I missed the news tonight and didn't see the coverage of the Metro Blue Flu.
I found this video http://youtu.be/s_qm4eUrqqo
(The person that posted it is mostly whining about how the drivers "pulled this crap" and made everyone late for work.)
Bus drivers take the brunt of the riders' hatred for Metro. But for the most part they don't deserve it.
I understand it is an inconvenience. But as I've said before, no change comes without inconvenience.
You know who was inconvenient? Rosa Parks. No one on that bus got home on time that day.
The people of this city deserve a decent transit system, and that means taking care of the drivers.
And if you make less than $15 an hour, maybe you should consider striking, too. A job should pay enough to live on. All the countries that pay a livable minimum wage had people that were willing to make the sacrifices and suffer the inconveniences necessary to make society better for everyone.
I don't understand why every single profession doesn't have a union.
Tomorrow, if there is another blue flu or a full out strike, let's be clear that as much as Metro executives whine that they have to follow ALL the federal guidelines to the letter, they WILL bring in people to drive the buses that don't have the proper driver's license or DOT certification.
Metro is (currently) not about Public Transportation. That is just the way they funnel funds for "business development." I think that is about to change.
I hope the bus drivers strike, and if they do, I hope it goes citywide.
Saint Louis, you get what you ask for, but you have to ask.
And sometimes that means you have to be inconvenient.
EDIT: This state needs to abolish "right to work". Right to work means "an employer has the right to fire you for any reason, offer any wage and any condition, and destroy the labor unions". Citizens of this "greatest country in the world" are not even granted the right to a bathroom break, except in five states. (The federal government only regulates how breaks are paid, if an employer decides to give them. The government does not provide for any breaks. Not a lot of state offer meal breaks that are legally enforceable, Missouri is not one of them. )
An employer can check your credit and background, record you, track you, but an employee is not allowed to check out an employer. Do they handle their money responsibly? Do they have adequate knowledge and training in business to manage payroll and other responsibilities of owning a business? As I said, all jobs should have unions, and minimum wage should be $15. That amount is not random. It is the basic need. And bus drivers deserve at least $25.
OPTINSTL
OCCUPY! PUBLIC TRANSIT Image by Eric Drooker for Occupy Wall Street, click on image for Drooker's website
Monday, April 7, 2014
RIDER ALERT: METRO WHINES ABOUT ONE DAY OF BLUE FLU AFTER IGNORING BUS DRIVER CONTRACTS FOR SIX YEARS
Please also see this post: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/bus-drivers-are-sick-of-metro-too-blue.html
Metro, you are a rip-off to your riders and your bus drivers. And this entire city! In 2009, after you mismanaged your federal funds and rider revenues, you cut 24 bus lines and 30% of services. You keep congratulating yourself on what a great job you are doing, but you still have to jack up fares to keep the current system in operation.
You let your drivers work for 6 years (!) without a contract, and no raises-- not too mention cutting back full-time to part-time, and trying to erode the pension plan-- and you complain about ONE DAY OF SERVICE INTERRUPTION?!
SHAME ON YOU!
YOU NEED TO APOLOGIZE FOR YOUR TERRIBLE SERVICE, NOT YOUR WORKER'S DEMANDING THEIR DUE!
You have nothing to say about the fact that a public transit rider faces an average of ONE HOUR ON THE BUS for a trip that would take 15 minutes on city streets. You have no apologies for the lack of toilets provided. You have no explanation for why you consistently ignore the needs of the people that need you most, and your excessive consideration for people that only ride the Metrolink, and only ride it to Cardinals games.
SHAME ON YOU METRO!
Also, quite frankly, why EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYED PERSON IN MISSOURI IS NOT "VIOLATING MISSOURI LAW" is incomprehensible. Missouri labor laws need to be violated! They need to be trashed! WAKE UP AND GET YOUR REBELLION ON!
"Right to work" means "the right of employers to treat workers like crap and fire them for any reason" including going to the bathroom. (There is no federal rule that workers are allowed breaks of any kind, including to use the toilet, and regulate how breaks are to be paid for if the employer, at his discretion, offers his employees breaks. Only five states require employers to give employees break-time. So basically, you can be fired for going to the bathroom, and if you ride the bus, you will need to use the bathroom when you get to work!)
"Right to Work" says they are about letting workers "choose" if they want to be unionized, but what it really means is "you better choose if you want to open your mouth about a union or if you want to be fired."
METRO YOU HAD BETTER NOT FIRE-- OR EVEN DISCIPLINE-- ONE OF THOSE 70 WORKERS!
THEY ARE RIGHT AND YOU ARE SO WRONG!
From Metro's website at 13:27 today:
Service Delays Possible on MetroBus
Some MetroBus routes are experiencing major delays as a result of some operators not reporting to work. They know that a work action violates Missouri law. We apologize for the inconvenience this is causing our customers. It is unfortunate that our operators are choosing to disadvantage taxpayers and the riding public who depend on us to get to work. We expect our operators to report to work as scheduled. We are involved in contract negotiations with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 788, which represents our MetroBus and MetroLink operators as well as clerical workers.
Service Delays Possible on MetroBus
Some MetroBus routes are experiencing major delays as a result of some operators not reporting to work. They know that a work action violates Missouri law. We apologize for the inconvenience this is causing our customers. It is unfortunate that our operators are choosing to disadvantage taxpayers and the riding public who depend on us to get to work. We expect our operators to report to work as scheduled. We are involved in contract negotiations with the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 788, which represents our MetroBus and MetroLink operators as well as clerical workers.
You let your drivers work for 6 years (!) without a contract, and no raises-- not too mention cutting back full-time to part-time, and trying to erode the pension plan-- and you complain about ONE DAY OF SERVICE INTERRUPTION?!
SHAME ON YOU!
YOU NEED TO APOLOGIZE FOR YOUR TERRIBLE SERVICE, NOT YOUR WORKER'S DEMANDING THEIR DUE!
You have nothing to say about the fact that a public transit rider faces an average of ONE HOUR ON THE BUS for a trip that would take 15 minutes on city streets. You have no apologies for the lack of toilets provided. You have no explanation for why you consistently ignore the needs of the people that need you most, and your excessive consideration for people that only ride the Metrolink, and only ride it to Cardinals games.
SHAME ON YOU METRO!
Also, quite frankly, why EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYED PERSON IN MISSOURI IS NOT "VIOLATING MISSOURI LAW" is incomprehensible. Missouri labor laws need to be violated! They need to be trashed! WAKE UP AND GET YOUR REBELLION ON!
"Right to work" means "the right of employers to treat workers like crap and fire them for any reason" including going to the bathroom. (There is no federal rule that workers are allowed breaks of any kind, including to use the toilet, and regulate how breaks are to be paid for if the employer, at his discretion, offers his employees breaks. Only five states require employers to give employees break-time. So basically, you can be fired for going to the bathroom, and if you ride the bus, you will need to use the bathroom when you get to work!)
