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."

JOIN THE MOVEMENT FOR BETTER PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN SAINT LOUIS

I hope you are reading this because you want to live in a city with a great public transportation system.

I started this blog on March 24th when I heard about the upcoming fare increase in July.

I rely on public transportation, and occasional rides from friends.

I am white, but I currently live in Riverview Gardens, about 2 miles from the Riverview Transfer Center.

The difference between bus and train service south of the "Delmar Divide" is shocking.  Especially considering that north St. Louis city and county have the largest population of people that rely on and use public transportation.

I am tired of Metro's failure to provide decent service, and the obvious racism of the East West Gateway Council of Government , the people that tell Metro where they can put a train or bus, the "Local 1%", the "Good Ole Boy Network."

I don't have a plan (yet), but I am researching Metro and writing as much as I can, and sharing it.

I believe we can change the system so that it serves us better! I hope you do to!

If you want to do something else, or take this from a different angle, please let me know and I will post your link on this blog.  I just want this system changed.  It doesn't matter to me who does it or how. there is a lot to do.

If you want to use anything on this blog, please do with full permission.  Spread the word!

If you have any ideas for action, suggestions about what Metro can do (tell them too!), information, or if you want to share your "stores from the bus", please email optinstl@gmail.com
 
DON'T JUST RIDE THE BUS! OCCUPY IT!

READ THIS POST FOR ACTIONS TO TAKE

KINGSHIGHWAY AND MANCHESTER TO CHAMBERS AND JEFFREY

Yesterday morning, an unemployed, 28 year old, African-American man went to a job orientation at Mission Saint Louis.

He walked from Chambers and Jeffrey (almost 2 miles) to the Riverview Hall Metro bus center and caught the #41 to the #95 at Kingshighway, purchasing a $3 two-hour transfer.  The three dollars was all the money he had.

Coming back, he was able to get on the 95, but when he got to Natural Bridge, his two-hour pass had expired by 20 minutes, and the bus driver would not accept it.

He walked the 6.6 mile, 2 and a half hour walk home.

This has happened to him before.

METRO IS RAISING FARES FOR 2.5 MILLION ADDITIONAL REVENUE PER YEAR

Metro needs 2.5 Million more per year, for the next two years, in order to continue operating at the current service level.

NO INCREASE IN SERVICE
NO GUARANTEES THAT SERVICE WILL CONTINUE, AND NO PLANS TO IMPROVE SERVICES

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/public-hearing-for-proposed-fare.html

They have proposed three options to get this money.

Option 1:
   .25 more per each Metrolink base fare
 1.00 more per each weekly pass
 8.00 more per each monthly pass
15.00 more per each semester pass

Option 2:
  .25 more per each Metrolink base fare
 2.00 more per each weekly pass
 6.00 more per each monthly pass
25.00 more per each semester pass

Option 3:
  3.00 more per each weekly pass
  8.00 more per each monthly pass
25.00 more per each semester pass

They offer no explanation of how each of these individual options will generate that extra 2.5 million a year. Each option relies on different commuter fares. 

There is no breakdown of how many train tickets are purchased every day, and no projected analysis of how the fare changes would affect their customers purchases.

(If the fare increase causes a weekly pass buyer to upgrade to a monthly pass, in Option 2, for instance, it means roughly $2 less in revenue for Metro for that month.  The increase in pass prices, though, will likely mean that some people will not buy passes and use the bus more, but pay the more expensive cash fare each time, but for fewer rides.)

There is also no guarantee that we won't be hit again with service reduction. 

HOW MUCH DOES METRO KNOW ABOUT IT'S MOST FREQUENT CUSTOMERS?

Here's another gem from the Metro Website. As with all their models and figures, these numbers come from 2008, before the economic crash.

http://metrostlouis.org/Libraries/MTF_documents/Moving_Transit_Forward_plan_document.pdf

Why is transit important?

Great cities have great transit systems. The St. Louis region is a

wonderful place in which to live, work, and play, but in recent decades

its population and job growth has stagnated. To change this, the

region must move forward and boldly redefine itself as a catalyst for

entrepreneurism, an attractor of talented young professionals, and a

place that considers the needs of all its citizens. Transit alone will not

make this happen, but it does play a vital role in shaping the region’s

quality of life and growing its economy. Here’s how . . .

Transit moves thousands of

people every day to work,

school, and life:

✦

More than 50 million times

each year, someone boards a

MetroBus, MetroLink train or

Metro Call-A-Ride van

✦

Most Metro customers ride to

work or school

✦

Metro customers in Missouri alone

earn more than $2.2 billion in wages

annually

✦

Metro carries nearly 2 million riders a a

year to special events

 

Nice Orwellian double-speak in the first paragraph- "great city" that has become economically "stagnant".   And that part about considering the needs of all its citizens.

