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.
OPTINSTL
OCCUPY! PUBLIC TRANSIT Image by Eric Drooker for Occupy Wall Street, click on image for Drooker's website
Showing posts with label pedestrians. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pedestrians. Show all posts
Friday, March 18, 2016
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
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
THE INDUSTRY STANDARD SHOULD BE SAFETY FIRST
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/investigation-continues-into-fatal-accident-at-umsl-metrolink-crossing/article_9743980d-0a35-5e2b-93ea-afa672301c66.html
From the above article, a Metro spokesperson commenting on the crosswalk where the woman died:
There is no signal or gate at the crossing, or at any of Metro’s other pedestrian crossings.
“Per the industry standard, we only have signals at street grade crossings,” Beck said. “If we had gates at pedestrian access crossings, people would just walk around them.”
I especially love the editorial on "people would just walk around them." Really? Are you sure? Maybe SOME people would. Maybe the girl that died would have waited for the signal or gate. But you don't know, do you? That's just your low opinion of your rider's, right out there in the open.
There is a pretty serious lack of commitment to safety on the part of Metro. The lack of coordination with street services on sidewalk and street maintenance near bus stops is obvious. But the Metrolink has a lot of problems, not just at the crossings.
The Maplewood Metrolink is one of the most badly designed and unsafe stations I have ever seen. There is no crosswalk at the street, to the bus stop. The eastbound buses have to make a right turn out of the station and go down a Manchester a quarter mile, turn around, and come back up, because there were too many problems with oncoming traffic.
There is a naturally occurring blindspot for eastbound traffic at the curve in Manchester just before the Metrolink station.
That's just one of the most obvious examples. You see, the people that do the planning and development and construction don't ride the train and buses. They don't build the stations with an organic understanding of the flow of rider foot traffic.
It looks okay, and it follows the "industry standard". They collect their paychecks and go home in their cars. If there is a problem, it is never found until everything is built. Like the traffic accidents that plagued the Maplewood station before Metro re-routed the buses to make right turns out of the bus depot.
Their should be more safety at rail crossings. And there should be more safety from the rider's point of view built in to new structures.
Two people have died at this crossing. What is it going to take Metro?
EDIT: There is no story or news link posted about the fatality on Metro's website.
From the above article, a Metro spokesperson commenting on the crosswalk where the woman died:
There is no signal or gate at the crossing, or at any of Metro’s other pedestrian crossings.
“Per the industry standard, we only have signals at street grade crossings,” Beck said. “If we had gates at pedestrian access crossings, people would just walk around them.”
I especially love the editorial on "people would just walk around them." Really? Are you sure? Maybe SOME people would. Maybe the girl that died would have waited for the signal or gate. But you don't know, do you? That's just your low opinion of your rider's, right out there in the open.
There is a pretty serious lack of commitment to safety on the part of Metro. The lack of coordination with street services on sidewalk and street maintenance near bus stops is obvious. But the Metrolink has a lot of problems, not just at the crossings.
The Maplewood Metrolink is one of the most badly designed and unsafe stations I have ever seen. There is no crosswalk at the street, to the bus stop. The eastbound buses have to make a right turn out of the station and go down a Manchester a quarter mile, turn around, and come back up, because there were too many problems with oncoming traffic.
There is a naturally occurring blindspot for eastbound traffic at the curve in Manchester just before the Metrolink station.
That's just one of the most obvious examples. You see, the people that do the planning and development and construction don't ride the train and buses. They don't build the stations with an organic understanding of the flow of rider foot traffic.
It looks okay, and it follows the "industry standard". They collect their paychecks and go home in their cars. If there is a problem, it is never found until everything is built. Like the traffic accidents that plagued the Maplewood station before Metro re-routed the buses to make right turns out of the bus depot.
Their should be more safety at rail crossings. And there should be more safety from the rider's point of view built in to new structures.
Two people have died at this crossing. What is it going to take Metro?
EDIT: There is no story or news link posted about the fatality on Metro's website.
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