see how blind to pedestrians the planners are is go look North County Transit Center. (Or Maplewood. The worst, in my opinion, as detailed in the optinstl link above, and here again: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-industry-standard-should-be-safety.html)
These planners and city leaders, and most of the Metro executives, have never ridden the bus except on rare occasions, and seem to walk only for exercise or because they have dogs, and usually then, only in their own neighbourhoods. (And sidewalks are often missing in areas that were "developed" after the 1950's. Who needed them right? We will all just drive a block to the store or park, etc.)
If St. Louis monitored pedestrian traffic as much as car traffic, there would be sidewalks and lighting in most parts of North County (and south and west county, too, actually).
There is nothing more troubling than seeing people with small children standing out on that shoulder in front of Centene, or the many other bus stops just like it.
And this last schedule change seemed to bring a higher than usual amount of bus stop closings. I'm all for efficiency, but I don't trust the way Metro does things. For example, on Chambers they are eliminating two bus stops. On paper it makes sense. But these two bus stops sit at the bottom of two hills, right where an apartment complex is. That means that the people in wheelchairs or with health issues will have to go up the hill to catch the 61.
Route changes should not be made by asking the advice of random people motivated enough to go to one of the meetings, or briefly surveyed at Open Houses, even if they are held at transit centers. Metro should have neighborhood liaisons that are employed or compensated by Metro to determine and tailor public transit to the community's needs.
Please, call Metro today and tell them what you need for a better, faster, safer transit experience: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-metros-new-survey-should-be.html
Call Metro every time you ride!
http://www.kmov.com/story/31501918/emergency-crews-responding-after-pedestrian-hit-by-train-in-kirkwood
For the most part, train tracks are privately owned and leased. If you have ridden on Amtrak you learn this, because they have to stop A LOT for cargo trains, and local Metrolinks. Not all of the tracks are well maintained, and Amtrak often has to stop or has problems due to problems with the tracks. Sometimes these are long waits because they have to wait for the track owning companies to come make the repairs.
No entity that is private and for profit is going to put safety first. No entity that is funded by government money but not publicly owned is going to put safety first. Railroad tracks, like public transit, should be owned by the public and maintained at the highest standard. Amtrak is completely subsidized by the government.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-industry-standard-should-be-safety.html
The Loop Trolley has encountered another error. Shocking (*sarcasm*). The main focus is on the fact that cars might be hit. With that narrow a margin, this screams "pedestrian injury/fatality." PLEASE REMEMBER that the Trolley got a big chunk of money for "urban revitalization" (http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-loop-trolley-sucking-up-more.html). Originally the Trolley was to run down Forest Park Parkway. But to keep the Urban Circulator funds, they had to re-route the trolley through an "urban area"- in this case, the part of the Loop in the city. (Let's not forget that this Trolley is about making sure no local "park and ride" and rural tourists have to set foot on a Metro bus to go drink beer and eat cheeseburgers at Blueberry Hill. That is ALL this trolley is really about.)
http://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2016/03/18/trolley-tracks-east-of-skinker-may-be-too-tight-for-comfort
I find the city and county planners, street services, and MODOT, do be completely blind to pedestrians and pedestrian safety. The lights at the corner of Skinker and Delmar are a perfect example. (I haven't actually been at that corner in awhile, completely avoiding it even if I had to go to the Loop by turning on Olive or Vernon, since I am always coming from the north. So maybe they fixed it. I doubt it. I pointed it out to them a few times when I first moved back here.)
Stand at any of the corners and watch the light sequence. In each cycle there is a 30 second or so period where traffic is only moving from two directions- meaning no left or right turns. The car traffic has usually slowed at this point. During this time there is the inevitable crossing of pedestrians against the light, because of the lag. There is also a turn light that comes up during this time, which adds to the confusion. I can't recall which direction now, even though I used to encounter it daily a few years ago. Day and night I've seen near misses as someone comes speeding to catch the light before they think it is going to change, and pedestrian confusion- that is, stepping out into the walkway because the instinctual, intuitive understanding of how traffic lights are normally sequenced, and not expecting that out of sequence turn light.
(There is one turn light that looks like it was added much later than the rest. At one point I made a little diagram of where the light needed to be sequenced. I'm pretty sure it was the right turn onto Delmar from northbound Skinker, and the lag was the north-south flow of traffic on Skinker. But I can't recall exactly and have no idea where those notes are. This is all from memory.)
Even with all the focus on Washington University students- many of whom walk and bike in the area, and live in the Loop- the people that make all the decisions do not walk or use public transit. You need nothing more than a heavy snowfall to prove this. The ploughs come out immediately, and the streets are clear. But all the snow is piled up on the sidewalks. Even in the Loop and other areas with heavy foot-traffic, shoveling sidewalks is the responsibility of the property owners and businesses.
North County though, has to be the worst in terms of street planning and pedestrian safety. To get to the new North county transit center on foot- and a lot of times it is faster to walk from your last connection than wait for a bus- you have to walk on a shoulder. The bus stops in front of Centene have no shelter and trash cans. The bus stop across from Centene-- west/south side- is on the shoulder and then there is a slope into a little ditch before the fence separating the 270 freeway. Super fun to stand there at night. (Again, *sarcasm*.)
(http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/metro-does-not-take-responsibility-for.html)
It's always strange to me, when people talk about our "infrastructure". Only in the last two hundred years have roads been mostly for something other than pedestrians. Their were pedestrian fatalities from carriage accidents, but certainly not as many. Horses in a wooden carriage versus horsepower and 2000 pounds of metal are a very different situation for the person on foot.
I heard President Obama say, when one of the highway bonds was up for the voters, "This is what we do- we build roads and bridges." (Or something like that.) True. But no one in the world has more than 65 years of experience building and maintaining roads solely for use of the internal combustion engine. In this country the population of people and the amount of cars on the road doubled since the 1970's and we are only now seeing what a mistake it was to ditch the railroads for trucks and public transit for private automobiles.
All one has to do to see how blind to pedestrians the planners are is go look North County Transit Center. (Or Maplewood. The worst, in my opinion, as detailed in the optinstl link above, and here again: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-industry-standard-should-be-safety.html)
These planners and city leaders, and most of the Metro executives, have never ridden the bus except on rare occasions, and seem to walk only for exercise or because they have dogs, and usually then, only in their own neighbourhoods. (And sidewalks are often missing in areas that were "developed" after the 1950's. Who needed them right? We will all just drive a block to the store or park, etc.)
If St. Louis monitored pedestrian traffic as much as car traffic, there would be sidewalks and lighting in most parts of North County (and south and west county, too, actually).
There is nothing more troubling than seeing people with small children standing out on that shoulder in front of Centene, or the many other bus stops just like it.
And this last schedule change seemed to bring a higher than usual amount of bus stop closings. I'm all for efficiency, but I don't trust the way Metro does things. For example, on Chambers they are eliminating two bus stops. On paper it makes sense. But these two bus stops sit at the bottom of two hills, right where an apartment complex is. That means that the people in wheelchairs or with health issues will have to go up the hill to catch the 61.
Route changes should not be made by asking the advice of random people motivated enough to go to one of the meetings, or briefly surveyed at Open Houses, even if they are held at transit centers. Metro should have neighborhood liaisons that are employed or compensated by Metro to determine and tailor public transit to the community's needs.
Please, call Metro today and tell them what you need for a better, faster, safer transit experience: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-metros-new-survey-should-be.html
Call Metro every time you ride!