Where do these numbers come from? That 2.2 Billion in wages? How is that divided? How many people is that? What is the average income?  Who is your average rider?  How often does he/she ride the bus or train?  How many transfers does he/she make? What is the average time of waiting for/riding public transportation?  Are there more train riders than bus? Do you make more money from the Metrolink or Metro bus?

Where did you gather that information?

IS YOUR MOST FREQUENT, PUBLIC TRANSIT DEPENDENT CUSTOMER ABLE TO SUPPORT A 5% INCREASE IN FARES?

53,767,000 PUBLIC TRANSIT BOARDINGS IN 2008

According to page 18 of this document on the Metro Website, "ridership" in 2008, was 53,767,000.

http://metrostlouis.org/Libraries/MTF_documents/Moving_Transit_Forward_plan_document.pdf

Ridership increased steadily, according to the Metro chart, from 2004-2008.  Yet, even with the every-2-year-fare increase,** and their 20 year "plan" from 1989, 24 bus lines were shut down in 2009.

(** CORRECTION/EDIT: in the past, according to a Metro representative, fares were raised sporadically and for more than 5%.  And they still couldn't manage.  So now we get an automatic increase every 2 years, and still no guarantees that service will remain stable.)

Was there any change, with the increased riders, in types of fares used to board? (More two hour transfers? more weekly passes? more one-way Metrolink cash fares?)

In what geographical locations did the ridership increase the most?

Were they suburban, park and ride, train commuters? Or was there an overall increase in people using the buses and trains more after the economy crashed and the price of gas got to high?

Did the steady increase in riders (from 2005-2008) result in more revenue or less?  Because if more riders means more revenue (and it may not), why did the system fail so badly in 2009?

Sorry, no information to be found.

It seems like it would be pretty easy to count the number of people that boarded a bus, but our Metrolink system uses the "Honor System".  (That means that randomly security and police officers board the trains.  This is an easy way for the police to legitimately harass people.)

Hard to know just how many people actually ride the trains, though.  You can count ticket and pass sales at the stations, but not much else. **

EDIT/CORRECTION:  I have been informed by Metro representatives that there are heat sensors that count -- as far as I could understand-- humans by their body heat, over the train doors when they open and close.  They assured me they were accurate.  I suppose they are.  

Metro operates with 160 million a year budget.  Yet they offer no coherent, understandable breakdown on where that money goes.  Or where it comes from.

WHY WERE SO MANY BUS LINES SHUT DOWN IN 2009?

According to page 16 of this document (see link below) on the Metro Website:

http://metrostlouis.org/Libraries/MTF_documents/Moving_Transit_Forward_plan_document.pdf 

Throughout 2009, the Metro Transit System faced several major challenges in maintaining consistent quality and levels of service. Escalating budget constraints forced Metro to make severe reductions:

32 percent of MetroBus, 23 percent of MetroLink, and 30 percent of Call-A-Ride service was cut throughout the entire St. Louis area. In August 2009, a $12 million special appropriation by the State of Missouri partially restored bus service to the Metro Transit System.  These reductions have negatively impacted ridership and the system’s overall geographic coverage.

WHY?  As with all their "statements" this one is not backed by any substantial information on what caused this crisis.  WHAT ARE THEY DOING WITH THEIR MONEY?

In 1989 they did a big government survey and came up with a "20 year Plan".  The document the above information comes from is part of their NEW 30 YEAR PLAN.

Since they failed to do what they said they would do in 20 years (and failed to predict or foresee how the 2008 economic "crash" in U.S. would effect them-- because a 20 year plan is rarely flexible and only updated when crisis) they now want us to back a new plan?  That runs for 30 years?

Have all the people that were involved in the 1989 plan fired?  Because that was former Mayor Vince Schoemehl's watch, and he is still on the Metro Board.  The 1989-2009 crew has proved their ineptitude and/or corruption.  They need to be removed from Metro.

Wouldn't inflation and an economic crisis result in MORE riders?  

From 2004-2008 Metro's own website claims that there were consistent increases in ridership.  So why didn't that make up for lost revenue?  Why did they need that 12 Million grant from the government?

And if bus service is supposedly restored, why isn't it better?

BRAND NEW BIG BUSES FOR THE 4, 64, AND 70, BUT WHAT ABOUT SMALLER BUSES?

Ah Metro, you are so perfectly designed to suck up federal money, sales tax, and rider revenues, without having to do any real work to make St. Louis Public Transportation viable for the people that depend on you!

You complain that you cannot operate without a 5% increase in fares every two years (without offering any substantial budget and operating costs for public audit).  You blame this on "inflation" (shouldn't that increase your ridership?), and also on diesel fuel costs.