"Right to Work" says they are about letting workers "choose" if they want to be unionized, but what it really means is "you better choose if you want to open your mouth about a union or if you want to be fired."
METRO YOU HAD BETTER NOT FIRE-- OR EVEN DISCIPLINE-- ONE OF THOSE 70 WORKERS!
THEY ARE RIGHT AND YOU ARE SO WRONG!
BUS DRIVERS ARE SICK OF METRO TOO: BLUE FLU ON OPENING DAY
No contract and no raise for 6 years for bus drivers, while Executives get their raises, and the Local 1% lines their pockets with federal monies.
No contract for bus drivers for 6 years, and pensions and benefits being whittled away.
If the Executives don't show up for work, the buses keep running. But if the bus drivers strike the whole system shuts down. WHO IS MORE IMPORTANT?
CALL METRO IN SUPPORT OF BLUE FLU AND BETTER PAY AND BENEFITS FOR DRIVERS!
THEY ARE THE ONES THAT MATTER!
http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/along-for-the-ride/buses-delayed-after-metro-drivers-call-in-sick/article_8a59638e-9370-52be-8ce7-65f45ad95cc9.html
http://fox2now.com/2014/04/07/dozens-of-metro-bus-operators-call-in-sick-in-possible-protest/
http://kplr11.com/2014/04/07/dozens-of-metro-bus-operators-call-in-sick-in-possible-protest/
OPT INSTL supports St. Louis bus drivers!
http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/along-for-the-ride/metro-s-union-workers-seek-to-win-over-passengers/article_403dbe1d-3cf6-5bf1-b21e-021d32ce9b2a.html
SAINT LOUIS DESERVES A GREAT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM!
BUS DRIVERS DESERVE BETTER PAY AND BENEFITS!!!!
Call Metro: 314-231-2345
Contact Metro Board of Commissioners:
http://www.metrostlouis.org/About/Leadership/BoardCommissioners.aspx
(working on contact information for these people)
Former Mayer Vince Schoemehl serves in his capacity with Grand Center:
Grand Center, Inc.
3526 Washington Ave.,
2nd Floor
St. Louis, MO 63103
P: 314-289-1500
F: 314-533-3345
Contact East West Gateway Council of Governments, in particular:
Steve Ehlmann
Chair
St. Charles County Executive
100 North 3rd Street
St. Charles, MO 63301
636-949-7520
Francis G. Slay
Chair
Mayor
City of St. Louis
1200 Market Street
St. Louis, MO 63103
314-622-3723
http://www.ewgateway.org/AboutUs/BOD/bod.htm
No contract for bus drivers for 6 years, and pensions and benefits being whittled away.
If the Executives don't show up for work, the buses keep running. But if the bus drivers strike the whole system shuts down. WHO IS MORE IMPORTANT?
CALL METRO IN SUPPORT OF BLUE FLU AND BETTER PAY AND BENEFITS FOR DRIVERS!
THEY ARE THE ONES THAT MATTER!
http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/along-for-the-ride/buses-delayed-after-metro-drivers-call-in-sick/article_8a59638e-9370-52be-8ce7-65f45ad95cc9.html
http://fox2now.com/2014/04/07/dozens-of-metro-bus-operators-call-in-sick-in-possible-protest/
http://kplr11.com/2014/04/07/dozens-of-metro-bus-operators-call-in-sick-in-possible-protest/
OPT INSTL supports St. Louis bus drivers!
http://www.stltoday.com/news/traffic/along-for-the-ride/metro-s-union-workers-seek-to-win-over-passengers/article_403dbe1d-3cf6-5bf1-b21e-021d32ce9b2a.html
SAINT LOUIS DESERVES A GREAT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM!
BUS DRIVERS DESERVE BETTER PAY AND BENEFITS!!!!
Call Metro: 314-231-2345
Contact Metro Board of Commissioners:
http://www.metrostlouis.org/About/Leadership/BoardCommissioners.aspx
(working on contact information for these people)
Former Mayer Vince Schoemehl serves in his capacity with Grand Center:
Grand Center, Inc.
3526 Washington Ave.,
2nd Floor
St. Louis, MO 63103
P: 314-289-1500
F: 314-533-3345
Contact East West Gateway Council of Governments, in particular:
Steve Ehlmann
Chair
St. Charles County Executive
100 North 3rd Street
St. Charles, MO 63301
636-949-7520
Francis G. Slay
Chair
Mayor
City of St. Louis
1200 Market Street
St. Louis, MO 63103
314-622-3723
http://www.ewgateway.org/AboutUs/BOD/bod.htm
THE BI IN BI-STATE DEVELOPMENT: LET'S TALK ABOUT WHAT "METRO EAST" REALLY IS
East Saint Louis and its surrounding towns are the local Sin City. Everyone that lives here knows that.
It's the place where you can find all the "respectable" businessmen and politicians and law-enforcement on their off-hours, watching the naked ladies do their thing in the strip clubs.
It's the city close enough to the "real city" (the white, middle class city) so that none of those "pious" men, those leaders of industry and everything that is good and right in the world (sarcasm alert), have to worry about bumping into their wives, families, co-workers and employees, or fellow church goers... Except for the other pious men also going to the strip club, buying crack and heroin, and soliciting prostitutes.
Did hubby say he was going to catch up on work at the office after church? Going golfing? Nah. He's over at PT'S, spending the money he said he didn't have when his workers asked for a raise, or for benefits. But you will never know, good suburban wifey, because you never set foot on the East Side.
Even in poor, urban areas of Saint Louis, the respectable man may have to risk someone seeing his car parked at Patricia's or Hustler in Pagedale, or the Gentlemen's Club on North Broadway.
But no one goes to the East side unless they are doing something they know would get them flack. It's too poor, too desperate. Too black.
And no one in power currently is ever going to do anything about making East St. Louis less dangerous and more habitable, because that is their playground! No one needs a "crack ho' " more than a suburban businessman.
And that is not to say that every woman in East St Louis is smoking crack and doing whatever she can to get rock. But the level of poverty and desperation there is very intense. East St. Louis is modern apartheid. It is an African American reservation. The only money that comes in is from the party after hours crowd and the sex tourists.
What does this have to do with the bus and Metrolink? (Neither goes to Sauget, although PT's Sauget is a short walk from the Metrolink. But no "respectable" businessman-- at least not a local-- would be taking the train and walking the mile to PT''s. If I am wrong let me know.)
Metro is about "attracting talented young professionals" to the region. And you can't attract those men if they can't get access to a Sin City. This is not to say that Metro is responsible for the lack of business or community development on the East side, but Metro is cornerstone of the local power structure.
