BUS STOPS: CHESTERFIELD STEPS IN WHERE METRO HAS FAILED

So Chesterfield is going to pitch in on getting some bus stops with shelters.  I am glad that Chesterfield is stepping up to the plate.  Metro's deplorable CEO John Nations is the former Mayor of Chesterfield.  It is good to know that Nations attitude towards public transit riders is not shared by all of his neighbors.

From:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/71253dd7-dd14-5589-ab69-cf56542ff0a6.html

Chesterfield’s City Council on Monday night gave initial approval an cooperation agreement between the city, Metro, and the Chesterfield Valley Transportation Development District for of bus stop shelters in Chesterfield valley and in other areas of the city in which there are Metro bus routes. A final vote on the legislation is set for June 16. 

The article states that the shelters will be installed in Chesterfield and also in other areas of the city.  In Chesterfield the bus stop trashcans will be maintained by the Chesterfield's waste management provider.  The trash around bus stops is an issue for everyone.

 http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/metro-does-not-take-responsibility-for.html

Too bad Metro gave away $5 million in "contributions to outside entities" (political campaign contributions) in 2013.  That would surely pay for some new shelters and maintenance. ($5 million is also the exact amount that Metro is demanding riders pay for in the next two years through the fare hikes.)

OPTINSTL thinks it might be a bad idea to leave the planning and construction up to Metro.  Mismanagement of funds is systemic at Metro.  After the Shrewsbury debacle, and their continued insolvency and inability to complete  Metrolink expansion to north Saint Louis and Florissant, they need to be audited and overhauled before they are entrusted with any new projects or public money.

At the very least, I hope that someone from Chesterfield will be appointed to audit the planning and construction very closely.

OPTINSTL would like to suggest that Chesterfield add bus schedules and route information, and perhaps install recycling bins that issue public transit credits for plastic bottles.  Also, I hope they will work closely with street services to make sure the new shelters have sufficient lighting and sidewalks in good condition.  Not just in Chesterfield, but all over the city.

Bus stops: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-should-be-metros-new-bus-stop-plan.html

Recycling: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/06/metro-could-save-on-trash-cans-with.html 

It is a shame that Metro has not placed a greater priority on surveying its' bus riders.  (They do a once a year survey, a very incomplete survey, on the Metrolink.  But the bus is the biggest portion of their service, and north St. Louis City and county constitute the greatest share of riders.  Metro executives and planners know almost nothing about their best customers.)

If Metro did thorough surveys, they could tell the city of Chesterfield the bus routes that were used the most.  The #91 and #258 easy guesses, but what about the many riders that make one or more transfers?

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-metros-new-survey-should-be.html

OPTINSTL spoke with a rider on the #90 bus that lives in Baden and works in Chesterfield.  It is a two hour ride each way.  He takes the #90 to the Metrolink, and then the Blue Line to the #258.  There are no shelters at either of his bus stops.  (And no public bathrooms at all along the way.  When will this most basic of human needs be addressed?)

Improved bus stop shelters will help a lot, but Metro still has a long way to go in becoming a truly viable public transit agency. 

TIME TO SEND METRO A MESSAGE:

JULY 1ST! BOYCOTT METRO!  STRIKE CITYWIDE! DON'T RIDE!

METRO: HAVE YOU EXPLORED CUTTING UNNECESSARY COSTS INSTEAD OF RAISING FARES?

Dear Metro:

Did you read about the kid that found a way for the U.S. Government to save $400 million a year simply by switching to the Garamond font?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2591875/Key-stroke-genius-student-14-simple-way-save-government-300m-year.html  (I think in the link address there, where it says 300 million, that is pounds or Euros, this is a Daily Mail link)

Well, Metro, you print a lot of stuff with red and blue ink.  And you print a lot of bus schedules, and you wouldn't need as many if you posted them on every stop.

As I said here: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-should-be-metros-new-bus-stop-plan.html

Those red and blue inks could be done in Black and White, with a little note saying "Metro is saving you money and becoming more environmentally friendly by using only black ink."

WHAT SHOULD BE METRO'S NEW BUS STOP PLAN

Metro doesn't get to decide where bus stops should go, the city and counties do, which is why the bus stop at Page and Lindbergh for the #94 let's you off in the middle of a cloverleaf, or why there is bus stop in front of the crosswalk in the Delmar Loop.

But there is a lot more that Metro could do.  In large parts of the county there are no sidewalks, and in the city the sidewalks are often in really bad repair.  And in any part of the city, in the winter when it snows, the snowplows push everything on to the sidewalks.

There are a lot of bus stops that are downright dangerous.  Especially for handicapped people and families with small children.  There is a stop in the College Hill area where people have to walk under an overpass, with no sidewalks and just a dirt patch.  The ground is littered with broken glass.  There are almost no businesses nearby (just big industrial patches). 

And all over the city and county, there are no schedules or routes posted.  No fare information.  I was told that this was "too expensive" (although it appears no feasibility studies have been done to determine just what the cost would be) and that people would "steal the bus schedules".

Well, if there were a schedule at every stop, why would you need to steal one?

Here is my plan (and please feel free to laugh hysterically at my child-like drawing done in MS Paint-- I tried to get that pencil tool to go straight, to no avail, LOL!):

Two sheets of heavy acrylic, with the appropriate sized holes to bolt the acrylic to the metal post, just as the bus stop sign is attached.  Across the top would be a heavy plastic seam that fits across the sheets to keep moisture out.  In between the sheets the bus schedule and route --just the same ones that are already printed and available, with a note on what the closest stop on the schedule was to the stop the person was at.