Congratulations on the new bigger buses for your busiest lines! A Metrolink train would have been much nicer, but okay.  In St. Louis, we just have to take what we can get, right?

Hey now, what about all the buses that drive around mostly empty?!!!!!
Have you explored smaller van-type buses or shuttles?  
How many miles per gallon for the regular-size bus?  
How many transit passengers, using what fare structure, do these buses need to operate?  
Have you been monitoring lesser ridden routes to see if smaller vehicles would save you money?

Do I need to name some lines?  Okay, I will name two of them. The #14 (from the CWE station through the Shaw and Hill neighborhoods) and the #57.  I'll add more as I think of them. 

UNIVERSITY CITY TO MAPLEWOOD IS A ONE HOUR TRIP , ONE WAY

From fall of 2010 until the end of 2011 I rode Metro five days a week, Tuesday through Saturday, to and from my home in University City near Midland and Vernon, to my job in Maplewood near Sutton and Manchester.

When I first started this job I had use of a car.  It was 15 minutes drive, door to door, in the mid-morning, and about 20 to 25 minutes home at night during the end of rush hour.  It was such an easy drive, and pleasant, down Big Bend most of the way.

Then the car died.

No matter how I configured it, the trip always took at least an hour on public transportation.  And that was when the sidewalks weren't piled with snow or slippery with ice.

I could get the #2 at Schnucks, and ride it the whole exhausting way-- all it's Washington University subsidized twists and turns, through the campus and down Wydown, through Wal-Mart parking, etc.  (See the link to the route map, below).  It was an hour ride, plus another 15 to 20 minutes on foot, to and from the bus stop.  And the 2 only goes down Manchester once an hour.  It runs every 30 minutes, but goes as far as the Maplewood Metrolink, and does not travel on Big Bend at all when it goes down that route.  (Big Bend is much closer to Sutton than the Metrolink.)

http://www.metrostlouis.org/Libraries/Metrobus_Maps/Map02121313.pdf

I could ride the 2 to Enright and Eastgate, get off, and jog two blocks over to Skinker and Delmar and catch the #16 to Bellevue and Manchester, and walk the rest of the way.  If I had missed the #16 I got back on the #2 as it came from the Delmar Metrolink, and either ride it to the Blue Line Metrolink at Skinker and Forest Park Parkway, and then walk from the Maplewood Metrolink or wait for the #32 if the weather was bad.  Sometimes the wait for the #32 was shorter than my walk, sometimes it was a 40 minute wait.

Usually I just walked, even in bad weather, and sometimes out in the street, on Manchester, when the snowplows had just gone through and piled all the snow on the sidewalks.

I could also walk 25 minutes over the hill from Midland down to Big Bend and Forest Park Parkway to the Big Bend Blue Line station, catch the Metrolink Blue Line to Maplewood, and, again, catch the 32 if the timing was right, or walk the rest of the way.

(The Hanley bus to the Clayton Blue Line station required I leave 15 minutes earlier than any other option, and I am not a morning person.  I did that route once. It still took over an hour.)

No matter how I travelled, it was an hour, minimum, if I made all the connections on time.  (You cannot be late at all if you are dealing with public transit.)

In the 1980's the bus used to run down Big Bend.  It was a 30 minute ride from Webster Groves to the University City Library.  Then all of the buses were re-routed to the trains, during the 1990's, and then in 2009 Metro mis-managed itself so badly, it had to cut 24 lines and many were re-routed to pick up the slack.

And, of course, Washington University was allowed to subsidize several bus lines to more suit its' students, including the #2.

They say service has improved, but I made the trip in July of 2013 and it took me the same amount of time, and it was the same travel options.

WHY DON'T BUS DRIVERS SELL DAY PASSES?

A day pass is $7.50.  If you are going to be riding two or more bus/trains, three times in one day, with more than two hours between rides, you benefit from buying a day pass.

If you are going to buy two 2-hour transfers for $6 ($3 each), and then later, take only one more bus or train ($2), it is worth it to buy a day pass.

This is not uncommon- you go to work, you come home, you go out.  Or you stop somewhere after work to shop or eat, etc.

When I asked the Metro Customer service line why bus driver's don't sell day passes, I was told "It is too dangerous for the bus driver to handle money."

She did not understand when I asked why the passes couldn't be sold the same as two-hour transfer tickets, via the fare box?  I did not bother to continue my line of inquiry (an email of this blog post will serve better).

Are Metro executives are so inept that they do not see that it would not be difficult for bus driver's to have day passes, where $7.50 was paid into the new fare boxes, as it is for the same bus to take in three dollars, two or more times?
Ah, you see, they have potential to make more money that way.

Since the passes are only available at Metrolink stations and a few grocery stores, customers are more likely to pay $9 into the fare boxes.