If the talented young professionals ever run out of surplus workers in north St. Louis that will take any wage and any condition and four hours on public transit every day to and from those crap jobs, the fat cats can just head over to Metro East and find more desperate people.
Don't take my word for it. Check it out yourself. Or ask any exotic dancer or call girl how many businessmen, politicians, and cops she knows. Oh, and priests, ministers, and regular working stiffs... pun intended.
Or just start taking photos of license plates and drivers headed to the strip clubs. I'd bet money the highest repeat offenders are St. Louis "finest"-- law enforcement, lawyers and judges, and then all those Shriners and upstanding businessmen of St. Louis proper.
OCCUPY EAST ST. LOUIS!
For the record: I think all strip clubs should be dancer owned, and I think prostitution should be legal. The current set up works for these pious upstanding men. The judge gets "services" on Saturday night and sentences the working girls in his courtroom on Monday. All the money from these clubs goes back into the hands of these men- through taxes on legitimate businesses or legal fees on illegitimate operations. All the shame is given to the women, and only their patrons deserve it.
I am for the kind of structure available in places like Amsterdam. The world's oldest profession should pay taxes, have healthcare, and be able to screen their clients like anyone else. Keeping it illegal is just a way to protect the anonymity of the men that solicit these services, unless they are caught in a rare sting operation. And according the FBI 74% of all men have engaged a prostitute at least once. It should be obvious that the problem is NOT from wanton, perverted women luring respectable men to sex-- I mean, WHAT exactly was Mr. Businessman doing driving around in East St Louis or down on St. Louis "Stroll"? The world's oldest profession is not going away anytime soon.
Dance clubs steal tips from their dancers by calling them "contractors" and making them pay out to the club, but even the IRS doesn't agree that they are contractors. The clubs decide the dancers shifts and make the same demands on them that regular employees have, but the clubs don't even offer minimum wage or any benefits. The clubs are mostly owned by men, and they keep all the profits from the bar. It's just nicer pimping. Dancer owned clubs would mean the women kept the profits for themselves and had more control over their work environment.
It's the place where you can find all the "respectable" businessmen and politicians and law-enforcement on their off-hours, watching the naked ladies do their thing in the strip clubs.
It's the city close enough to the "real city" (the white, middle class city) so that none of those "pious" men, those leaders of industry and everything that is good and right in the world (sarcasm alert), have to worry about bumping into their wives, families, co-workers and employees, or fellow church goers... Except for the other pious men also going to the strip club, buying crack and heroin, and soliciting prostitutes.
Did hubby say he was going to catch up on work at the office after church? Going golfing? Nah. He's over at PT'S, spending the money he said he didn't have when his workers asked for a raise, or for benefits. But you will never know, good suburban wifey, because you never set foot on the East Side.
Even in poor, urban areas of Saint Louis, the respectable man may have to risk someone seeing his car parked at Patricia's or Hustler in Pagedale, or the Gentlemen's Club on North Broadway.
But no one goes to the East side unless they are doing something they know would get them flack. It's too poor, too desperate. Too black.
And no one in power currently is ever going to do anything about making East St. Louis less dangerous and more habitable, because that is their playground! No one needs a "crack ho' " more than a suburban businessman.
And that is not to say that every woman in East St Louis is smoking crack and doing whatever she can to get rock. But the level of poverty and desperation there is very intense. East St. Louis is modern apartheid. It is an African American reservation. The only money that comes in is from the party after hours crowd and the sex tourists.
What does this have to do with the bus and Metrolink? (Neither goes to Sauget, although PT's Sauget is a short walk from the Metrolink. But no "respectable" businessman-- at least not a local-- would be taking the train and walking the mile to PT''s. If I am wrong let me know.)
Metro is about "attracting talented young professionals" to the region. And you can't attract those men if they can't get access to a Sin City. This is not to say that Metro is responsible for the lack of business or community development on the East side, but Metro is cornerstone of the local power structure.
If the talented young professionals ever run out of surplus workers in north St. Louis that will take any wage and any condition and four hours on public transit every day to and from those crap jobs, the fat cats can just head over to Metro East and find more desperate people.
Don't take my word for it. Check it out yourself. Or ask any exotic dancer or call girl how many businessmen, politicians, and cops she knows. Oh, and priests, ministers, and regular working stiffs... pun intended.
Or just start taking photos of license plates and drivers headed to the strip clubs. I'd bet money the highest repeat offenders are St. Louis "finest"-- law enforcement, lawyers and judges, and then all those Shriners and upstanding businessmen of St. Louis proper.
OCCUPY EAST ST. LOUIS!
For the record: I think all strip clubs should be dancer owned, and I think prostitution should be legal. The current set up works for these pious upstanding men. The judge gets "services" on Saturday night and sentences the working girls in his courtroom on Monday. All the money from these clubs goes back into the hands of these men- through taxes on legitimate businesses or legal fees on illegitimate operations. All the shame is given to the women, and only their patrons deserve it.
I am for the kind of structure available in places like Amsterdam. The world's oldest profession should pay taxes, have healthcare, and be able to screen their clients like anyone else. Keeping it illegal is just a way to protect the anonymity of the men that solicit these services, unless they are caught in a rare sting operation. And according the FBI 74% of all men have engaged a prostitute at least once. It should be obvious that the problem is NOT from wanton, perverted women luring respectable men to sex-- I mean, WHAT exactly was Mr. Businessman doing driving around in East St Louis or down on St. Louis "Stroll"? The world's oldest profession is not going away anytime soon.
Dance clubs steal tips from their dancers by calling them "contractors" and making them pay out to the club, but even the IRS doesn't agree that they are contractors. The clubs decide the dancers shifts and make the same demands on them that regular employees have, but the clubs don't even offer minimum wage or any benefits. The clubs are mostly owned by men, and they keep all the profits from the bar. It's just nicer pimping. Dancer owned clubs would mean the women kept the profits for themselves and had more control over their work environment.
BUS RIDER TO OPTINSTL: WILL I GET IN TROUBLE FOR JAMMING THE PHONE LINES?
Jam the Metro Phone Lines:
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/jam-phone-lines-leaflet-for-use-and-to.html
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/why-flooding-metros-phone-lines-is.html
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/flooding-phone-lines-be-polite-but-dont.html
Good question.
The answer should always be "NO." Jamming the phone lines is not illegal. It is really just a very high volume of something they claim they want: Feedback.
But that is just what they say. And this "agency" (I think they should really call themselves a "federally funded corporation") is run by powerful men that want to keep their privilege and their profits and control and design the city for their own purposes.
You never really know if the country has become a new Nazi Germany until you try to change something. You never really know how free you are until you test that freedom.
The harder the authorities come down on dissent, the more dangerous that dissent is to them.