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
SHOOTING AT BUS STOP
Too many guns, not enough school or civic opportunities, too great a racial divide between North and South, too many young people that don't see a good future for themselves and decide to take what power they can. More cops aren't going to solve the problem.
http://www.kmov.com/story/31482991/3-teenagers-shot-at-north-st-louis-bus-stop
http://www.kmov.com/story/31482991/3-teenagers-shot-at-north-st-louis-bus-stop
Monday, March 14, 2016
METRO NEEDS BIG CHANGES
"Big Changes to Buses" comes the headlines today.
http://www.kmov.com/Clip/12282774/big-changes-coming-to-metrobus-routes-monday
http://www.nextstopstl.org/17968/metro-releases-new-north-county-service-plan/
They change the buses all the time, but it never makes anything better. This is because Metro does not do enough research on what transit riders need, and when they do, it's the wrong way.
Their blog congratulates holding FOUR "open house" transit meetings. Four. To change the entire bus system.
At least they came to the transit centres. But it is still not enough. They really need to have someone out every day, soliciting information from passengers, and they need to have surveys. (You can always volunteer the OPTINSTL survey information when you call them. http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-metros-new-survey-should-be.html)
I also find it amusing that they always congratulate themselves for figuring out that North County is the most transit dependent area. The focus is always on "reducing traffic congestion". Very few people with cars are going to give up driving to ride the sloooooow buses. The train, maybe. But only to and from work and ball games. Of course, most of the money for the North County Transit Center came from funding to reduce traffic congestion and emissions.
Well, at least they are trying to appear like they are trying, and who knows? Maybe they really are. But four open house meetings? How many people decided these changes? It can't be more than 200. Hardly representative or comprehensive.
I still don't see how they can live down the shame of buying those used Grand buses. Love seeing them break down (*sarcasm*), and other than peak times, and between Mid-Town and Arsenal, they never seem very full. Remember how that was going to reduce congestion on Grand? Right.
It's up to the transit rider to call them, email, and generally communicate EXACTLY what we need to make public transit serve us, instead of the other way around.
Oh, and those sidewalks on Pershall, make sure there is plenty of lighting, too. That whole area along 270 is a nightmare for pedestrians, on the Pershall and over on the other side, on Dunn. If you live in North County you know how many accidents go unreported. This one wasn't. A transit friendly city is a pedestrian friendly city. That would mean that the planners and designers and engineers and executives would need to ride transit and do some walking.
More people are going to be walking over to Clocktower Aldi's and the Wal-mart, and down to the Home Depot on Halls Ferry. Don't just build the transit center and leave it, like you did in Maplewood for 7 years. Put in the sidewalks NOW.
http://www.kmov.com/story/31467896/pedestrian-suffers-serious-injuries-after-being-by-car-in-north-county
http://www.kmov.com/Clip/12282774/big-changes-coming-to-metrobus-routes-monday
http://www.nextstopstl.org/17968/metro-releases-new-north-county-service-plan/
They change the buses all the time, but it never makes anything better. This is because Metro does not do enough research on what transit riders need, and when they do, it's the wrong way.
Their blog congratulates holding FOUR "open house" transit meetings. Four. To change the entire bus system.
At least they came to the transit centres. But it is still not enough. They really need to have someone out every day, soliciting information from passengers, and they need to have surveys. (You can always volunteer the OPTINSTL survey information when you call them. http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-metros-new-survey-should-be.html)
I also find it amusing that they always congratulate themselves for figuring out that North County is the most transit dependent area. The focus is always on "reducing traffic congestion". Very few people with cars are going to give up driving to ride the sloooooow buses. The train, maybe. But only to and from work and ball games. Of course, most of the money for the North County Transit Center came from funding to reduce traffic congestion and emissions.
Well, at least they are trying to appear like they are trying, and who knows? Maybe they really are. But four open house meetings? How many people decided these changes? It can't be more than 200. Hardly representative or comprehensive.
I still don't see how they can live down the shame of buying those used Grand buses. Love seeing them break down (*sarcasm*), and other than peak times, and between Mid-Town and Arsenal, they never seem very full. Remember how that was going to reduce congestion on Grand? Right.
It's up to the transit rider to call them, email, and generally communicate EXACTLY what we need to make public transit serve us, instead of the other way around.
Oh, and those sidewalks on Pershall, make sure there is plenty of lighting, too. That whole area along 270 is a nightmare for pedestrians, on the Pershall and over on the other side, on Dunn. If you live in North County you know how many accidents go unreported. This one wasn't. A transit friendly city is a pedestrian friendly city. That would mean that the planners and designers and engineers and executives would need to ride transit and do some walking.
More people are going to be walking over to Clocktower Aldi's and the Wal-mart, and down to the Home Depot on Halls Ferry. Don't just build the transit center and leave it, like you did in Maplewood for 7 years. Put in the sidewalks NOW.
http://www.kmov.com/story/31467896/pedestrian-suffers-serious-injuries-after-being-by-car-in-north-county
ACCIDENT AT SWANSEA METROLINK
EDIT 17 April 2016: This accident is now a fatality. http://www.bnd.com/news/local/article71885612.html
I missed this in the news on March 6 and it does not appear to be widely reported. A man was struck by a train and his foot was severed and neck broken after a train ran over him at Swansea.
I keep checking the dates on these stories. It's not on any other news stations that I could find, and it isn't on Metro's Blog. In the old days, every news story contained the details of what happened- when, where, etc. Is this some new development in an old accident case? Or did this just happen on March 6th? These are the only two stories I could find:
http://www.kmov.com/story/31399856/family-members-of-man-hit-by-metrolink-train-speak-out
http://www.kmov.com/story/31467300/witness-failure-in-alert-system-allowed-man-to-be-run-over-by-metrolink-train
KMOV video is freezing my computer, so I will try to watch later and see if the video segments have more details.
I missed this in the news on March 6 and it does not appear to be widely reported. A man was struck by a train and his foot was severed and neck broken after a train ran over him at Swansea.
I keep checking the dates on these stories. It's not on any other news stations that I could find, and it isn't on Metro's Blog. In the old days, every news story contained the details of what happened- when, where, etc. Is this some new development in an old accident case? Or did this just happen on March 6th? These are the only two stories I could find:
http://www.kmov.com/story/31399856/family-members-of-man-hit-by-metrolink-train-speak-out
http://www.kmov.com/story/31467300/witness-failure-in-alert-system-allowed-man-to-be-run-over-by-metrolink-train
KMOV video is freezing my computer, so I will try to watch later and see if the video segments have more details.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
NEW METRO STATION IN FERGUSON
Couldn't find any local reporting on this. It was "Drumpfed", I guess. The orange-faced Amerikkkan Hitler got all the news this weekend.
I haven't been there yet, but will check it out tomorrow. I hope those restrooms are really "public". At Riverview the toilets are operated by the privately owned snack shop. (Which means it is only open when they are open and you have to get a key- or at least you did last time I used it, which was actually about 2 years ago. Will check that out this week, too.)
Also, they need to put in sidewalks all the way along Pershall. The construction has made the already dangerous walk on Pershall between West Florissant and New Halls Ferry a nightmare. Especially at night.
At least we have a train up here now. EDIT: Please see this post: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2016/04/optinstl-is-red-faced.html
http://www.masstransitmag.com/press_release/12180965/st-louis-metro-celebrates-completion-of-north-county-transit-center
As for John Nations comments that "five years ago we identified" etc... Stop patting yourself on the back. North City and County are the most transit dependent areas you service and you don't deserve congratulations for figuring that out. Your own data proves that. And that new Cortex Metrolink stop is a big waste of money, rivalled only by the St. Charles turned to Shrewsbury extension that bankrupted the Agency in 2010.
I haven't been there yet, but will check it out tomorrow. I hope those restrooms are really "public". At Riverview the toilets are operated by the privately owned snack shop. (Which means it is only open when they are open and you have to get a key- or at least you did last time I used it, which was actually about 2 years ago. Will check that out this week, too.)
