JOHN NATIONS NEEDS TO BE FIRED

I thought there was already a blog post with this title, and I was looking for it to add a few links. 

So here is the gist of what I thought I'd already posted:

Metro and Bi State need to be separated.  Metro carries the dinky little  Bi-State Development Agency (the airport, arch trams and parking, etc).  Metro needs to be run by people that have experience in Metro- in particular former drivers.  John Nations has ridden the bus a few times as publicity stunt.  A Metro executive told me that it wasn't feasible for someone like John Nations to commute from Chesterfield to Metro (via the Olive bus and the Metrolink).  Why?  Public transit in St. Louis is too slow.

The CEO appointment is to groom political careers.  John Nations wants to be governor.  Nations is famous for telling his drivers during negotiations that "As soon as I become Governor I'm changing Missouri to a Right To Work state and elimination the unions."

He gave himself a raise a while back.  For $325K a year heading an agency where ALL monies are public- $350 million a year in government subsidies and grants, and rider fares- he can't ride his own transit 4 hours a day to get to and from work?

The people that work in minimum wage job in Chesterfield and live downtown do.

http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2014/08/26/big-raise-for-metro-ceo-angers-union-bus-drivers/

Metro's drivers went 6 years without a contract.  If you don't know about this please take a look:

From 2013:
http://labortribune.com/after-18-months-transit-union-talks-with-metro-going-nowhere/ 

2014 "oreo" incident:
http://fox2now.com/2014/09/12/racial-elements-fuel-dispute-between-metro-and-transit-union/#

"Rally for Respect" 2014
http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/st-louis-transit-union-approves-first-contract-metro-five-years-protests-oreo-incident

Page 5 of the doc, from the Union's magazine:
http://www.atu.org/atu-pdfs/SO_IT14_USWEB.pdf

Health care and pensions secure:
http://www.atu.org/media/releases/st-louis-metro-workers-declare-victory-secure-agreement-preserving-retirement-security

Don't forget that Metro is raising fares again this July.  They need $5 million, the same amount of money they spend every year in "contributions to outside entities".  This is usually political campaign contributions.  By appointing CEO, the governor guarantees a contribution to his campaign.  Call Metro if you think this is wrong.  Call them and demand an explanation.  Call them and demand the CEO salary be lowered - not to the $250K he received before, but 1/2 that- $125K.  Demand the CEO ride public transit at least once a week.

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

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. 

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

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.

WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE NO ON THE PROPOSED STATE WIDE SALES TAX INCREASE

OPTINSTL'S previous posts on Amendment 7, the proposed statewide sales tax increase of 3/4 of a cent, on the ballot in August.

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/05/sales-tax-is-new-cash-cow.html

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/06/vote-no-on-amendment-7-proposed.html

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/07/more-on-amendment-7-highway-robbery.html

Today, MO DOT listed the approved projects.  Look no further for proof that this is a huge waste of taxpayer money.

http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/stltoday.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/47/84795b7f-b8a5-5bbc-9f7b-97b3292ef291/53bb17bf2521f.pdf.pdf

St. Louis starts on about page 14, depending on what you consider St. Louis.

I suggest ever single person--whether you are a registered voter, whether you ride public transit--  reads this very carefully.

First of all, there isn't a lot of public transit on this list. (Only 18% is Public Transit related, according to a NextSTL tweet.)

"Public Transportation" does not always mean buses and Metrolink, or even para-transit.  It includes walking and bike paths, and A LOT of support services.

Below are some OPTINSTL highlights:

St Louis / St Louis City

Fixed funding contribution to Metro for bus rapid transit route

from downtown St Louis to Chesterfield along I-64. Project

delivery is contingent upon $20 million contribution from

Metro.

Public Transportation

$18.00

$20 Million contribution from Metro!!! HAHAHA!  Oh wait, a minute, this is in Chesterfield, so they will rob some other fund to pay for this.

This is Metro CEO John Nations doing his job to make sure no convenient Metrolink service is available to his hometown.  It's okay if "people" ride buses for two or three hours to come from "urban" neighborhoods to bus tables and clean houses. But he doesn't want to many "people" coming from "urban" neighborhoods quickly and easily, for entertainment and shopping, because, you know how those "people" are.

Nations is pretty open about only getting involved with Metro to resolve the "maid crisis" of the 2009 bus lines cuts.  His unemployed, wealthy constituents were suddenly faced with the prospect of cleaning their own houses, because the maids couldn't get to Chesterfield.

(There are LOTS of unemployed people in Chesterfield, but they are called "stay at home mom's" and "investors".  Being unemployed is only bad if you don't have money.  Being poor is the only true crime in the "Land of the Free", the richest country in the world.)