So, if you DO get in trouble-- let's say they start tracking the phone numbers that call them repeatedly, and those people suddenly find themselves getting harassed by cops or social services on seemingly unrelated incidents-- you know that you are threatening the power structure.
For myself, I was a radical political activist for 9 years in the late 80's and early 90's. I've been arrested a lot at political demonstrations. Even been on the front page of newspapers in handcuffs. Been followed and tapped by local and federal law enforcement.
They have my fingerprints. The po-po knows who I am.*
Does that scare me? No.
What scares me is living in a world where 1% of the population controls everything that happens. Where the structure of government and society is based on profit for the 1% and the "wanna-be 1%." Where politicians are basically bought and paid for by corporations and wealthy men like the Koch Brothers, and everyone else is left to fight each other for table scraps.
What scares me is a population that does not fight hard enough for equality and justice. Where white lawyers and businessmen rake up profits on black "crime." Where "right to work" actually means "right to fire workers" for any reason at all. Where policemen are basically thugs and criminals. (And then head to Sauget to celebrate their victories.)
Public transportation is a necessity for many people. It should not be an after-thought to business development. It should not be guided and controlled by businessmen and politicians for their purposes. It should not be a bunch run by a bunch of executives that don't even ride the buses.
I think the better question is; Will I get in trouble if I DON'T stand up for my rights? Will my apathy create a society ripe for fascism?
OCCUPY YOUR LIFE! OCCUPY YOUR CITY! OCCUPY YOUR JOB!
OCCUPY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN ST. LOUIS!
* I use the Guy Fawkes mask that Anonymous (and this, in particular, for me) is so found of because I want this blog and these actions to be about something bigger than who I am. And I wanted to link to the "movement of movements", the worldwide wave of action. The time is now for all of us to be the change we want to see in the world. Stand for what is right, even if you stand alone. Having said that, I can't wait until more like-minded activists join me in investigating Metro and the power structure of St. Louis and posting on this blog.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/jam-phone-lines-leaflet-for-use-and-to.html
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/why-flooding-metros-phone-lines-is.html
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/flooding-phone-lines-be-polite-but-dont.html
Good question.
The answer should always be "NO." Jamming the phone lines is not illegal. It is really just a very high volume of something they claim they want: Feedback.
But that is just what they say. And this "agency" (I think they should really call themselves a "federally funded corporation") is run by powerful men that want to keep their privilege and their profits and control and design the city for their own purposes.
You never really know if the country has become a new Nazi Germany until you try to change something. You never really know how free you are until you test that freedom.
The harder the authorities come down on dissent, the more dangerous that dissent is to them.
So, if you DO get in trouble-- let's say they start tracking the phone numbers that call them repeatedly, and those people suddenly find themselves getting harassed by cops or social services on seemingly unrelated incidents-- you know that you are threatening the power structure.
For myself, I was a radical political activist for 9 years in the late 80's and early 90's. I've been arrested a lot at political demonstrations. Even been on the front page of newspapers in handcuffs. Been followed and tapped by local and federal law enforcement.
They have my fingerprints. The po-po knows who I am.*
Does that scare me? No.
What scares me is living in a world where 1% of the population controls everything that happens. Where the structure of government and society is based on profit for the 1% and the "wanna-be 1%." Where politicians are basically bought and paid for by corporations and wealthy men like the Koch Brothers, and everyone else is left to fight each other for table scraps.
What scares me is a population that does not fight hard enough for equality and justice. Where white lawyers and businessmen rake up profits on black "crime." Where "right to work" actually means "right to fire workers" for any reason at all. Where policemen are basically thugs and criminals. (And then head to Sauget to celebrate their victories.)
Public transportation is a necessity for many people. It should not be an after-thought to business development. It should not be guided and controlled by businessmen and politicians for their purposes. It should not be a bunch run by a bunch of executives that don't even ride the buses.
I think the better question is; Will I get in trouble if I DON'T stand up for my rights? Will my apathy create a society ripe for fascism?
OCCUPY YOUR LIFE! OCCUPY YOUR CITY! OCCUPY YOUR JOB!
OCCUPY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IN ST. LOUIS!
* I use the Guy Fawkes mask that Anonymous (and this, in particular, for me) is so found of because I want this blog and these actions to be about something bigger than who I am. And I wanted to link to the "movement of movements", the worldwide wave of action. The time is now for all of us to be the change we want to see in the world. Stand for what is right, even if you stand alone. Having said that, I can't wait until more like-minded activists join me in investigating Metro and the power structure of St. Louis and posting on this blog.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
I WANT TO LIVE IN A CITY WITH GREAT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!
(EDIT: A couple of people have told me this rambles a bit. Sorry. I am very passionate, and also don't always have the time to do enough editing. I will keep working on this. I hope even though it rambles a bit it will stir your soul for change.)
I want to live in a great city. Period.
But a nice start would be a city with great public transportation. I can see it. Can you?
Or do I need to move?
I love bragging about the St. Louis Zoo, and how it is number two in the country. And the St. Louis Symphony, also number two. The "jewel of St. Louis", Forest Park, 500 acres larger than Central Park, and the major attractions that are free (or, in the Muny's case, offer free seats at every performance). The many, many other parks, in every neighborhood, and their wide variety of unique features
I love the river and the landscape and the wildlife. The numerous caves and caverns and subterranean tunnels. The secrets and mysteries in every neighborhood. The haunted history of madness among the monied, and the ghosts lingering in dinner theatre mansions. The Mounds-- nodes of ancient memory, the pyramids of aboriginal civilization. The copper rooftops-- gleaming across the top of the city like a circuit board of wealthy institutions, government, and organized religion.
The rich history of music, and architecture, and poetry, and writing.
The "basements full of musicians" and the persistent, amateur crafters. The foodies and the farmer's markets and community gardens. The hustlers and the hipsters and Hobo University. The anarchists and underground artists. The fierce local indie radio and film scene. The people that can't get a break but keep trying. The still visible mark of early French trappers and traders, and the flood of hungry Bavarians, and Kerry County Irish that shaped our city streets and communities.
The deep legacy of African-American culture and struggle from the Civil War onward, as slaves and their descendents struggled to make their way in a world that gave them no thanks, no reparation, no place, and no rights. A struggle that continues today.
And the "unseen" people walking to and waiting at bus stops in every kind of weather. The children that ride the buses by themselves to school and baby sitters. Grandmothers that get up at 5 A.M. and travel two and half hours on the bus, and two and half hours back, with a 9 hour workday in between. The minimum wage, "right to work" workers with almost no rights, that serve the fast food and mop the floors and answer the phones at call centers. The people that carry this city on their backs, with little thanks or consideration at all.
I love you.