Also, they need to put in sidewalks all the way along Pershall. The construction has made the already dangerous walk on Pershall between West Florissant and New Halls Ferry a nightmare. Especially at night.
http://www.masstransitmag.com/press_release/12180965/st-louis-metro-celebrates-completion-of-north-county-transit-center
As for John Nations comments that "five years ago we identified" etc... Stop patting yourself on the back. North City and County are the most transit dependent areas you service and you don't deserve congratulations for figuring that out. Your own data proves that. And that new Cortex Metrolink stop is a big waste of money, rivalled only by the St. Charles turned to Shrewsbury extension that bankrupted the Agency in 2010.
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
JOHN NATIONS NEW PLAN TO CONTROL MORE OF SAINT LOUIS AND GET MORE PUBLIC MONEY
This article is just LOL (laugh out loud) hilarious.
http://www.kmov.com/story/30689292/metro-considers-creating-own-police-force
CEO John Nations, who gave himself a 75k a year raise, likes to tell his drivers that as soon as he elected Governor of Missouri will install "right to work" legislation and eliminate unions, and uses public money for $5 million in "contributions to outside entities" (typically political campaign donations, although Metro's fiscal reports don't say where they money went), wants his own police force.
Transportation Districts are a nice chunk of public money and power over the public. Don't kid yourself that the Loop Trolley is anything more than Joe Edwards war with Metro over having city buses (and bus stops) in his domain. Mr. Edwards wants to be sure that no one will have to set on a city bus to get to Blueberry Hill from the DeBaliviere Metro stop.
And John Nations just wants a bigger piece of the St. Louis pie for himself. There are a lot of things that would reduce crime in St. Louis, including on public transit, but more cops is not one of them.
John Nations and a good number of the current executive staff of Metro needs to be removed. Metro and Bi-State Development Agency need to be separated.
Don't believe the hype. It's just a way for Metro to get more public money.
Posted recently on other OPTINSTL blogs:
http://fergusonthemovement.blogspot.com/2015/12/it-is-time-to-take-it-to-courts.html
http://www.kmov.com/story/30689292/metro-considers-creating-own-police-force
CEO John Nations, who gave himself a 75k a year raise, likes to tell his drivers that as soon as he elected Governor of Missouri will install "right to work" legislation and eliminate unions, and uses public money for $5 million in "contributions to outside entities" (typically political campaign donations, although Metro's fiscal reports don't say where they money went), wants his own police force.
Transportation Districts are a nice chunk of public money and power over the public. Don't kid yourself that the Loop Trolley is anything more than Joe Edwards war with Metro over having city buses (and bus stops) in his domain. Mr. Edwards wants to be sure that no one will have to set on a city bus to get to Blueberry Hill from the DeBaliviere Metro stop.
And John Nations just wants a bigger piece of the St. Louis pie for himself. There are a lot of things that would reduce crime in St. Louis, including on public transit, but more cops is not one of them.
John Nations and a good number of the current executive staff of Metro needs to be removed. Metro and Bi-State Development Agency need to be separated.
Don't believe the hype. It's just a way for Metro to get more public money.
Posted recently on other OPTINSTL blogs:
http://fergusonthemovement.blogspot.com/2015/12/it-is-time-to-take-it-to-courts.html
Sunday, November 15, 2015
CHANGES TO OPTINSTL COMING
It is shocking to me how many hits the posts about Ferguson last year still get. (And how many errors and early information that wasn't verified I posted. Will do edits with "the cross out line" where I find those errors.) If you think a little blog on blogger is a wasted effort, I am here to assure you it is not. If you have something to say, start a blog.
Attached to this blog is one on Ferguson, and also another one Occupy Your Life (I think I had to spell it occupyurlife in the blogger url). I am going to moving posts that aren't about transportation to those sites (I'll leave the post with a link to the new location). I need to get this blog back on track about Metro and public transportation in St. Louis.
I am also working on a printed newsletter and/or "zine" for the STL area, and getting actual domain names and websites, not just Google blogs. Also in the early part of next year there will be OPTINSTL public actions- meeting places to conduct mass phone-ins, sign petitions, etc.
I fund all of my activities with my own money, and I don't want to get into advertising or sales. So things can be slow. But if you agree with anything you read here, as I say in the copyright blurb, go ahead and reprint it. You don't even have to give me credit (although if you try to pass off exact quotes as yours and someone searches, they will be directed here- so if you are selling something or writing a paper, better cover your tracks).
I think the most important post on this blog is I WANT TO LIVE IN A CITY WITH GREAT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/i-want-to-live-in-city-with-great.html
I hope you do, too, and I hope you will be patient while I try to get things sorted. In the meantime, call Metro everytime you ride, and make the pledge "5 For 11" - to do five additional actions every month for the social change of your choice, during this year.
Attached to this blog is one on Ferguson, and also another one Occupy Your Life (I think I had to spell it occupyurlife in the blogger url). I am going to moving posts that aren't about transportation to those sites (I'll leave the post with a link to the new location). I need to get this blog back on track about Metro and public transportation in St. Louis.
I am also working on a printed newsletter and/or "zine" for the STL area, and getting actual domain names and websites, not just Google blogs. Also in the early part of next year there will be OPTINSTL public actions- meeting places to conduct mass phone-ins, sign petitions, etc.
I fund all of my activities with my own money, and I don't want to get into advertising or sales. So things can be slow. But if you agree with anything you read here, as I say in the copyright blurb, go ahead and reprint it. You don't even have to give me credit (although if you try to pass off exact quotes as yours and someone searches, they will be directed here- so if you are selling something or writing a paper, better cover your tracks).
I think the most important post on this blog is I WANT TO LIVE IN A CITY WITH GREAT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/i-want-to-live-in-city-with-great.html
I hope you do, too, and I hope you will be patient while I try to get things sorted. In the meantime, call Metro everytime you ride, and make the pledge "5 For 11" - to do five additional actions every month for the social change of your choice, during this year.
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
MORE ST LOUIS SHENANIGANS
First, I apologize for my absence. I am working on another project and for my own sanity had to withdraw from the on-line world. And all of the investigations regarding Ferguson are stirring up the local power structure, and this will effect Bi-State/Metro. (The next impending financial crisis will likely be a repeat of 08, but with muni and other government bonds, instead of mortgages. So there's that, too.)
However, here in Riverview things have been getting really weird. Drones flying overhead during the day and late at night, cars getting dumped, expensive vehicles with heavy tints on the windows, and unfamiliar white people cruising around.) Yesterday was especially strange.
Only one channel reported the shooting. Here is the link and the message I sent to KPLR about it.
I plan to be back on line in mid-June. If you are in St. Louis, keep your eyes open. A lot of hidden things are coming to light. Those that aren't Ferguson or local P.D. related are being ignored or overlooked. (And remember, as you read this, that Bi-State runs the airport in Cahokia. Heroin is not coming to St. Louis on private planes and yachts of inner-city gangs. Urban gangs to don't run the river ports.)
Regarding http://kplr11.com/2014/03/17/gruesome-shooting-leaves-one-dead-in-riverview/
I live here and I heard the shots. I live near Northgate and Chambers. At the same time this was occurring there were a number of emergency vehicles at the end of Chambers, where it dead ends passed SE Chambers Rd. This part of Chambers is expensive homes. The police blocked off SE Chambers and Chambers and there were ambulance and many different muni police cars and K-9 units there, too. For this reason I assumed the shots came from that direction (sound carries here very strange, perhaps because of all the hills and valleys, I don't know).
It would be nice if someone would start asking how poor urban black youth are able to get such a huge amount of heroin into the city, and how these alleged gang wars and shootings are funded. I wish someone would look into the coincidence of the ATF sting operations since 2010 and the increase in shootings attributed to local gangs. I wish someone would look into how the ports are handled here, and the history of illegal smuggling on the Mississippi river.