Of course, it is unlikely that a similar Florissant project will get funded. Metro will have to come up with ANOTHER $20 million.   (Again, once MO DOT has the money, they will do whatever they want with it.)

St Louis / St Louis City

Fixed funding contribution to Metro for the bus rapid transit

route from downtown St Louis to I-270 along West Florissant

Ave and Natural Bridge Road. Project delivery is contingent

upon Metro providing $20 million to complete the

improvement.

Public Transportation

$18.00

Yes, you read that right.  They allocate the same amount to West Florissant as Chesterfield.  They have, at least, twice, and probably three times, the amount of riders waiting along West Florissant as Chesterfield.

Even if MO DOT and Metro and our other brilliant leaders were aware of this, and they should be, their own statistics prove it, I doubt Florissant would get the play it deserves.

And with both of these: NO MORE BUSES! These should be Metrolinks.  This is ridiculous.  Really.  These two projects alone should be enough for public transit riders to vote no!

St Louis / St Louis City

Future light rail station

Public Transportation

$8.90

$8.9 Million.  Why yes, that would be the exact amount of money Cortex needs to rip down the old Central West End Metrolink station and move it a few blocks, so they can "realize their business ideal." Cortex is actually a consortium corporation formed by Barnes Jewish, SLU Medical, Washington University and MOBOT/Monsanto.  (Barnes Jewish is tired of transit riders using their bathrooms and cafeterias.) And this will satisfy the other Cortex proponents that Barnes Jewish isn't unfairly served by Metrolink. 

Cortex won't have to pay one red cent to put their big corporate name on the new Metrolink station stop.

 http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/citizens-for-modern-transit-more-rich.html 

St Louis / St Louis City

Studies for light rail expansion and funding scenarios for next

phase

Public Transportation

$2.00

$2 million dollars FOR STUDIES.  They did all these same tired studies for the Madison County and St. Charles Proposed Metrolink expansion and what did it get us?  Nothing.  They don't do the right kind of studies, and they don't make public transit for the people that use it most.  Public transit is developed where corporate and construction developers can make the most money, and Metro executives can keep the biggest slush funds for their bonuses. 

We don't need anymore expensive studies.  It is obvious where the light rail needs to go, and we need a plan.  They keep wasting our money with these feasibility and funding scenarios.  They are inept or corrupt or both.

And this NEW streetcar plan! What a joke!  It mostly runs parallel to the Metrolink, and only adds 2 miles of North/South transit, from downtown to Old North.  And who are these people?  Mostly SLU folk, the same lot that is in on Citizens for Modern Transit and part of the Cortex scam, and they are hungry to suck up federal funds:

St Louis City
Provide fixed funding contribution toward phase I of the St Louis Streetcar system. Project delivery is contingent upon St Louis Streetcar Company providing $271.5 million contribution from other sources, including federal funds and rider fees.
Public Transportation
$25.02

I'd love a streetcar in Old North, but the rest of the plan is just crap.  And that $271.5 million that they are going to contribute is all federal funds.  RIDICULOUS!  This is just robbery that should go to a North South Metrolink.  in fact, that is about third of the money needed to complete a light rail system from the tip of North county to the bottom of South County!!

But too many of these people sit on the East West Gateway Council.  They don't care about making public transit better for people that actually ride it the most.  It's all Shoemal, he's not mayor anymore but he is still running public transit into the ground.

More on St. Louis Streetcar:

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2014/01/st_louis_streetcar_proposed_tr.php

http://www.downtownstl.org/docs/StLouisStreetcarFeasibilityStudy-Final.pdf

https://www.facebook.com/stlstreetcar/info

What do we have next? Here is a cleverly disguised $18 million grant to the Loop "Folley Trolley":

St Louis City
Funding for Delmar/Forest Park-DeBaliviere Metrolink station improvements, sidewalk/non-motorized improvements along Hodiamont Ave, Delmar Blvd, De Giverville Ave and Des Peres Ave, and connect Ruth Porter Trail to Forest Park
Sidewalk / Non-Motorized
$18.77

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

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

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/loop-trolley-police-state.html

There is so much more to get into on this list, and I will add to it as I have the time and investigate, but this should be enough for any voter, particularly transit riders, to vote no on Amendment 7.

You will see more crap like this, as the governments local, state and national try to get support for their insolvency and mismanagement of funds:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/along-for-the-ride/report-america-s-rural-roads-see-too-many-deadly-crashes/article_36dd7c6f-33ad-5e58-b3d9-c88e772323d4.html

Don't believe the hype.