I wish I could say I loved our public transit system. *
I wish I could say I loved how forward thinking we are as a city.
How we created a prosperity and safety from poverty and fear.
How we created many forward thinking innovators and engineers, and a harmonious, patchwork of diversity, with opportunities for all.
How we created real "business development"-- good jobs with sustainable wages and benefits-- for everyone. For the whole city, equally.
I see it. Do you?
I left this city when I was young because the racism and the Ole Boy Network and corruption and lack of funds to low-income areas made me want to cry and made me furious.
In the last 28 years, things have gotten better.
But not enough.
There are a few greedy, selfish, stupid people in charge of this world (85 to be exact), and they don't care about people starving, without decent shelter and medical care.
It is not right that 85 people have half the world's wealth That needs to change, Sorry 85 people out of 7 billion! But this inequality has to end.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/01/23/the-85-richest-people-in-the-world-have-as-much-wealth-as-the-3-5-billion-poorest/
And the same with the "Local 1%". The St. Louis businessmen and government officials that only work to keep federal monies, tax dollars and profits flowing to the (mostly white, suburban) middle-class. The "Good Ole Boy Network" that works to ensure that the Metrolink doesn't make it too easy for the (mostly African-American, urban) working-class to get around to the low paying jobs that create those profits.
Look at McKee and the Land Redevelopment Agency, and the 11 year and still waiting "business development" of Old North : http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/op-ed-paul-mckees-vision-for-north-st.-louis-is-actually-a-big-powerful-lan**
You know who has the most voting rights in that area on whether a Metrolink or bus center can be developed? Right. McKee.
St. Louis, your city is under siege. Not from violent black people incarcerated by poverty and lack of decent public transportation in north Saint Louis, but from a lesser, local version of the Good Ole Boy Gang that brought us the housing and sub-prime mortgage fiasco in 2008. (Banks got the bail-out, and banks ended up owning all the foreclosed properties. And the homeowners lost everything.)
THERE IS ENOUGH OF EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE.
It just needs to be redistributed.
Citizens of this city, you have the power to change things!
There is a great story here, waiting to unfold.
Your story, St. Louis, of change and growth and leadership! For everyone. Not just a few.
Be that change you want to see in the world!
Be that amazing person from St. Louis! One of the many, many people of this city that have trusted in themselves and their vision. Who by challenging their own limits, created new horizons for all of us.
Dred Scott! Maya Angelou! Bob Cassilly! Nelly! Chuck Berry! T.S Eliot! Josephine Baker! Cool Papa Bell! William S. Burroughs! Scott Joplin! Miles Davis! Vincent Price! Tenessee Williams! Tina Turner! Ike Turner! Clark Terry, Quincy Troupe, Masters & Johnson, Oliver Lake, Fontella Bass, William Greenleaf Eliot, Jackie Joyner Kersee, Kate Chopin, Emily Hahn! (Murphy Lee, Pokey LaFarge, Sleepy Kitty, Tef Poe!)
Can we summon the same power you did/do? Can we claim your spirit as our own, as a product of this soil and sun and wind and river? The same creativity in you as in us?
Can we not summon your "Spirit of St. Louis"? In ourselves? For real change?
I want the AMAZING from you, St. Louis!
What do you want?
There is a public transportation system here-- a whole new model, the ultimate!-- and a city design, a lifestyle, a multi -but -shared -culture, to be discovered. Discovered in you. The answers to this city's problems will become clear as each person asks themselves what they can do.
Public transportation is a necessity for many people.
Better public transportation would serve the entire city, and planet!
If everyone works together, we won't even have to disrupt our lives.
You already ride the bus how many hours a day?
USE THAT TIME TO OCCUPY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!
Call, chat, investigate, share.
Just do it St. Louis.
Seriously.
How many times have the Cards been in the World Series? Are they a great team or what?
DO IT.
This city deserves to have a world-class transportation system. We have the ability.
Be the change. Be the change you want to see in the world.
THE TIME IS NOW!
OPT IN STL!
*(And our government bodies and police... seriously, we need to start a movement to Occupy The Police In St. Louis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OexVui7dvs And http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Man-films-local-officers-attempt-to-intimidate-him-under-false-pretences-249957921.html)
**About McKee- see these articles as well.
http://www.showmedaily.org/2011/02/anything-can-be-replaced-with.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/morning_call/2014/01/mckee-gets-two-more-years.html
(Could not find the article, but the Land Redevelopment Agency was saving lots for McKee and also for certain local alderman -a black woman, in particular, if I recall correctly- and politicians to buy at shockingly low rates, and then sell later for high profit. The Good Ole Boy Network is not all white men anymore, but government and wealth work hand to hand in greed. Will link to the article here when I find it.)
I want to live in a great city. Period.
But a nice start would be a city with great public transportation. I can see it. Can you?
Or do I need to move?
I love bragging about the St. Louis Zoo, and how it is number two in the country. And the St. Louis Symphony, also number two. The "jewel of St. Louis", Forest Park, 500 acres larger than Central Park, and the major attractions that are free (or, in the Muny's case, offer free seats at every performance). The many, many other parks, in every neighborhood, and their wide variety of unique features
I love the river and the landscape and the wildlife. The numerous caves and caverns and subterranean tunnels. The secrets and mysteries in every neighborhood. The haunted history of madness among the monied, and the ghosts lingering in dinner theatre mansions. The Mounds-- nodes of ancient memory, the pyramids of aboriginal civilization. The copper rooftops-- gleaming across the top of the city like a circuit board of wealthy institutions, government, and organized religion.
The rich history of music, and architecture, and poetry, and writing.
The "basements full of musicians" and the persistent, amateur crafters. The foodies and the farmer's markets and community gardens. The hustlers and the hipsters and Hobo University. The anarchists and underground artists. The fierce local indie radio and film scene. The people that can't get a break but keep trying. The still visible mark of early French trappers and traders, and the flood of hungry Bavarians, and Kerry County Irish that shaped our city streets and communities.
The deep legacy of African-American culture and struggle from the Civil War onward, as slaves and their descendents struggled to make their way in a world that gave them no thanks, no reparation, no place, and no rights. A struggle that continues today.
And the "unseen" people walking to and waiting at bus stops in every kind of weather. The children that ride the buses by themselves to school and baby sitters. Grandmothers that get up at 5 A.M. and travel two and half hours on the bus, and two and half hours back, with a 9 hour workday in between. The minimum wage, "right to work" workers with almost no rights, that serve the fast food and mop the floors and answer the phones at call centers. The people that carry this city on their backs, with little thanks or consideration at all.
I love you.
I wish I could say I loved our public transit system. *
I wish I could say I loved how forward thinking we are as a city.
How we created a prosperity and safety from poverty and fear.
How we created many forward thinking innovators and engineers, and a harmonious, patchwork of diversity, with opportunities for all.