Globally, it might be nice if someone looked into opium production in Afghanistan, and how it rises and falls with US involvement (rises when the US is control, falls when the US loses control).
The investigations in Ferguson are disrupting secret power structures here that have been in place, undisturbed, for decades. If you reject the story that this is all gang warfare and start really looking, a very different story begins to emerge. Inept public officials, poverty imprisoned, angry, urban youth, and local drug dealers are a mask for a corrupt core of people who have used St Louis air and river ports for decades for their own dirty business. The trail of violence and drugs leads out of the ghetto, not further into it.
However, here in Riverview things have been getting really weird. Drones flying overhead during the day and late at night, cars getting dumped, expensive vehicles with heavy tints on the windows, and unfamiliar white people cruising around.) Yesterday was especially strange.
Only one channel reported the shooting. Here is the link and the message I sent to KPLR about it.
I plan to be back on line in mid-June. If you are in St. Louis, keep your eyes open. A lot of hidden things are coming to light. Those that aren't Ferguson or local P.D. related are being ignored or overlooked. (And remember, as you read this, that Bi-State runs the airport in Cahokia. Heroin is not coming to St. Louis on private planes and yachts of inner-city gangs. Urban gangs to don't run the river ports.)
Regarding http://kplr11.com/2014/03/17/gruesome-shooting-leaves-one-dead-in-riverview/
I live here and I heard the shots. I live near Northgate and Chambers. At the same time this was occurring there were a number of emergency vehicles at the end of Chambers, where it dead ends passed SE Chambers Rd. This part of Chambers is expensive homes. The police blocked off SE Chambers and Chambers and there were ambulance and many different muni police cars and K-9 units there, too. For this reason I assumed the shots came from that direction (sound carries here very strange, perhaps because of all the hills and valleys, I don't know).
It would be nice if someone would start asking how poor urban black youth are able to get such a huge amount of heroin into the city, and how these alleged gang wars and shootings are funded. I wish someone would look into the coincidence of the ATF sting operations since 2010 and the increase in shootings attributed to local gangs. I wish someone would look into how the ports are handled here, and the history of illegal smuggling on the Mississippi river.
Globally, it might be nice if someone looked into opium production in Afghanistan, and how it rises and falls with US involvement (rises when the US is control, falls when the US loses control).
The investigations in Ferguson are disrupting secret power structures here that have been in place, undisturbed, for decades. If you reject the story that this is all gang warfare and start really looking, a very different story begins to emerge. Inept public officials, poverty imprisoned, angry, urban youth, and local drug dealers are a mask for a corrupt core of people who have used St Louis air and river ports for decades for their own dirty business. The trail of violence and drugs leads out of the ghetto, not further into it.
Friday, September 12, 2014
UNION PROTESTS METRO CEO: OPTINSTL SAYS "FIRE JOHN NATIONS, GET METRO SEPARATED FROM BI-STATE"
In this news story, Nations actually says Bi-State has 50% African Americans. He's wrong. METRO has 50% African Americans. Bi-state is DBA Metro, but there is a division between the business development of Bi-State-- the Arch trams and parking lot, the St Louis airport in Cahokia, Illinois.
http://fox2now.com/2014/09/12/racial-elements-fuel-dispute-between-metro-and-transit-union/
Without Metro and the $350 million a year in public funding (local, state, and federal funds and rider fares) Bi-State would be nothing. The only part of their enterprise that makes a profit is the parking garage.
Without Metro, Nations would not be able to give $5 million a year in "contributions to outside entities" or groom his own run for senator or governor (depending on who you talk to).
And he makes racist remarks all the time. I hope people start recording him. I hope Anonymous hacks his home computer and finds all his racist memes (and his porn stash).
Nations is a good example of everything that is wrong with St. Louis. I hope he gets fired.
http://fox2now.com/2014/09/12/racial-elements-fuel-dispute-between-metro-and-transit-union/
Without Metro and the $350 million a year in public funding (local, state, and federal funds and rider fares) Bi-State would be nothing. The only part of their enterprise that makes a profit is the parking garage.
Without Metro, Nations would not be able to give $5 million a year in "contributions to outside entities" or groom his own run for senator or governor (depending on who you talk to).
And he makes racist remarks all the time. I hope people start recording him. I hope Anonymous hacks his home computer and finds all his racist memes (and his porn stash).
Nations is a good example of everything that is wrong with St. Louis. I hope he gets fired.
Monday, September 1, 2014
IDOT HAS THE RIGHT IDEA, BUT TRANSIT RIDERS NEED TO OCCUPY THE RAILWAYS
The Illinois Department of Transportation has the right idea. We definitely need a high-speed rail line from St. Louis to Chicago.
http://www.kmov.com/news/talkers/100-million-being-invested-in-St-LouisChicago-rail-project-273409391.html
But WE, THE PEOPLE need to take over the railroads in the same way we need to take over public transit. Trains-- local commuter, state, and national-- are the future, not more buses, and not more cars and highways!
http://www.eia.gov/countries/index.cfm?view=consumption
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/07/how-parking-spaces-are-eating-our-cities-alive/374413/
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/does-uber-mean-the-end-of-cars--134641160.html
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/19/opinion/iraq-war-oil-juhasz/
As with public transit, railroads should be communally owned and operated by the public-- Amtrak is government owned-- and only leased to private, for-profit, companies, freight or otherwise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transportation_in_the_United_States
And safety of the public should be the first priority, not down the list after profits and corporate convenience.
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/who-is-shaping-the-nation-s-railroad-safety-rules/article_87cfc631-3db4-595f-b0f1-a3e02058820f.html
The first step is to learn more about current railways in your region, and to begin questioning elected and transportation officials on what is being done to develop them.
Railway is not "other transportation", it is our first priority as a forward thinking nation.
http://www.modot.org/othertransportation/rail/documents/MAPrail_passenger_dated11_15_07.pdf
http://www.kmov.com/news/talkers/100-million-being-invested-in-St-LouisChicago-rail-project-273409391.html
But WE, THE PEOPLE need to take over the railroads in the same way we need to take over public transit. Trains-- local commuter, state, and national-- are the future, not more buses, and not more cars and highways!
http://www.eia.gov/countries/index.cfm?view=consumption
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/07/how-parking-spaces-are-eating-our-cities-alive/374413/
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/does-uber-mean-the-end-of-cars--134641160.html
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/19/opinion/iraq-war-oil-juhasz/
As with public transit, railroads should be communally owned and operated by the public-- Amtrak is government owned-- and only leased to private, for-profit, companies, freight or otherwise.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transportation_in_the_United_States
And safety of the public should be the first priority, not down the list after profits and corporate convenience.
http://www.stltoday.com/business/local/who-is-shaping-the-nation-s-railroad-safety-rules/article_87cfc631-3db4-595f-b0f1-a3e02058820f.html
The first step is to learn more about current railways in your region, and to begin questioning elected and transportation officials on what is being done to develop them.
Railway is not "other transportation", it is our first priority as a forward thinking nation.
http://www.modot.org/othertransportation/rail/documents/MAPrail_passenger_dated11_15_07.pdf
Saturday, August 16, 2014
METRO NEEDS TO STOP CUTTING CORNERS ON SAFETY
Someone else got hit by a Metrolink train. When are they going to start making safety a priority?
http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2014/08/14/pedestrian-struck-metrolink-track/14095037/
I've said it before but I'll say it again (and again, and again, and again): Metro and Bi-State Development Agency need to be separated. Metro should be about public transportation, NOT business "development". People that actually understand the needs of Public Transit riders needs to be in charge. Not men like John Nations who are simply grooming their bid for State Senate and padding their campaign funds.
http://www.ksdk.com/story/news/local/2014/08/14/pedestrian-struck-metrolink-track/14095037/
I've said it before but I'll say it again (and again, and again, and again): Metro and Bi-State Development Agency need to be separated. Metro should be about public transportation, NOT business "development". People that actually understand the needs of Public Transit riders needs to be in charge. Not men like John Nations who are simply grooming their bid for State Senate and padding their campaign funds.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
METRO'S SECURITY CONTRACT WITH THE ST. LOUIS P.D.