And, seriously, MO DOT is lame.  This is just one example:

http://www.kmov.com/news/local/MoDOT-has-no-solution-for-asphalt-rising-on-Poplar-Street-Bridge-266838601.html

So is the street services department.  And the coordination with utilities and contractors is beyond lame.  It is downright dangerous!  (Again, this is just one example.)

http://www.kmov.com/news/mobile/Hanley-Hills-residents-concerned-about-dozens-of-deep-trenches-in-city-266822951.html

The people in charge are running our city and state into the ground.  TIME FOR CHANGE!

Start by voting NO on AMENDMENT 7!
 

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.

METRO TO SENIORS: TAKE WHAT YOU CAN GET

It's not much, but you can at least get a little discount. 

It's a hike to Affton.

http://fox2now.com/2014/07/10/metro-reduces-fares-for-seniors/

Metro has a page on it, but I can't get their site to load. 

http://www.nextstopstl.org/12247/senior-sign-up-events-at-schnucks/

You can go their site and it is the first story featured:
http://www.metrostlouis.org/Default.aspx

I really wish it were required the executives use public transit at least one week a month for all their
 travel needs.  They need to be out with us, experiencing what it is like, and engaging us in surveys and discussion. 

SERCO IS ABOUT A LOT MORE THAN SABOTAGING OBAMACARE APPLICATIONS

What does this have to do with public transportation in St. Louis?  Serco is the macrocosm of everything that is wrong with this country.  And possibly the entire world.

KMOV St. Louis has been running a lot of spots about the Wentzville offices of Serco that were given a $1.2 billion contract to process ACA, or Obamacare, applications.  If you have been following the news story, you know that they basically paid employees to do nothing, and processed almost no applications.
http://www.kmov.com/news/investigates/News-4-investigates-Workers-paid-taxpayer-dollars-to-do-nothing-259002161.html

They were just given a big fat $98 million government extension.
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Controversial-ACA-contractor-receives-contract-extension-from-government-265783851.html

Serco is NOT a local company.  They began as the British arm of RCA, supplying services to the cinema industry.  They are a global defense and everything else contractor.

They run the Dubai and Copenhagen Metro's (mass transit).  They run parking meters in Chicago..  They own railway worldwide.  They do cyber-intelligence for the U.S. government and other large entities. They supply electronic tags (those leg bands) to the UK Ministry of Justice.

They run a school district  in the UK. They own prisons.  Leisure and vacation facilities.  Waste management services.  Facilities management at hospitals. Run the Iraqi airport.  (EDIT: They were in charge when this utterly bizarre loss of 12 billion dollars happened: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/08/usa.iraq1 )

They run immigration Detention Facilities in the UK.  Give driver's licence and driver exams in Ontario. 

They are one of the largest defense contractors in the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serco_Group

They acquired SI International, in Reston Virginia in 2008.  This gave them their U.S. address.****

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2008/12/29/daily19.html

Serco just lost London's Dockland Light Railway.
 http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jul/04/serco-loses-dlr-franchise-docklands-light-railway

People in the UK hate Serco, and rightfully so.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/sick-serco-meet-protesters-outside-outsourcing-giants-london-agm-1447747

http://politics.co.uk/news/2014/05/08/bucking-the-trend-poll-show-huge-opposition-to-privately-run

Serco haven't just overbilled the US.  Check out their contracts and follow the pattern of scandal. In the UK they billed the Ministry of justice for (electronically) tagging offenders THAT WERE DEAD.

Oh, and their hospital management?
From the Wikipedia link:
In health services, Serco's difficulties include the poor handling of pathology labs and fatal errors in patient records. At St Thomas' Hospital, the increase in the number of clinical incidents arising from Serco non-clinical management has resulted in patients receiving incorrect and infected blood, as well as patients suffering kidney damage due to Serco providing incorrect data used for medical calculations.^[59] A Serco employee later revealed that the company had falsified 252 reports to the National Health Service regarding Serco health services in Cornwall.^[60]

And isn't it nice to know that all of that personal medical information is in the hands of one of the largest intelligence contractors in the world?

Yes, they are rapists, too:
(Also from the Wikipedia article)
In September 2013, Serco was accused of extensive sexual abuse cover-ups of immigrants at Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre prison in Bedfordshire, England ^[30] 

AND

The Union of Christmas Island Workers highlighted the systemic failure by Serco to manage the Christmas Island Immigration Reception and Processing Centre. The centre detains a large number of refugees including 1,000 children.^[36] Under Serco, there has been an increase of deaths in custody, self-harm, and of Serco staff beating prisoners. As well, there has been a deterioration of facilities leading to the decline of the physical and the mental health of detainees and of staff. Ombudsman Allan Asher on the Australian radio show AM said, "In the first week of June when I visited Christmas Island, more than 30 incidents of self-harm by detainees held there were reported."^[36] Serco, in a staged memo leaked to The Australian, blamed the detainees for "creating a culture of self-harm," in order to use it as a "bargaining tool."^[36]