How we created real "business development"-- good jobs with sustainable wages and benefits-- for everyone. For the whole city, equally.
I see it. Do you?
I left this city when I was young because the racism and the Ole Boy Network and corruption and lack of funds to low-income areas made me want to cry and made me furious.
In the last 28 years, things have gotten better.
But not enough.
There are a few greedy, selfish, stupid people in charge of this world (85 to be exact), and they don't care about people starving, without decent shelter and medical care.
It is not right that 85 people have half the world's wealth That needs to change, Sorry 85 people out of 7 billion! But this inequality has to end.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2014/01/23/the-85-richest-people-in-the-world-have-as-much-wealth-as-the-3-5-billion-poorest/
And the same with the "Local 1%". The St. Louis businessmen and government officials that only work to keep federal monies, tax dollars and profits flowing to the (mostly white, suburban) middle-class. The "Good Ole Boy Network" that works to ensure that the Metrolink doesn't make it too easy for the (mostly African-American, urban) working-class to get around to the low paying jobs that create those profits.
Look at McKee and the Land Redevelopment Agency, and the 11 year and still waiting "business development" of Old North : http://nextcity.org/daily/entry/op-ed-paul-mckees-vision-for-north-st.-louis-is-actually-a-big-powerful-lan**
You know who has the most voting rights in that area on whether a Metrolink or bus center can be developed? Right. McKee.
St. Louis, your city is under siege. Not from violent black people incarcerated by poverty and lack of decent public transportation in north Saint Louis, but from a lesser, local version of the Good Ole Boy Gang that brought us the housing and sub-prime mortgage fiasco in 2008. (Banks got the bail-out, and banks ended up owning all the foreclosed properties. And the homeowners lost everything.)
THERE IS ENOUGH OF EVERYTHING FOR EVERYONE.
It just needs to be redistributed.
Citizens of this city, you have the power to change things!
There is a great story here, waiting to unfold.
Your story, St. Louis, of change and growth and leadership! For everyone. Not just a few.
Be that change you want to see in the world!
Be that amazing person from St. Louis! One of the many, many people of this city that have trusted in themselves and their vision. Who by challenging their own limits, created new horizons for all of us.
Dred Scott! Maya Angelou! Bob Cassilly! Nelly! Chuck Berry! T.S Eliot! Josephine Baker! Cool Papa Bell! William S. Burroughs! Scott Joplin! Miles Davis! Vincent Price! Tenessee Williams! Tina Turner! Ike Turner! Clark Terry, Quincy Troupe, Masters & Johnson, Oliver Lake, Fontella Bass, William Greenleaf Eliot, Jackie Joyner Kersee, Kate Chopin, Emily Hahn! (Murphy Lee, Pokey LaFarge, Sleepy Kitty, Tef Poe!)
Can we summon the same power you did/do? Can we claim your spirit as our own, as a product of this soil and sun and wind and river? The same creativity in you as in us?
Can we not summon your "Spirit of St. Louis"? In ourselves? For real change?
I want the AMAZING from you, St. Louis!
What do you want?
There is a public transportation system here-- a whole new model, the ultimate!-- and a city design, a lifestyle, a multi -but -shared -culture, to be discovered. Discovered in you. The answers to this city's problems will become clear as each person asks themselves what they can do.
Public transportation is a necessity for many people.
Better public transportation would serve the entire city, and planet!
If everyone works together, we won't even have to disrupt our lives.
You already ride the bus how many hours a day?
USE THAT TIME TO OCCUPY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION!
Call, chat, investigate, share.
Just do it St. Louis.
Seriously.
How many times have the Cards been in the World Series? Are they a great team or what?
DO IT.
This city deserves to have a world-class transportation system. We have the ability.
Be the change. Be the change you want to see in the world.
THE TIME IS NOW!
OPT IN STL!
*(And our government bodies and police... seriously, we need to start a movement to Occupy The Police In St. Louis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OexVui7dvs And http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Man-films-local-officers-attempt-to-intimidate-him-under-false-pretences-249957921.html)
**About McKee- see these articles as well.
http://www.showmedaily.org/2011/02/anything-can-be-replaced-with.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/morning_call/2014/01/mckee-gets-two-more-years.html
(Could not find the article, but the Land Redevelopment Agency was saving lots for McKee and also for certain local alderman -a black woman, in particular, if I recall correctly- and politicians to buy at shockingly low rates, and then sell later for high profit. The Good Ole Boy Network is not all white men anymore, but government and wealth work hand to hand in greed. Will link to the article here when I find it.)
METRO RESPONDS TO MY FIRST ROUND OF QUESTIONS- WITH MARKETING PROPAGANDA, NOT ANSWERS
This is a link to the original post, which was sent as the body of an email to Metro's Chief of System Planning and Development. http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/dear-metro-some-questions-for-you.html
Talking to Metro executives is almost exactly like talking to their website.
The first time I spoke with this executive it was before the first Fare Increase hearing in City Hall. I was furious (but polite, if demanding). So furious that I started this blog and printed up leaflets the day before. I had called Metro to ask a number of questions, but my main one seemed like a "no-brainer".
So simple a question that I expected these Executives to be able to answer it off the top of their head. (I then would have gone to immediately have a money wizard check to see if it was accurate, but I expected it to be an easy answer.)
My question: You propose three fare options? How do they all equal up to 2.5 million dollars a year? (I actually didn't know the 2.5 million number, my question was how do all these equations add up to x amount of dollars?)
Metro Executive's answer: "How is that even relevant?"
Dumbfounded. Me. Really. Almost made me speechless. (Almost.)
I'd spent the last two or three days (since seeing the sign posted that fares were going up) reading through their ridiculous website. (They bought some used big buses from a place in California, and quoted the owner of the used bus company saying they were "great stewards of federal funds." Because they bought buses from him. Really.)
They site many population statistics and talk about growth and decline, but come to no conclusions on what they mean for determining the public transit needs of those areas. They base their entire system-wide development on three "tiers" from a study done in 1989. They boast about how great they are doing, while explaining that it wasn't their fault that they cut 24 bus lines in 2009 and twenty to thirty percent of other services.
Metro executives, you are "stewards" of HUGE PILES OF FEDERAL MONEY, plus MORE OF MY MONEY WITH NO SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS. If you want me to buy your propaganda that you need 2.5 MILLION MORE A YEAR, please explain to me exactly how that is going to come about from each of these options?
(Accountants and money wizards, am I wrong? They supply a spreadsheet in the answers section, but it doesn't show how they are computing it. They don't seem to show any data on how many of these passes and train fares were purchased in the past. Or who and how often rides the Metro and bus? Plus ONLY 22% of their revenue comes from rider fares!!! I am against privatization of public transit for political and sociological reasons, but it doesn't appear that is going to catch on, anyhow!)