Metro's honor system is a sweet deal for St. Louis police and sheriffs. Police have their fingers in Metro's pie, too. Not just for writing tickets, but for getting more shifts, and the bosses get to skim the contract for their private slush funds.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/st-louis-county-cop-charged-with-assaulting-man-with-baton/article_267e68a7-8496-5663-8c81-a951172a904f.html
Note in the article, Gore was "assigned to the Metrolink detail."
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/st-louis-county-cop-charged-with-assaulting-man-with-baton/article_267e68a7-8496-5663-8c81-a951172a904f.html
Note in the article, Gore was "assigned to the Metrolink detail."
Saturday, July 19, 2014
METRO'S NEW GATEWAY CARD: HOW METRO COULD ATTRACT MORE RIDERS AND REALLY SERVE THE PUBLIC
Metro has a new Transit Debit card they are bringing out in 2015. As usual, it is just enough to produce reams of self-congratulating marketing propaganda, but not really anything new, useful or revolutionary.
http://www.mygatewaycard.com/
It's the third story down on this article:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/along-for-the-ride/03700176-1c14-50c0-aab3-7a74ebddf147.html
That's great that it the card will "tap out" at $7.50 but to really do something useful, they need to have it tap out at $78 every month (the price of the monthly pass).
Moreover, as OPTINSTL keeps reminding people, WHETHER YOU RIDE METRO OR NOT, YOU PAY FOR IT! Metro needs to be separated from Bi-State Development Agency and it needs to be community or communally owned by the cities and municipalities and counties it serves.
EVERYONE should get a Gateway card, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to have people's names on it. EVERYONE should get two free rides (two hour passes) a year on the card.
And EVERY ELECTION DAY and the FOURTH OF JULY should be FREE FARE DAYS.
If Metro was run by people whose only purpose was to make public transit serve the needs of the public, instead of being a funnel for massive government funds for Bi-State to use in leveraging "business development" and making private contractors rich, and thereby padding the CEO's future political ambitions, these changes would have already been made.
We would already have a North-South Metrolink (instead of those worn-out reconditioned 64 foot buses at $1.5 million each). And that $5 million a year fare increase would have been paid for with the funds currently going to "Contributions to Outside Entities" (that's political campaign donations).
CALL METRO, CALL THE GOVERNOR, CALL MAYOR SLAY AND YOUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES AND DEMAND A BETTER GATEWAY CARD, FREE FARE DAYS, AND AN END TO THE PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP OF METRO AND BI-STATE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY!
http://www.mygatewaycard.com/
It's the third story down on this article:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/along-for-the-ride/03700176-1c14-50c0-aab3-7a74ebddf147.html
That's great that it the card will "tap out" at $7.50 but to really do something useful, they need to have it tap out at $78 every month (the price of the monthly pass).
Moreover, as OPTINSTL keeps reminding people, WHETHER YOU RIDE METRO OR NOT, YOU PAY FOR IT! Metro needs to be separated from Bi-State Development Agency and it needs to be community or communally owned by the cities and municipalities and counties it serves.
EVERYONE should get a Gateway card, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to have people's names on it. EVERYONE should get two free rides (two hour passes) a year on the card.
And EVERY ELECTION DAY and the FOURTH OF JULY should be FREE FARE DAYS.
If Metro was run by people whose only purpose was to make public transit serve the needs of the public, instead of being a funnel for massive government funds for Bi-State to use in leveraging "business development" and making private contractors rich, and thereby padding the CEO's future political ambitions, these changes would have already been made.
We would already have a North-South Metrolink (instead of those worn-out reconditioned 64 foot buses at $1.5 million each). And that $5 million a year fare increase would have been paid for with the funds currently going to "Contributions to Outside Entities" (that's political campaign donations).
CALL METRO, CALL THE GOVERNOR, CALL MAYOR SLAY AND YOUR LOCAL REPRESENTATIVES AND DEMAND A BETTER GATEWAY CARD, FREE FARE DAYS, AND AN END TO THE PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP OF METRO AND BI-STATE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY!
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
THE COPS ARE ROBBERS, AND THE ARCH RENOVATORS ARE THIEVES
(EDIT: I changed the title of this post. The title was "The Police are theives, and the arch renovators are robbers"... I was thinking of the song "Police and Thieves." Then I realized robbery is done with a gun, and the new title was more accurate. The blog post address still reflects the old title. Sorry.)
The Arch Grounds Renovation and the new Police Headquarters can tell transit riders a lot.
Metro is a private-public partnership. Public-private partnerships are really just another way for business developers to get more government funding for their own purposes.
And the City Arch River foundation is a great example of the "boondogglery" and misinformation that accompany these partnerships.
http://www.cityarchriver.org/about-the-project/about-us/http://www.cityarchriver.org/about-the-project/about-us/
What is really shocking is how little real investigation is done by the media. I get that global entities like Serco are difficult to track, but just skimming these articles the misinformation and statistical manipulation leaps out at the reader. And these are all locally recognizable names and companies.
Take a wee peek at the people that are on the Board, and the companies that benefit. Do the Ralston Purina heirs really need their names plastered anywhere else? Look at the blatant pleas for more "donor recognition."
The biggest lie about the Arch Grounds Renovation is this:
"The lion's share of the funding is coming from private sources."
Take a close look at the actual private monies being donated --not a lion's share, by any means, and not actual money or even the "investors" own money, in the case of tax credits. Out of a $380 million dollar budget, private sources were supposed to donate $209 million. $91 million comes from federal funding, and the rest-- and a whole lot more, about $500 million, for many, many years after the renovation is completed-- comes from that Prop P sales tax increase. (They are gonna milk that cash cow to death.)
Now, kick in 14 months behind schedule, lagging private donations and additional $15 million dollar tax credit incentive (the government gives the donor a big tax credit, say for a million dollars, and the donor sells that credit for seventy cents on the dollar and kicks in a matching contribution... and the government wonders why they are insolvent??? Take the money to the racetrack and they'd get better odds and payoffs).
And, the truth is, the Arch is really not that vital to our city. Sorry. For real, read this link even if you don't read any of the others: http://nextstl.com/2013/03/the-missing-conversation-about-arch-grounds-attendance/
This is outright theft.
The money from the tax and the federal funds could be used for something the city really needs: a north to south Metrolink. The budget for that is $800 million. (I believe that estimate is deliberately inflated, but regardless, that $718 million would pay for most of it, and Prop A's county proceeds in 14 months would cover the rest.)
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/missouri-taxpayers-may-kick-in-million-for-arch-museum-renovation/article_88adab79-c4ae-5ba8-be22-eae487adc0f1.html
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/missouri-development-finance-board-approves-15-million-tax-credits-museum-under-gateway-arch
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/key-part-of-gateway-arch-grounds-renovation-underway/article_67cef0cd-4528-5564-a61c-c2326b24533a.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/editorial-close-the-taxpayers-spigot-for-the-arch-grounds-project/article_a0a9122b-014e-5b4d-95fc-8dab9ba6027a.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-a-million-little-pieces-to-arch-parks-project-and/article_05e140d2-02f8-5cb7-b8dc-028611168804.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/arch-grounds-renovation-now-months-behind-schedule/article_bd34b21d-77da-50e6-aeb9-fef32a10993e.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-a-million-little-pieces-to-arch-parks-project-and/article_05e140d2-02f8-5cb7-b8dc-028611168804.html
That Roy Blunt supports public-private partnerships is just another confirmation they are a very bad idea:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/second-century-of-our-national-parks-should-be-defined-by/article_8db27654-c764-55db-9be9-dda85e9a8564.html
Now, about that new police headquarters. Here is another term for theft that a lot of people aren't aware of: asset forfeiture money.