EDIT:  I didn't need to ask if the Metro Executives ever rode the bus when I got this response to the above plan: "You would have to wait while boarding as someone put in seven dollar bills!"

Well, people that get on with multiple children or other family members often have to buy three or more transfers, and that is nine dollars.  If Metro Executives actually had to depend on the transportation they ride, they would know this already.

Read these posts, too: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/metro-to-optinstl-do-our-job-for-us.html

http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/do-metro-executives-ride-public-transit.html

PUBLIC HEARING FOR PROPOSED FARE INCREASE METRO BUS AND TRAIN

IF you cannot attend the hearings, please take this survey on line:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MetroTransitFareSurvey

The survey itself is only choosing from one of three fair options, and asks only what you normally purchase, but you can use the comments box.

BELOW is the cut and paste from the Metro website on 24 March 2014 at 15:25 CDT
http://www.metrostlouis.org/NewsProjects/NewsDetails.aspx?ID=421

The meetings for the 25 and 27th are not correct-- see this blog's sidebar OCCUPY THIS WEEK for the correct information.

Public Meeting Dates Announced for Proposed Metro Fare Increase

3/10/2014

News Release

Bi-State Development Agency/Metro is announcing the dates, times and locations of three public information sessions and a public hearing about a proposed fare increase that would go into effect in July 2014. In addition, the agency is also announcing details about how the public can participate online and provide feedback about this important topic as well.

Public Meeting

Tuesday, March 25, 2014 Thursday, March 27, 2014
11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. 4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
St. Louis City Hall St. Louis County Government Center
1200 Market Street Second Floor
St. Louis, MO 63103 41 South Central
Clayton, MO 63105

Wednesday, March 26, 2014
4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
East St. Louis City Hall
301 River Park Drive
East St. Louis, Illinois 62201

Public Hearing

Tuesday, April 1, 2014
5 p.m. – 7 p.m. -- Formal presentation at 6 p.m.
Metro Headquarters
Board Room
707 North First Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63102

The general public is invited to attend one of these meetings to learn more about three fare increase options under consideration and to provide feedback. A fare increase is necessary to meet Metro transit’s fiscal year 2015 budgeted goal of a five percent increase in passenger revenue. All of these options would generate an additional $2.25 million in annual revenue. Based on public feedback, Metro will adopt one of the fare increase options or a modified version of the three options.

Option 1 increases MetroLink one-ride fare from $2.25 to $2.50 (+$0.25); weekly pass from $25 to $26 (+$1); monthly pass from $72 to $80 (+$8) and semester pass from $150 to $165 (+$15).

Option 2 increases MetroLink one-ride fare from $2.25 to $2.50 (+$0.25): weekly pass from $25 to $27 (+$2); monthly pass from $72 to $78 (+$6) and semester pass from $150 to $175 (+$25).

Option 3 would not change the MetroLink one-ride fare; weekly pass from $25 to $28 (+$3); monthly pass from $72 to $80 (+$8) and semester pass from $150 to $175 (+$25).

The public meetings will be offered in an open house format with no formal presentations made. Metro staff will be available to discuss the fare increase options. The public hearing will include a formal presentation that will begin at 6 p.m., with the remaining time available for public comment. Residents who are not able to attend one of the public meetings are urged to participant and provide feedback online at www.metrostlouis.org/FaresPasses/FareIncrease2014.aspx

They may also comment on the proposed fare increase options by calling 314-982-1422, by email to FareIncrease2014@metrostlouis.org, or by mail to:

Bi-State Development Agency/Metro
Attn: Planning - Fare Increase 2014
707 North 1st Street
St. Louis, MO 63102

Public comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Friday, April 4, 2014.

Bi-State Development Agency/Metro’s fiscal year 2015 operating budget is 3.6 % higher than it was in
2014 because of increases in the price of services and products like diesel fuel. All of Metro transit’s
revenue sources, including local sales taxes and passenger revenue, must grow to continue to sustain
the current service level.

Regular and modest fare increases are important to the long-term health of the transit system. Fare increases of about five percent approximately every two years are essential to continue the implementation of Moving Transit Forward, the region’s long-range plan for transit service operations, enhancement and capital investment.

The Bi-State Development Agency/Metro (BSDA/Metro) is the operator of the Metro public transportation system for the St. Louis region, which includes the 87 vehicle, 46-mile MetroLink light rail system; 372 MetroBus vehicle fleet that operates on 75 MetroBus routes; and Metro Call-A-Ride, a paratransit fleet of 120 vans.

BSDA/Metro also owns and operates St. Louis Downtown Airport and its surrounding industrial business park, and the Gateway Arch Riverboats, as well as operates the Gateway Arch Revenue Collections Center, the Gateway Arch Transportation System, and the Gateway Arch Parking Facility.