How did they do with that School district?
Serco held a 10-year contract with Bradford City Council between 2001 and 2011 to manage and operate the local education authority,^[65] providing education support services to the City's schools. This period was marked with "real problems" according to senior council officials and was taken back in house by the local authority after this period.^[66] Serco similarly manages and operates Walsall^[67] and Stoke-on-Trent local education authorities.^[68] Serco is one of Ofsted's three Regional Inspection Service Providers, responsible for school inspections in the English Midlands.^[69] Serco is also the provider of a Student information system, Facility, used in schools and colleges in several countries.[70


What DOESN'T Serco have it's fingers in?

EDIT: Consider the fascist possibilities of a corporation that control's driver licencing, education, prisons, medical care, detention, as well as intelligence gathering, cyber-spying, etc, globally.  If we made a map that showed the influence of Serco and their other corporate peers (CACI, Lockheed, etc), would we see a world dominated by U.S./British private intelligence corporations?  

Also, consider that Serco does the same work as USIS, LLC, the company that put Snowden at the NSA, 
 http://online.wsj.com/articles/u-s-gives-new-contract-to-firm-that-cleared-nsa-leaker-1404344583

In fact, here is Serco's protest of a contract award to USIS, LLC:
http://www.gao.gov/products/d02600#mt=summary 

So what does this have to do with public transit in St. Louis?  It's not a direct link.

Serco is the macrocosm, and Bi-State Development Agency is the microcosm.  This is the template for agencies and companies that receive government funding.  Developing infrastructure (transportation or intelligence gathering) makes the private company wealthy, and they in turn feed the politicians with power in the infrastructure-- and of course massive campaign funds.

All government money comes from the taxpayers.  The macrocosm and the microcosm are nothing more than means to rob the public.  Serco is just an extremely transparent example.

Happy Fourth of July! 

***** SI International is worth investigating on it's own.  Ray Oleson founded the company in 1997.  He'd worked for CACI before that.  CACI formed in 1962.  CACI has strong ties to Donald Rumsfeld and the Bush regime. A British American defense, spy, and intelligence contractor, with massive global operations.  CACI was sued in 2004 by a group of tortured Iraqi Abu Ghraib prisoners.  The result of the suit is on-going today.  Since 2007 they have rather suddenly began purchasing over 20 other IT companies, at a rate of several per year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CACI

SI International's 2008 purchase date is not coincidental to the global financial collapse.  It is too big to go into in this post, or in a blog post at all, it is book length, but SI ties to the Bush family and W's presidency, and probably back to WW2 and St. Louis investment banker Herbert Walker (GW Bush maternal grandfather, and founder of the bank that GW Bush's brother William "Bucky" still runs.  And let's not forget the banker that laundered gold for the Nazi's, Thomas McKittrick, from St. Louis.  After WW2 he brought Reichbank's Emil Puhl to NYC.) 

https://www.twst.com/interview/15562 

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/vprr/03/9999999997-03-020592 

Unravel the knot of SI International, CACI, Serco, the Bush Family's St. Louis and WW2 activities and ties to BIS and the Nazi's, and you could unravel every conspiracy theory, illegal war and scandal since the "Great War." (It was great for them!)

http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/143053/hitlers-american-banker 

This list includes Serco, CACI, and all those like them (from 2008):

http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_globalmilitarism19.htm 

It is worth reading the whole list.  Guess who else?

USIS= (listed as a consortium sub-contractor under the Boeing project listing)= the contractor that vetted Edward Snowden, however, mostly famous for their ties to the Bush regime's Carlyle Group, who are famous for their Iraqi war profits, and sub-prime mortgage crisis insolvency.
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/sociopol_carlyle15.htm

SECOND EDIT: Not big on 9/11 conspiracy theories, but Serco comes up in doc's a lot on such sites.  Their CEO (he retired just last year) was on the 47th floor of one of the towers on 9/11
https://decryptedmatrix.com/live/serco-the-biggest-company-youve-never-heard-of/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hyman

http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/10/Serco-Group-plc.html

I can't work out what these links are actually saying, both badly written and unclear, but apparently someone tried to sue them for a military death:
http://www.abeldanger.net/2014/06/1999-marine-links-serco-red-switch.html

http://www.abeldanger.net/2014/06/2001-marines-wrongful-death-suit-in-re.html 

BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT SENDS IN MILITARY POLICE TO STOP TRANSIT WORKERS STRIKE

This article is from June, but I just saw it yesterday:

http://revolution-news.com/cops-attack-subway-workers-in-brazil-free-fare-movement-announce-june-19th-actions/

Mass transit worldwide needs to be Occupied!