The department bought a nine-story building once used by financial services firm A.G. Edwards for $2.7 million using asset forfeiture money.
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/New-police-headquarters-to-open-in-St-Louis-267144381.html
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/New-headquarters-being-built-for-St-Louis-police-without-taxpayer-money-267252551.html
With asset forfeiture, your money is guilty until proven innocent. It is outright theft. And as with all theft, it is the poorest who are most vulnerable.
The police don't have to report the money. If they think your money is "dirty" they can keep it. And good luck getting it back.
http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/tan-nguyen-nevada/
http://www.legal-aid.org/en/ineedhelp/ineedhelp/criminalproblem/faq/howdoigetmystuffback.aspx
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/20/asset-forfeiture-wisconsin-bail-confiscated_n_1522328.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_forfeiture
http://www.ij.org/policing-for-profit-the-abuse-of-civil-asset-forfeiture-4
http://www.npr.org/series/91856663/dirty-money-asset-seizures-and-forfeitures
https://www.aclu.org/criminal-law-reform/civil-asset-forfeiture
Hey, St. Louis, do you like being robbed?
The Arch Grounds Renovation and the new Police Headquarters can tell transit riders a lot.
Metro is a private-public partnership. Public-private partnerships are really just another way for business developers to get more government funding for their own purposes.
And the City Arch River foundation is a great example of the "boondogglery" and misinformation that accompany these partnerships.
http://www.cityarchriver.org/about-the-project/about-us/http://www.cityarchriver.org/about-the-project/about-us/
What is really shocking is how little real investigation is done by the media. I get that global entities like Serco are difficult to track, but just skimming these articles the misinformation and statistical manipulation leaps out at the reader. And these are all locally recognizable names and companies.
Take a wee peek at the people that are on the Board, and the companies that benefit. Do the Ralston Purina heirs really need their names plastered anywhere else? Look at the blatant pleas for more "donor recognition."
The biggest lie about the Arch Grounds Renovation is this:
"The lion's share of the funding is coming from private sources."
Take a close look at the actual private monies being donated --not a lion's share, by any means, and not actual money or even the "investors" own money, in the case of tax credits. Out of a $380 million dollar budget, private sources were supposed to donate $209 million. $91 million comes from federal funding, and the rest-- and a whole lot more, about $500 million, for many, many years after the renovation is completed-- comes from that Prop P sales tax increase. (They are gonna milk that cash cow to death.)
Now, kick in 14 months behind schedule, lagging private donations and additional $15 million dollar tax credit incentive (the government gives the donor a big tax credit, say for a million dollars, and the donor sells that credit for seventy cents on the dollar and kicks in a matching contribution... and the government wonders why they are insolvent??? Take the money to the racetrack and they'd get better odds and payoffs).
And, the truth is, the Arch is really not that vital to our city. Sorry. For real, read this link even if you don't read any of the others: http://nextstl.com/2013/03/the-missing-conversation-about-arch-grounds-attendance/
This is outright theft.
The money from the tax and the federal funds could be used for something the city really needs: a north to south Metrolink. The budget for that is $800 million. (I believe that estimate is deliberately inflated, but regardless, that $718 million would pay for most of it, and Prop A's county proceeds in 14 months would cover the rest.)
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/missouri-taxpayers-may-kick-in-million-for-arch-museum-renovation/article_88adab79-c4ae-5ba8-be22-eae487adc0f1.html
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/missouri-development-finance-board-approves-15-million-tax-credits-museum-under-gateway-arch
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/key-part-of-gateway-arch-grounds-renovation-underway/article_67cef0cd-4528-5564-a61c-c2326b24533a.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/editorial-close-the-taxpayers-spigot-for-the-arch-grounds-project/article_a0a9122b-014e-5b4d-95fc-8dab9ba6027a.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-a-million-little-pieces-to-arch-parks-project-and/article_05e140d2-02f8-5cb7-b8dc-028611168804.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/arch-grounds-renovation-now-months-behind-schedule/article_bd34b21d-77da-50e6-aeb9-fef32a10993e.html
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-a-million-little-pieces-to-arch-parks-project-and/article_05e140d2-02f8-5cb7-b8dc-028611168804.html
That Roy Blunt supports public-private partnerships is just another confirmation they are a very bad idea:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/second-century-of-our-national-parks-should-be-defined-by/article_8db27654-c764-55db-9be9-dda85e9a8564.html
Now, about that new police headquarters. Here is another term for theft that a lot of people aren't aware of: asset forfeiture money.
The department bought a nine-story building once used by financial services firm A.G. Edwards for $2.7 million using asset forfeiture money.
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/New-police-headquarters-to-open-in-St-Louis-267144381.html
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/New-headquarters-being-built-for-St-Louis-police-without-taxpayer-money-267252551.html
With asset forfeiture, your money is guilty until proven innocent. It is outright theft. And as with all theft, it is the poorest who are most vulnerable.
The police don't have to report the money. If they think your money is "dirty" they can keep it. And good luck getting it back.
http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/tan-nguyen-nevada/
http://www.legal-aid.org/en/ineedhelp/ineedhelp/criminalproblem/faq/howdoigetmystuffback.aspx
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/20/asset-forfeiture-wisconsin-bail-confiscated_n_1522328.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_forfeiture
http://www.ij.org/policing-for-profit-the-abuse-of-civil-asset-forfeiture-4
http://www.npr.org/series/91856663/dirty-money-asset-seizures-and-forfeitures
https://www.aclu.org/criminal-law-reform/civil-asset-forfeiture
Hey, St. Louis, do you like being robbed?
AMENDMENT 7 SHOWDOWN
I can't seem to shut up about Amendment 7. It is not just an outrage and highway robbery, but also a very clear example of the kind of widespread insolvency our governments are facing nationally. (It might seem that it started in 2008, but our current corporate plutocracy and income inequality actually go back to 1981 and Reagan.)
I don't even need to point out that it is no coincidence that this comes during the "fight" to pass the highway transportation bill.
http://www.rollcall.com/news/holden_pass_the_highway_transportation_bill-222461-1.html?pg=2&dczone=opinion
The Laborers International Union of North America have joined the construction cartels and made themselves into panhandlers for the proposed statewide sales tax increase.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/money-flowing-to-missouri-transportation-tax-group/article_5905897d-aa61-55da-814a-fa1faf4c8a6a.html
Theatrical panhandlers with a scare tactic. They are traveling around with a bus that has a bridge (foam sculpture) crashing down on top of it.
http://kplr11.com/2014/07/14/local-group-to-use-bus-wreck-to-support-transportation-tax-hike/
I don't blame these guys for working it to get some work. And I support the unions. But this sales tax increase is panhandling. These workers are just some of the recipients of the beggar's cup, even though they know they, too, will pay for it.
Government officials want to do everything BUT raise taxes on the wealthy and increase effective tax rates on the corporate oligarchs. None of our great leaders is the least bit interested in doing what is right for the people. All they want is their nice fat campaign contributions and lobbyist gifts to keep coming.
As I-- and many others-- have said before, Metro is not about public transit. Public Transit is just the excuse for Bi-State Development Agency to funnel government funds for business development and political networking.