How hard would this be? Please let me know, Metro.  If you worked to make this part of your "Planning and System Development" you would could use those funds, instead of monies to "improve existing services", which you have already admitted you don't have.

Come on, Metro.  Do something for your people that will matter! 

DEAR METRO: SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU

Dear Metro (in particular, Chief of Planning and System Development):

1) What funds are going into developing sanitation facilities (toilets) at Metro bus transfer centers and Metrolink stations?  What consideration is being given to this most basic of human needs?

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/metro-bus-and-train-stations-need-more.html

2) You say that one million people ride public transit every year.  How do you count the number of individual people that ride?  I can see where it would be easy to count your 55 million boardings, but how are you counting individuals?  Do you do surveys? Do you know what neighborhoods use your services the most? What are your busiest buses?  What are your busiest transfer centers?  What are your least-used bus and train lines?

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/how-much-does-metro-know-about-its-most.html

3) You say that you are connecting people with jobs, yet your own maps (actually the East West Gateway Council of Governments' maps) of areas with the lowest ownership of cars are underserved, as are many of the areas with the most jobs.  The connectivity between the areas is also badly served in all but a few places (Central West End, Downtown).  Shouldn't that be your highest priority? What are you doing to change that?

4) When will more Metrolink service be available in north Saint Louis, and south city areas such as South Grand and Dutchtown?  Can you provide the public and OPTINSTL with maps of existing tracks, development plans, and feasibility studies?  If so, how do we access them?

5) You allow universities and employers to subsidize transit passes for employees, seemingly at their discretion.  You also sell "semester passes" to college students. Do you have any plans in development to offer passes at a discount to low-income people on welfare, and the unemployed?  Have you reached out to these agencies to look for ways to provide low cost passes to the disadvantaged-- which would seem to be your largest rider base?

6)  Can you point me to the official story of how the proposed St. Charles Metrolink was rejected? What lessons did Metro learn from this? Also, why was a train put into Shrewsbury when north Saint Louis has the greatest need?  Can you offer any assistance to the public and OPTINSTL on how to make sure future trains are not blocked?

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-apalling-racist-fiasco-of-2005-and.html

7) Many of your bus stops are badly placed and many are not marked with the identifying information for the bus lines that stop there. None of them have schedules, routes, or fares posted.  There seems to be a lack of coordination and planning with the cities (who decide where the bus stops can be placed) on trash cans, lighting, sidewalk repair and so forth.  Especially in low-income areas where families with young children ride the bus, this seems like it should be an obvious priority.  What plans are in place to create better bus stops?

In particular, to post route, schedule and fares?  I have suggested two sheets of acrylic, three sided (the top would be sealed to prevent moisture from precipitation) with holes at the top and bottom, to be bolted to the metal poles that the bus stops signs are mounted on.  I was told it was too expensive.  Can you direct me to the feasibility study that was done that determined this cost was too high?

EDIT: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/what-should-be-metros-new-bus-stop-plan.html

8) Are there any plans to extend the Customer service information?  It is nice that you started the phone and email alerts, but many low-income people do not have data service on their phones.  When people need to reach Metro the most, it is usually late at night and on weekends.

9) You are raising fares by 5%, but offer no explanation of how the three fare options all will equal the same amount of money -- 2.5 million dollars per year.  Can you direct me to the studies that were done, and how each of the three options totals up?

10) You also own Downtown St. Louis Airport, and the Arch and Riverboat Trams.  How much of the revenues generated from those entities are used for public transportation?  Have you investigated selling these entities to private companies?  If so, have you done any discovery of what impact this would have on the public transit system?  Would sale of these entities provided you with needed funds to improve existing services?

11) Can you explain why there is not more outreach work done-- such as rider surveys, and having Metro officials available on buses and Metrolink to make feedback more convenient to the riders?  To come to your hearings, those of us that don't have the money to buy bus passes have to pay to come, in addition to having our day disrupted.  And you would reach a much greater portion of customers by coming to them.

EDIT: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/todays-hearing-on-fare-increase-at.html

12) Why doesn't Metro require employees that are not drivers or train operators to ride public transportation from the closest park and ride location from their homes, at least once a week?

13) In 2009, a year after the economic collapse in the U.S., and after four years- by your own statistics-- of increasing ridership, you had to severely cut services.  Do more riders equal more revenue?  And how so?  Can you direct me to the mathematical algorithms and statistical models (excuse me if my terminology is wrong) that you use to determine how many riders and at what fare structure you need to increase services?

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/why-were-so-many-bus-lines-shut-down-in.html

14) Your website says that for every $1 a community invests in public transit, it receives $4 in federal money via Metro/Bi-State.  Can you explain to me exactly how that works?  Where does the $1 come from, and who gets paid the $4 in return? Also, is this true equally, for all communities?  And if so, does that mean that lower-income areas are lower served, because they have fewer dollars to contribute?

14) The Loop Trolley Transportation District was just awarded $25 million from an Urban Circulator Grant.  The reasons for the Public Transit riders to oppose the proposed Trolley are numerous.  What partnerships are Metro building with local communities to put Urban Circulators in areas that really need them?  How much exploration has been done on Urban Circulators?

 http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-loop-trolley-is-about-getting.html

EDIT: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-loop-trolley-sucking-up-more.html

That is all for now.  If you can respond to these questions by email, please do.  If I need to come to Metro and pick up the hard copy print outs, please let me know.  If there is another agency or person I need to address, please let me know who they are.

Thank you.

EDIT: This was emailed to the Chief of Planning and System Development.