Support the Free Fare movement!

STRIKE CITYWIDE! DON'T RIDE! BOYCOTT METRO TODAY!

It's a funny strike, to not ride the bus.  Instead of a big group of people in one location, it is a lot of people staying home or getting a ride.

The revolution may not be televised, but it will be "telephoned".

Even after today, don't stop calling Metro.  If we don't demand change, they won't volunteer it.  Between the fat cat executives, protecting their own salaries and bonuses (paid for with public tax money and rider fares), and the pencil pushers that just want to keep their jobs, there is no one at Metro, or any government agency or council, that is looking out for the rider.

They are robbing us blind, but we are letting them rob us.  Until we demand change and make our voices impossible to ignore, business will continue as usual.

They will keep putting in "landscaping" at transfer centers, instead of building toilet facilities.  Fares will increase every two years automatically, even though the fare increases do little more than offset the $5 million they spend in "contributions to outside entities" (political campaign contributions), and won't even make a dent in the $26 million a year interest on their debts.

Rider fares only supply $72 million of their $350 million a operating budget, but they will milk us for every red cent they can get.  (Of course, they won't take our pennies anymore.  When they did have extra money they spent it on new fare boxes.  Did that help their riders?  No.  They were just sick of pennies.  So what if many of their riders have to scrape up change to get their fares?  Metro is not about making things better for their customers.)

July 4th is the last day of the World Wide Wave of Action.  Today, whether you strike or not, and through the end of the week, do something revolutionary.  Right now the economy and world situation is so bad that to change things for yourself requires as much, if not more, energy than to change things for everyone. 

If we all "phoned in" the revolution-- made one more call to Metro or city officials, or signed one more petition-- every week, we would not need to resort to the large demonstrations and marches in the streets.

Like the bus strike, the "phone in revolution" is about individual enlightenment and action.  It is about creating a culture of leaders, that dictate the government and public agencies, instead of the other way around.

Instead of a Paul Revere, riding through the streets, waking up the people, this Fourth of July, awaken yourself to your own power, AND THEN USE IT.

A whole new world is waiting to be born, it begins with you.

VOTE NO ON AMENDMENT 7, PROPOSED STATEWIDE SALES TAX INCREASE

EDIT: St. Louis Today posted this great article on Sunday, June 22nd:
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/coming-to-a-tv-screen-near-you-missouri-s-sales/article_2b9096df-ce44-5307-9cd2-d1bd34df70bf.html

I have more to say about this topic, but this is the text of the statement to our "leaders" and the leaflet I will be taking to the open hearing tomorrow at the Central Library.  (There is also a hearing today at UMSL and one on Thursday in Cottleville. http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/modot-kicks-public-meetings-transportation-tax-list)
 

17 June 2014

Dear St. Louis City and County, and Missouri “leaders”:

     I find it reprehensible that this state is asking its citizens for MORE MONEY! Especially for “roads and bridges”! One thing we have quite enough of here in St. Louis is road, highway, and bridge construction. We need improved public transit, especially in the areas that use it the most. We need a metrolink that runs from north county to south county. We need high speed rail connecting Saint Louis to Jefferson City, Kansas City, and Columbia.

     These “wish lists” are just fantasy to sell this tax hike to voters. And even the fantasy allocates only $12 million of the $500 million budget to public transit. Once you get our money you will do whatever you want with it. We were told in April of 2010 that Prop A was going to save Metro. In 2013 Prop A collected $78 million in the county and $11 million in the city. Yet all that money has done is pay off the interest on Metro's outrageous debt for the Shrewbury Metrolink extension. Fares are being increased in July and Metro faces continued insolvency.

     And you didn't tell us, back in 2010, that County Executive Charlie Dooley could withhold that $78 million he collects on Prop A and allocate it instead to more roads and bridges. And let's just consider what all this construction is really about: making wealthy companies like Clayco wealthier. Which, of course, makes their contributions to your political campaign funds larger, but does absolutely nothing for the public.

     Why are we being asked to make the already wealthy contractors and developers and engineers of this city even wealthier, when by U-6 numbers we have 10% unemployment, and our schools are failing? I keep hearing about how “attracting talented young professionals” is the key to St. Louis economic growth. This is not only ridiculous, it is offensive.

     Obviously, you do not think that the youth of St. Louis have the capability to become “talented young professionals” with an “entreupreneurial spirit.” If you did you would save our schools, create jobs and internship opportunities, invest in more day care, and give the same investment incentives and tax breaks to local small businesses that you give to these big corporations (who often put the locals out of business!).