The Government is not about Government services, including transportation infrastructure. Government services are just the excuse for extracting more tax money.
If the government and big business wants more of our (coin) change, they need to create some real change!
Amendment 7 is a good opportunity for we, the people, to demand real change!
These threats of infrastructure collapse and bus crashes, these are scare tactics. They need to be afraid of us!
“People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.” -V For Vendetta
OPTINSTL'S previous posts on Amendment 7:
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/07/why-you-should-vote-no-on-proposed.html
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/07/more-on-amendment-7-highway-robbery.html
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/06/vote-no-on-amendment-7-proposed.html
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/05/sales-tax-is-new-cash-cow.html
I don't even need to point out that it is no coincidence that this comes during the "fight" to pass the highway transportation bill.
http://www.rollcall.com/news/holden_pass_the_highway_transportation_bill-222461-1.html?pg=2&dczone=opinion
The Laborers International Union of North America have joined the construction cartels and made themselves into panhandlers for the proposed statewide sales tax increase.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/money-flowing-to-missouri-transportation-tax-group/article_5905897d-aa61-55da-814a-fa1faf4c8a6a.html
Theatrical panhandlers with a scare tactic. They are traveling around with a bus that has a bridge (foam sculpture) crashing down on top of it.
http://kplr11.com/2014/07/14/local-group-to-use-bus-wreck-to-support-transportation-tax-hike/
I don't blame these guys for working it to get some work. And I support the unions. But this sales tax increase is panhandling. These workers are just some of the recipients of the beggar's cup, even though they know they, too, will pay for it.
Government officials want to do everything BUT raise taxes on the wealthy and increase effective tax rates on the corporate oligarchs. None of our great leaders is the least bit interested in doing what is right for the people. All they want is their nice fat campaign contributions and lobbyist gifts to keep coming.
As I-- and many others-- have said before, Metro is not about public transit. Public Transit is just the excuse for Bi-State Development Agency to funnel government funds for business development and political networking.
The Government is not about Government services, including transportation infrastructure. Government services are just the excuse for extracting more tax money.
If the government and big business wants more of our (coin) change, they need to create some real change!
Amendment 7 is a good opportunity for we, the people, to demand real change!
These threats of infrastructure collapse and bus crashes, these are scare tactics. They need to be afraid of us!
“When the people fear the government there is tyranny, when the government fears the people there is liberty.” -John Basil Barnill
OPTINSTL'S previous posts on Amendment 7:
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/07/why-you-should-vote-no-on-proposed.html
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/07/more-on-amendment-7-highway-robbery.html
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/06/vote-no-on-amendment-7-proposed.html
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/05/sales-tax-is-new-cash-cow.html
WHAT STL METRO COULD LEARN FROM LA METRO'S BLUE LINE
I find it really shocking how dismissive Metro executives are about their terrible surveys. (Once a year, on the Metrolink only.) They are really clueless about the actual transit needs of their riders.
Without meaningful, accurate data, from a large representative group of patrons, no business or entity can make decisions or do planning.
It is only because Metro is not a completely private, for profit business that they can get away with this. (And there is very little chance that any public transit agency is every going to be lucrative enough for a private company to want to own one. All of these agencies are really just funnels for government funds to be used in "business development." And to further political careers of CEO's and top executives. "Hey I mismanaged Metro's 350 million dollar budget, I can mismanage the state's budget just as well." Um, yes, that was sarcasm.)
This article about Los Angeles' Metro's Blue Line is a real eye opener if you know how to read between the lines.
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/07/when-las-blue-line-was-new/374421/
It was a big deal, perhaps even more so than the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (LACMTA) expected. Originally projected to have a daily ridership of 5,000, the Blue Line was carrying 32,000 riders a day by the end of 1990. As of last May, the system's oldest line has an average weekday ridership of 86,065.
THAT'S RIGHT! Expected versus actual ridership BEGAN at SIX TIMES the agency's estimate! And is now, what? SEVENTEEN TIMES the estimate???
The Blue Line runs through South Central and down to Long Beach. It definitely covers LA's most transit dependent areas.
When public transit takes people where they need to go, in a timely manner, the sky is the limit.
You know, OPTINSTL's survey for Metro to use is modelled from the Los Angeles Metro's semi-annual survey. For an entire week, on every single bus and train, LA Metro has survey takers handing out and collecting lengthy, detailed questionnaires to every rider.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-metros-new-survey-should-be.html
St. Louis Metro relies on general population and employment statistics. And those once a year, five question, Metrolink-only surveys.
Of course, business developers and local politicians don't really want Metro to provide good service to the people that need it the most. St. Charles demonstrated that most blatantly when they shot down the proposed Metrolink ten years ago.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-apalling-racist-fiasco-of-2005-and.html
What they want is bus service that will actually get a person to a low wage job, but not convenient enough for those workers to come spend their free time in the "nice areas".
Incarceration by lack of decent public transit is a very effective way of cordoning off parts of the city using federal funds to do so.
If St. Louis Metro actually surveyed their riders, a north-south metrolink would be the obvious top-priority. But then it would be easier and faster for transit riders to get around.
And that is exactly what they don't want.
Without meaningful, accurate data, from a large representative group of patrons, no business or entity can make decisions or do planning.
It is only because Metro is not a completely private, for profit business that they can get away with this. (And there is very little chance that any public transit agency is every going to be lucrative enough for a private company to want to own one. All of these agencies are really just funnels for government funds to be used in "business development." And to further political careers of CEO's and top executives. "Hey I mismanaged Metro's 350 million dollar budget, I can mismanage the state's budget just as well." Um, yes, that was sarcasm.)
This article about Los Angeles' Metro's Blue Line is a real eye opener if you know how to read between the lines.
http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/07/when-las-blue-line-was-new/374421/
It was a big deal, perhaps even more so than the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (LACMTA) expected. Originally projected to have a daily ridership of 5,000, the Blue Line was carrying 32,000 riders a day by the end of 1990. As of last May, the system's oldest line has an average weekday ridership of 86,065.
THAT'S RIGHT! Expected versus actual ridership BEGAN at SIX TIMES the agency's estimate! And is now, what? SEVENTEEN TIMES the estimate???
The Blue Line runs through South Central and down to Long Beach. It definitely covers LA's most transit dependent areas.
When public transit takes people where they need to go, in a timely manner, the sky is the limit.
You know, OPTINSTL's survey for Metro to use is modelled from the Los Angeles Metro's semi-annual survey. For an entire week, on every single bus and train, LA Metro has survey takers handing out and collecting lengthy, detailed questionnaires to every rider.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-metros-new-survey-should-be.html
St. Louis Metro relies on general population and employment statistics. And those once a year, five question, Metrolink-only surveys.
Of course, business developers and local politicians don't really want Metro to provide good service to the people that need it the most. St. Charles demonstrated that most blatantly when they shot down the proposed Metrolink ten years ago.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-apalling-racist-fiasco-of-2005-and.html
What they want is bus service that will actually get a person to a low wage job, but not convenient enough for those workers to come spend their free time in the "nice areas".
Incarceration by lack of decent public transit is a very effective way of cordoning off parts of the city using federal funds to do so.
If St. Louis Metro actually surveyed their riders, a north-south metrolink would be the obvious top-priority. But then it would be easier and faster for transit riders to get around.
And that is exactly what they don't want.
ST LOUIS SPIKES
There was a Metro bus crash yesterday because a passenger attacked the driver.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/metro-bus-crashes-downtown-after-passenger-assaults-driver/article_b7f39fe2-f03a-5bce-ab54-5a84646ac304.html
http://www.kmov.com/news/crime/Metro-Bus-driver-hospitalized-after-being-assaulted-while-driving-266954791.html
If I had to guess which bus line I'd say the #41. And as the union comments, this type of thing is far too common on buses.