And based on looking through the website, there is almost no solid statistical data on who the average bus rider is, and what fares they pay, frequency they ride, etc. SO HOW THE *&@! did you come up with those numbers? Just some previous years data? Hoping it will all plug in the same?
If you can't explain that to me clearly (see the response below for what they did send me) HOW DARE YOU ASK ME TO PAY FOR YOUR MISMANAGEMENT OF FUNDS?!!
Especially considering you do not seem very focused or aware of the people that need your services the most.
Most of this is just cut and paste from the website. But it is worth reading. The truth is, if they fired this Executive tomorrow, only the face would change, not the job being done. If Metro hired someone that knew how to make things work, they would fire that person.
This entire agency is set up to provide mediocre service, funneling the most government funds to wealthy developers, and selling itself by comparing it to deplorable service in other cities.
Below is the whole response.
**************************************
Metro
707 North First Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63102-2595
Ph: 314.982.1479
jnmefford@metrostlouis.org
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?
Metro will make efforts to add restroom facilities at new construction projects. Current restroom facilities on the alignment are made possible through arrangements with retail contractors. For example, at Riverview Hall MetroBus Center, the owner of the convenience store maintains a public restroom as part of his rental agreement with the agency. Similar arrangements will be sought at the facilities we are creating in north county and downtown.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/
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?
Metro counts individual boardings on
its buses and trains using two primary mechanisms. On MetroBus, fare
boxes count passengers boarding. Each time a customer swipes a pass or
uses the fare box to insert currency or coin, or the operators inputs a
boarding, that information is recorded. On MetroLink, Metro counts
boardings using automated passenger counters, which are infrared sensors
located above each door on each train. This information is uploaded to
servers nightly. Metro reports this information, called ridership, on a
monthly basis.
Metro also completes periodic customer surveys, in which we ask customers questions about how often they ride (number of days per week) and how often they transfer per trip. This information can be used to produce an estimate of the number of people who use Metro on a regular basis. In addition, the US Census long form asks respondents to report their usual mode of travel for their journey to work. This does not include everyone who ever uses Metro for any propose, but it is useful information.
It is critical to understand that Metro's ability to provide transit service is bound by available funding. The majority of the funds required to support transit service are provided by local sales tax proceeds. About 22% of the cost to provide service is supported by passenger fares, and even Metro's most productive routes require taxpayer subsidy to operate.
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?
While many residents and some elected officials talk to us, on occasion, about expansion possibilities, the majority of St. Charles County voters have voted against bringing MetroBus and MetroLink into that county. Those voters will decide when and if they want to tax themselves in order to operate Metro transit in their county.
Major capital expansion projects are the result of regional decisions led by elected officials who are members of the East West Gateway Council of Governments. The Shrewsbury expansion decision was a regional one and the next expansion will be the result of a regional decision as well. The public, as it did with the Shrewsbury alignment, will have opportunity for input well before final decisions are made about future expansion.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/
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?
Metro
has worked to improve bus stop spacing and locations. However, Metro
does not own the land our over 7,400 bus stops are placed on. We do not
have the authority nor funding to install sidewalks, lighting, benches,
etc. at all bus stops throughout the region. However, we are working
with our partners including MoDOT, the City of St. Louis and St. Louis
County to make improvements to bus stops throughout the region. We are
completing this work through federal grants to the greatest extent they
are available (which typically support 80% of project cost, matched by
20% local sales tax proceeds).
Metro is also working to improve signage at bus stops. We have secured some funding to replace bus stop signs throughout the region, though we do not yet have enough grant funding to begin the project. As funds become available, we anticipate replacing existing bus stop signs with new, larger signs that include more customer information including: route(s) served, Customer Service phone number, Metro website and brief instructions on how to obtain information about next bus times. We are working now to implement several new features that will provide customers with more transit information, including real-time arrival information via desktop applications, mobile applications, text messaging and Metro's Transit Information call center.
Posting print schedules at all MetroBus stops is not feasible due to issues of cost and durability. We do not have sufficient manpower to post schedule information at all bus stops (and re-post when schedules are damaged, stolen, or changed). A better solution is to rely on the channels mentioned above, as well as Metro's print timetables. Schedule information is posted at all Transit Centers and MetroLink stations, and could potentially be included at Metro's busiest bus stops as part of the signage project.
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.
I
understand your concerns about Metro's limited hours of Customer
Service. We reduced our workforce in 2009 due to budget shortfalls and
have not restored our manpower to prior levels. We do have a couple of
options for improving our delivery of customer information, one of which
would be to extend hours. This is the most expensive option and funding
this increase in staff may be difficult. Other options are to provide
more, better, and more timely information using the channels referenced
above including subscription service alerts, text messaging, mobile
applications and desktop applications. These channels require less funds
to support, freeing up more resources for putting transit service on
the street.
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?
The Bi-State Development Agency
(BSDA) owns and operates the Downtown St. Louis Airport and the Gateway
Arch Riverboats. By contract with the National Parks Service, BSDA
operates the Arch Trams, Arch retail operations and Arch Garage. A fee
from each of these enterprises is paid to the agency and thereby in part
supports the administration of the transit operation. These entities
were purchased (or supported) by BSDA to do what the agency was created
to do -- be an economic development engine for the bi-state St. Louis
area. The airport had been shuttered for several years. At the request
of the region, BSDA reopened it and turned it into the third largest
airport in the state of Illinois. The boats were going to be sold to
another city, leaving little on the riverfront for families to enjoy
after visiting the Arch. The region came to BSDA and asked the Agency
to keep them for the St. Louis riverfront. The Parks Service needed
BSDA to help complete the vision for the Gateway Arch. These are all
very similar situations to when the region asking the agency to purchase
15 failing bus companies and turn them into what is now Metro transit.
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.
Metro has reached out to customers about the fare increase through the following mechanisms: Posting signage on buses, trains, MetroLink Stations and MetroBus transit centers; publishing news releases that have been covered by local news media; advertising in local newspapers including the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Belleville News Democrat and St. Louis American; posting on Metro's website at www.metrostlouis.org; and via Metro's blog at www.NextStopSTL.org; and via social media (Facebook and Twitter).
Through these outlets, Metro has published that we are soliciting feedback not only at the four scheduled meetings, but also via a telephone hotline; e-mail; a web survey; and US Postal mail.
As discussed above, passenger revenue supports only about 22% of the cost to operate transit service. The remainder of that cost is supported primarily through local sales tax proceeds. Passenger revenues could not have been increased to a level that would have sustained service in the face of this budget deficit.
Metro's policy moving forward is to grow passenger revenues at a rate that will keep pace with inflation, in part to prevent future service cuts (assuming other revenue sources including local sales tax proceeds and federal funding are not diminished).