     If you believed in your citizens, you would be working to abolish right-to-work legislation, increase the state's minimum wage, and make this a better state for workers. Low wage jobs are the only part of the job sector that is growing. I don't trust a state that makes it more difficult to get unemployment so that it can use the unemployment fund to pay off its debts, and keeps milking sales tax like it is a cash cow.

     We, the people, deserve real leaders. We do not need a County Executive that gives a museum director a half a million dollar a year salary. We do not need a Mayor that governs only the southern, “white” half of the city. We do not need a Metro CEO that supports “right to work”, refuses to negotiate a new union contract with his drivers, is paid $250,000 a year, and gives $5 million a year in “contributions to outside entities.”

     Everything about this city and state's “economic development” is backward and mismanaged (and possibly corrupt). If you can't increase the well being of the people currently living here, with the vast amounts of money we are already giving you, why should we trust you with more money? Why would more people want to move here?

     What are you doing to make the quality of our lives better? For the WHOLE city, not just the middle and upper class citizens. What are you doing to close the $32,000 a year income gap, the “Delmar Divide”, where the median income in north St. Louis is just $8,000 a year, and the south is $40,000?
     The northern half of this city is treated like a reservation or concentration camp, filled with hostile natives, incarcerated by lack of job opportunity, poverty, crumbling neighborhoods, and miserable public transit options. We don't need more Ballpark Villages and Cortex communities. All this does is shift the wealth, it doesn't create more. (Cortex is especially insulting. That they were given DOT TIGER funding, when the obvious outcome of this development is gentrification. And $9 million of taxpayer money to tear down the existing CWE Metrolink station to build a new one a few blocks away? OUTRAGEOUS!)

     We don't need more roads and bridges. We don't need another sales tax increase. We need leaders that can effectively manage the money they have now, and who address the real problems facing our city and state.  

THE PEOPLE SAY “NO” TO AMENDMENT 7!!! 

 

VOTE NO ON “AMENDMENT 7”

THE PROPOSED MISSOURI STATEWIDE SALES TAX INCREASE ON THE BALLOT AUGUST 2014 !

Your vote counts in local and state elections! And even if you cannot vote, you are still a sales tax paying citizen of this state! And St. Louis city and county already have the highest sales tax rates in the state!

Call your local and state representatives and tell them you are against Amendment 7. Tell them you what we need to make this city and state more economically viable! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

WHAT ABOUT OUR SCHOOLS?! Where is all that lottery money going? Why are they asking us for more money for highways and bridges when our kids are suffering in unaccredited and crowded school districts? Where is the funding for after-school and youth programs? Internship opportunities? Scholarships?

WHAT ABOUT PUBLIC TRANSIT AND HIGH SPEED RAIL? In 2010 voters agreed to Prop A to “save” Metro, and yet they are still insolvent! They are raising fares on July 1^st and have not put in a single foot of new Metrolink track in 8 years! We need a statewide speed rail system that links St. Louis, Kansas City, Jefferson City, and Columbia. We don't need more highways!

WHAT ABOUT HOUSING? One hundred thousand homes and lots sit vacant in St. Louis city and county, many bank or city/county owned, and yet we have thousands of homeless. The problem is much larger than just 26 houses in the Ranken Technical College neighborhood! And at the least the vacant lots could be turned into urban farms or “edible” parks, and playgrounds!

WHAT ABOUT JOBS? We need more jobs, and better jobs! More job training! A higher minimum wage! More protection for workers! Stronger unions! More daycare!

GET INVOLVED! THIS IS YOUR MONEY! THIS IS YOUR CITY! THIS IS YOUR STATE!

Governor Jay Nixon: (573) 751-3222

Mayor Francis Slay: (314) 534-2009   mayorslay@mayorslay.com

Board of Aldermen: (314) 622-3287       

County Executive Charlie Dooley: (314) 615-7016

Learn more about Amendment 7 and the proposed projects:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/columns/the-platform/editorial-ten-good-reasons-to-vote-against-the-transportation-sales/article_48a47c71-3a4c-5e0e-b7c2-59d45740bf86.html

http://nextstl.com/2014/05/st-louis-city-produces-project-list-possible-sales-tax-revenue/

http://nextstl.com/2014/06/modot-produces-draft-sales-tax-transportation-project-list/

Join the movement for better public transit: This leaflet was produced by Occupy Public Transportation in St. Louis (OPTINSTL). If you ride public transit, consider boycotting Metro in protest of the fare increase! 

JULY 1^st! STRIKE CITYWIDE! DON'T RIDE!

please print and share this leaflet

optinstl.blogspot.com                      optinstl@gmail.com

PHILADELPHIA TRANSIT WORKERS STRIKE BECOMES PRESIDENTIAL EMERGENCY

This is what happens when you have a Republican governor.  The Philly transit workers had barely declared their strike when they were ordered back to work via declaration of a "Presidential Emergency".