Bus driver's take all the anger for everything that is wrong with Metro, and the heat for a lot of what is wrong in the city.
These spikes in violence and crime seem to be so bewildering to our "leaders". It's as if they live in a completely different city, in fact, a different WORLD, than the rest of us.
Look at the crime maps of St. Louis, and it is obvious that these spikes are happening in the poorest and most downtrodden parts of the city.
The financial crisis of 2008, which we supposedly are "recovering" from, is not over. In fact, it hasn't even begun. The bank bailouts did NOTHING to fix the economy. The bailouts simply shifted the problem.
And all of this screaming you hear about our roads and infrastructure, the insolvency of our state and government bodies, where do you think this money crunch is being felt the most?
At the bottom.
Yes, you can keep taking a few dollars a week from SNAP recipients, make unemployment benefits harder to obtain, raise sales taxes, ignore our failing school systems, and keep adding more police to already overly-policed neighborhoods (more cops make bad neighborhoods worse), and all of us will pay the price.
This city treats North St. Louis like a concentration camp. Half of this city doesn't exist, except for the crime reports (and the poor of this city making our legal system and lawyers and private prison owners wealthier).
And the more desperate the people become, the harder the state cracks down, the more explosive it is going to get. The less they will be able to "contain" the spikes to the areas where no "decent" person will go.
I wish that not only were Metro officials required to ride the buses, I wish all the local politicians were required to actually walk the streets and ride transit and talk to people.
And police should be required to "walk the beat" and get to know the people in the communities they police.
And, yes, Metro needs more security. And they need to pay their drivers more. Bus drivers take a lot of crap, and while some of them are jerks-- or jerks sometimes, they are people, after all, like the rest of us-- they deserve to be treated with more respect, not just from riders, but from the company that employs them.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/metro-bus-crashes-downtown-after-passenger-assaults-driver/article_b7f39fe2-f03a-5bce-ab54-5a84646ac304.html
http://www.kmov.com/news/crime/Metro-Bus-driver-hospitalized-after-being-assaulted-while-driving-266954791.html
If I had to guess which bus line I'd say the #41. And as the union comments, this type of thing is far too common on buses.
Bus driver's take all the anger for everything that is wrong with Metro, and the heat for a lot of what is wrong in the city.
These spikes in violence and crime seem to be so bewildering to our "leaders". It's as if they live in a completely different city, in fact, a different WORLD, than the rest of us.
Look at the crime maps of St. Louis, and it is obvious that these spikes are happening in the poorest and most downtrodden parts of the city.
The financial crisis of 2008, which we supposedly are "recovering" from, is not over. In fact, it hasn't even begun. The bank bailouts did NOTHING to fix the economy. The bailouts simply shifted the problem.
And all of this screaming you hear about our roads and infrastructure, the insolvency of our state and government bodies, where do you think this money crunch is being felt the most?
At the bottom.
Yes, you can keep taking a few dollars a week from SNAP recipients, make unemployment benefits harder to obtain, raise sales taxes, ignore our failing school systems, and keep adding more police to already overly-policed neighborhoods (more cops make bad neighborhoods worse), and all of us will pay the price.
This city treats North St. Louis like a concentration camp. Half of this city doesn't exist, except for the crime reports (and the poor of this city making our legal system and lawyers and private prison owners wealthier).
And the more desperate the people become, the harder the state cracks down, the more explosive it is going to get. The less they will be able to "contain" the spikes to the areas where no "decent" person will go.
I wish that not only were Metro officials required to ride the buses, I wish all the local politicians were required to actually walk the streets and ride transit and talk to people.
And police should be required to "walk the beat" and get to know the people in the communities they police.
And, yes, Metro needs more security. And they need to pay their drivers more. Bus drivers take a lot of crap, and while some of them are jerks-- or jerks sometimes, they are people, after all, like the rest of us-- they deserve to be treated with more respect, not just from riders, but from the company that employs them.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
DEAR METRO: RIDERS NEED DRINKING FOUNTAINS AS WELL AS TOILETS
Sitting at the Delmar Metrolink the other day, in the hot sun, was a woman waiting for a bus that runs every 40 minutes. She was 60ish, African-American, in somewhat fragile health, and on that day, dry as dust.
"Why don't they have a drinking fountain?" she asked. "All this money we pay, and we can't get a drinking fountain." She didn't have even a quarter to buy water from one of the local restaurants.
"We need bathrooms, too," I commented.
"Yes, but right now, I am so dry, I couldn't even go to the bathroom," she said. "I need a drink of water!"
The need for bathrooms has already been well documented on this blog.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/metro-bus-and-train-stations-need-more.html
But we need drinking fountains, too. Riding your buses is thirsty work. There is rarely enough shade at bus stops and terminals, and often there is no shade. Too often there are no places nearby where a person can get a drink of water for free. If you want water you will need to pay at least a quarter to get a cup from a fountain machine, or buy a plastic bottle of water. Of course, that is the same as needing the toilet. You have to buy something at most places.
If I were driving a car for an hour and a half on the highways, there would be ample rest stops where I could get water and go to the bathroom. But during my daily three hour trip on the buses (90 minutes one way, on three bus lines each way, with at least a 20 minute wait between one of those transfers) there is no consideration for my most basic needs.
It's the 21st Century and we can send a man to outer space, but we don't have public facilities in our earthbound cities. Legislators, lawmakers, and the media argue endlessly over when life begins in a woman's uterus. Corporations are ruled to be "persons".
But the one thing that all people have in common (except for corporate "persons") is a bladder and bowels. One thing we all need to survive is water.
Our city and nation, our entire planet, is ruled by shareholders and executives seeking profits for themselves. They don't care about us, and they never have. We are cash cows to be milked for labor and then again for taxes.
We, the people, pay for everything but get very little in return.
Maybe when we are all thirsty and incontinent enough, we will begin to demand our fair share.
Let's start with public toilets and drinking fountains at St. Louis Metro transfer centers, and go from there.
"Why don't they have a drinking fountain?" she asked. "All this money we pay, and we can't get a drinking fountain." She didn't have even a quarter to buy water from one of the local restaurants.
"We need bathrooms, too," I commented.
"Yes, but right now, I am so dry, I couldn't even go to the bathroom," she said. "I need a drink of water!"
The need for bathrooms has already been well documented on this blog.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/metro-bus-and-train-stations-need-more.html
But we need drinking fountains, too. Riding your buses is thirsty work. There is rarely enough shade at bus stops and terminals, and often there is no shade. Too often there are no places nearby where a person can get a drink of water for free. If you want water you will need to pay at least a quarter to get a cup from a fountain machine, or buy a plastic bottle of water. Of course, that is the same as needing the toilet. You have to buy something at most places.
If I were driving a car for an hour and a half on the highways, there would be ample rest stops where I could get water and go to the bathroom. But during my daily three hour trip on the buses (90 minutes one way, on three bus lines each way, with at least a 20 minute wait between one of those transfers) there is no consideration for my most basic needs.
It's the 21st Century and we can send a man to outer space, but we don't have public facilities in our earthbound cities. Legislators, lawmakers, and the media argue endlessly over when life begins in a woman's uterus. Corporations are ruled to be "persons".
But the one thing that all people have in common (except for corporate "persons") is a bladder and bowels. One thing we all need to survive is water.
Our city and nation, our entire planet, is ruled by shareholders and executives seeking profits for themselves. They don't care about us, and they never have. We are cash cows to be milked for labor and then again for taxes.
We, the people, pay for everything but get very little in return.
Maybe when we are all thirsty and incontinent enough, we will begin to demand our fair share.
Let's start with public toilets and drinking fountains at St. Louis Metro transfer centers, and go from there.
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