The real emergency is the appalling lack of worker's right in the world's richest nation.  The real emergency is the collapse of unions and the rise of "Right To Work" legislation. 

The transit agency should have been forced to mediate to stop the strike- not the other way around!

I hope the Philly transit workers won't back down.  They deserve better!

We all do!

http://news.yahoo.com/philly-rail-resumes-obama-intervenes-100013464--finance.html

METRO COULD SAVE ON TRASH CANS WITH THIS IDEA, TOO

Beijing has installed recycling bins that give public transit credits for plastic "PET"bottles.

"With the machines, the firm hopes to collect directly from the public and generate extra revenue from government subsidies and sales of advertising shown on the machine's screens. Incom says it plans to approach Coca-Cola and other beverage retailers.
Similar devices have been used in several countries, including the US, Japan and Brazil, but they have benefited from civic mindedness, convenience and widespread ignorance about the true value of PET." 
From: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/jul/04/beijing-recycling-banks-subway-bottles

See the cool recycling machines in this video:
http://youtu.be/f9FbFNndJ88

This is such a brilliant idea, I don't know why every city doesn't do this!

Step up, Metro!

STRIKE CITYWIDE JULY 1ST!

Metro is raising Metrolink fares and transit pass prices on July 1st.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/along-for-the-ride/208cc625-9915-521c-be77-2323ae485680.html

Strike citywide, don't ride the bus or train on July 1st!

We need national media attention.  The public is not a cash cow for a transit agency that spends $5 million dollars on "contributions to outside entities" (CEO John Nations grooming is political career, once his $250,000 a year "sentence" at Metro is over.)

Public transit should not be about "business development."  It should be about serving the public.

Keep the phone campaign going! Call everytime you ride!  Demand they not raise fares, and demand accountability!

Print and share the Jam The Phone Lines leaflet:
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/jam-phone-lines-leaflet-for-use-and-to.html

Keep checking back!  I've been "occupied" with other matters, but will be back in blogging action next week!

OCCUPY METRO!!!!!!!!!!

ON JULY 1ST- STRIKE CITYWIDE! DON'T RIDE!!!!

PROP A: WHAT YOU VOTED ON

This is a scan of the language on the ballot.  "Pubic Transportation" which "includes" Metro transit, is my guess what the argument will be ("no we always meant that Charlie Dooley would decide what went to roads and what went to buses!")

http://occupyurlife.blogspot.com/2014/04/occupy-saint-louis-county-executive.html

Still have to file a Sunshine Act request to get the actual bond, but it is already obvious that they lied to the public.

This alone is the basis for a lawsuit.

Shall the County of St. Louis impose a countywide sales tax of one-half of one percent for the  purpose of providing a source of funds for public transportation purposes including the restoration, operation, and expansion of  Metrolink, MetroBus, dsabled and senior transportation, in addition to an existing sales tax of one-quarter of one percent for the same purpose?

Read this, too: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/what-metro-is-doing-with-your-money-and.html

WHAT METRO'S NEW SURVEY SHOULD BE

Metro bus and train Riders! As part of JAM THE PHONE LINES, April 4th-July 4th, feel free to call Metro and say "I'd like to volunteer some survey information so that you can learn more about your customers" and tell them the answers to as much of this as you would like.

If you ride the bus, and even if you ride the train, you know that Metro does not sufficiently survey its' customers, or really know them at all.  And they don't ride the bus. (Once a year survey on the Metrolink is pretty lame, considering they admit that the buses are the majority of their service.  And they don't ask enough questions, and seem to choose the survey times to their convenience.)

WHEN AND HOW THE SURVEYS SHOULD BE CONDUCTED

They should be able to accurately measure the weeks out of the year with the most boardings, including the inflation of sports and special events fans on the Metrolink.

The busiest time of year for bus boardings, without special events, should be their primary target.  Every day for a week, on every single bus and train.  (The survey itself is detailed further on in this post, and ideas on how they could conduct these in a way that incorporates their riders and saves costs.)

On each bus, for the buses entire daily run.  One person with a lot of little pencils and the survey sheets, handing them out and collecting them back, or in the case of someone going to another bus or train, promising to give it to the next surveyor, or bring it back the next day, or mail it in.

If only one survey can be conducted a year, than that should be it. Not special events.  The heaviest regular boarding time of year.

SURVEY FORMS SHOULD BE AVAILABLE ON ALL BUSES AND TRAINS AT ALL TIMES

AT ALL TIMES their should be survey forms available, and a box to deposit them. 

The first question on these should be "have you filled out a survey in the last year?"  
If yes, "please tell us how your transit needs have changed"?
And "why"? (optional)

You see, the more you know about what your customers need and why, the better you can serve them.  So, if one week you get a drop off in boardings on one bus line, and an increase on several others, and it turns out a business or company has closed or laid people off, you can anticipate those changes and respond to them with alterations in service.

THE SURVEY TAKERS

You could offer a free monthly pass (or equivalent discount on other fares and passes) for 4 hours of surveyor work to students during the week of the survey. This would involve a lot of riders, which would be a bonus for Metro in getting to know the riding public and involving young people in civic work.

As I said, they would have the pencils and surveys.  A detail at the stops where the surveyors changed shifts could collect the completed surveys.  (If you have been accurately counting boardings on each bus and train, you should be able to anticipate the amount of surveys needed for each shift.)

THE DATABASE

I have no idea how comprehensive your system is.  It's seem lame.  So this would be the biggest cost for you-- building something fairly large, 15 years ago this would have been Oracle, I don't know if this is still the preferred platform.  The Federal Transit Authority and Department of Transportation might have something, or a larger city, like Los Angeles.

In addition to collecting and analyzing the data from the surveys, it would need to be integrated into the current route and street system.

Since your website frequently congratulates your "state of the art" systems and "effective analysis", at the same time pleading poverty and overwhelming federal and local limitations, it is hard to know what you all really have going on there.

And even if I did, the technical aspects might be too much for me.

But again, you could turn to the young people.  St. Louis has several fine universities and perhaps some sort of contest or internship opportunity to work on this database could provide funding.  Undergraduates and Graduates.  Perhaps some sort of grant for Ph.D's?

Universities are very good at coming up with things like this.  Reach out.

THE SURVEY

Please fill out only one survey today: 00/00/00
Where did you first board?
How did you get to the stop? (walk, get a ride)
How long did it take you to get there? (Detail your route as much as you would like)
Where will you get off this bus/train?
Will you make another connection?
What bus/train? (Metro or another service provider?)
If so: where? will you have to walk to make the next connection? how far?  what is your next connection (Metro or another service provider)?  Where will you exit?  Please list any more transfers you will be making on this trip. Detail your journey as much as you like.
How often do you make this trip?  each day? Week? month? etc.  Please detail as much as you would like.
Does your route alter with weather or other factors, or are there any alternate routes that you use for this trip? If yes, please list all alternates and reasons for using (or not using) them.
How often do you ride the bus/train?
What bus/train lines do you use the most?
Please tell us about other trips you make regularly, that you will not be making this week, during the survey.
Do you have any suggestions that would make your trip better?

What is your
age
race
gender
income/fulltime. part-time/ how many jobs/unemployed/government assistance
student/veteran/disabled
do you have a car
do you live with someone that has a car

Please tell us anything else about yourself that you feel is important to your transit needs.

EDIT: And Metro, please print these in black and white on recycled paper.  You use WAY too much red and blue ink! http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/metro-have-you-explored-cutting.html

METRO SAYS BATHROOMS ARE TOO EXPENSIVE TO BUILD AND MAINTAIN

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

I think I have already covered that a lot of money could be freed up if the executive salaries were cut.  And if funds were publicly audited and if Metro got out "business development".

All that aside, it does not appear that anyone at Metro has ever done feasibility studies to see what the costs would actually be.  And if they did do a study, it seems likely it would conducted using the same tired, ineffective (and possibly blatantly corrupt) models it uses for determining all of its projects.

First of all, not only could their be a small charge for using the restrooms, they could plug in "sanitary facilities" payments into the passes.  Especially the new debit card type passes.  And single "sanitary facilities" purchases attached to passes sold at Metrolink stations.

Further, vending machines, located outside the facilities, could sell toilet tissue, wipes, toilet seat covers, anti-bacterial wipes for toilet seats and door handles, tampons, etc.  I say outside because it would discourage theft.  Whatever privacy issues people have they would overcome, or learn to bring their own.

The city and counties could be encouraged to pitch in.  St. Louis would be well-served to install public toilets in more neighborhoods.  I haven't seen this in many U.S. cities, but I did in Europe.  (Many Los Angeles Metro stations have pay toilets.  Without the pay vending machines on the outside.)

As for attendants, I think two part-time employee with two stops a day could manage it.  Especially if security checked the condition and stock every few hours.

Going to the toilet is a basic human necessity.  I find it shocking that an advanced country does not address this.

Ridiculous.

Overall public health would improve.

And tourism.  "St. Louis has a great public transit system WITH PLENTY OF TOILETS!"

Metro, can't you even try?  Haven't you even bothered to investigate this- one of the top complaints of your most frequent customers?