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/
These are the answers I can provide for you without requiring that you file a Sunshine request for research and compilation of documentation. If you need such documentation, please contact Shirley Bryant in the agency’s Legal Department at sbryant@metrostlouis.org.
Talking to Metro executives is almost exactly like talking to their website.
The first time I spoke with this executive it was before the first Fare Increase hearing in City Hall. I was furious (but polite, if demanding). So furious that I started this blog and printed up leaflets the day before. I had called Metro to ask a number of questions, but my main one seemed like a "no-brainer".
So simple a question that I expected these Executives to be able to answer it off the top of their head. (I then would have gone to immediately have a money wizard check to see if it was accurate, but I expected it to be an easy answer.)
My question: You propose three fare options? How do they all equal up to 2.5 million dollars a year? (I actually didn't know the 2.5 million number, my question was how do all these equations add up to x amount of dollars?)
Metro Executive's answer: "How is that even relevant?"
Dumbfounded. Me. Really. Almost made me speechless. (Almost.)
I'd spent the last two or three days (since seeing the sign posted that fares were going up) reading through their ridiculous website. (They bought some used big buses from a place in California, and quoted the owner of the used bus company saying they were "great stewards of federal funds." Because they bought buses from him. Really.)
They site many population statistics and talk about growth and decline, but come to no conclusions on what they mean for determining the public transit needs of those areas. They base their entire system-wide development on three "tiers" from a study done in 1989. They boast about how great they are doing, while explaining that it wasn't their fault that they cut 24 bus lines in 2009 and twenty to thirty percent of other services.
Metro executives, you are "stewards" of HUGE PILES OF FEDERAL MONEY, plus MORE OF MY MONEY WITH NO SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS. If you want me to buy your propaganda that you need 2.5 MILLION MORE A YEAR, please explain to me exactly how that is going to come about from each of these options?
(Accountants and money wizards, am I wrong? They supply a spreadsheet in the answers section, but it doesn't show how they are computing it. They don't seem to show any data on how many of these passes and train fares were purchased in the past. Or who and how often rides the Metro and bus? Plus ONLY 22% of their revenue comes from rider fares!!! I am against privatization of public transit for political and sociological reasons, but it doesn't appear that is going to catch on, anyhow!)
And based on looking through the website, there is almost no solid statistical data on who the average bus rider is, and what fares they pay, frequency they ride, etc. SO HOW THE *&@! did you come up with those numbers? Just some previous years data? Hoping it will all plug in the same?
If you can't explain that to me clearly (see the response below for what they did send me) HOW DARE YOU ASK ME TO PAY FOR YOUR MISMANAGEMENT OF FUNDS?!!
Especially considering you do not seem very focused or aware of the people that need your services the most.
Most of this is just cut and paste from the website. But it is worth reading. The truth is, if they fired this Executive tomorrow, only the face would change, not the job being done. If Metro hired someone that knew how to make things work, they would fire that person.
This entire agency is set up to provide mediocre service, funneling the most government funds to wealthy developers, and selling itself by comparing it to deplorable service in other cities.
Below is the whole response.
**************************************
Jessica Mefford-Miller
Chief of Planning and System Development
Metro
707 North First Street
St. Louis, Missouri 63102-2595
Ph: 314.982.1479
jnmefford@metrostlouis.org
******************************
Dear Metro (in particular, Chief of Planning and System Development):
Metro will make efforts to add restroom facilities at new construction projects. Current restroom facilities on the alignment are made possible through arrangements with retail contractors. For example, at Riverview Hall MetroBus Center, the owner of the convenience store maintains a public restroom as part of his rental agreement with the agency. Similar arrangements will be sought at the facilities we are creating in north county and downtown.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/
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?
Metro also completes periodic customer surveys, in which we ask customers questions about how often they ride (number of days per week) and how often they transfer per trip. This information can be used to produce an estimate of the number of people who use Metro on a regular basis. In addition, the US Census long form asks respondents to report their usual mode of travel for their journey to work. This does not include everyone who ever uses Metro for any propose, but it is useful information.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/
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?
Metro's highest purpose is to
connect people with jobs, which is why Metro's routes are intended to
move residents from home to work. Routes are designed with both
residential and employment density in mind, as well as the specific
characteristics of individuals who work/live in each place. Metro's
service plan responds to these transit needs as budget permits. You'll
find that routes are spaced more closely in higher-density areas, and
are more sparse in lower-density areas and communities with relatively
low utilization. 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?
It is critical to understand that Metro's ability to provide transit service is bound by available funding. The majority of the funds required to support transit service are provided by local sales tax proceeds. About 22% of the cost to provide service is supported by passenger fares, and even Metro's most productive routes require taxpayer subsidy to operate.
4)
When will more Metrolink service be available in north Saint Louis, and
south city areas such as South Grand and Dutchtown? Can you proved the
public and OPTINSTL with maps of existing tracks, development plans,
and feasibility studies? If so, how do we access them?
Major
capital expansion projects are the result of regional decisions led by
elected officials who are members of the East West Gateway Council of
Governments. This body has not made a decision about the next MetroLink
expansion. Funding is a more immediate consideration. Currently, the
cost of light rail alignments averages $70 million per mile to
construct. Federal and State funding will be required for expansion.
The St. Louis County Council passed a measure that mandates acquiring
federal funding support for future projects. The federal government
also requires matching funds from the local community. In the past,
federal support for light rail projects required 50% from the local
community. Progress was made toward that end in 2010 when voters
approved Proposition A. Funds from Proposition A are being used for two
purposes -- to support current operations and to build a matching fund
suitable for an expansion project.
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?
Universities have
the option of contracting with us for group discounts. Social Service
agencies are also able to purchase tickets at a discount based on the
volume of tickets they buy. We do not discount for employers. Their
advantage is found in the payroll tax benefit they get for subsidizing
transit. The student semester pass sold to individuals is available to
full time students 23 years or younger regardless of their financial
status. 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?
While many residents and some elected officials talk to us, on occasion, about expansion possibilities, the majority of St. Charles County voters have voted against bringing MetroBus and MetroLink into that county. Those voters will decide when and if they want to tax themselves in order to operate Metro transit in their county.
Major capital expansion projects are the result of regional decisions led by elected officials who are members of the East West Gateway Council of Governments. The Shrewsbury expansion decision was a regional one and the next expansion will be the result of a regional decision as well. The public, as it did with the Shrewsbury alignment, will have opportunity for input well before final decisions are made about future expansion.
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/
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?
Metro is also working to improve signage at bus stops. We have secured some funding to replace bus stop signs throughout the region, though we do not yet have enough grant funding to begin the project. As funds become available, we anticipate replacing existing bus stop signs with new, larger signs that include more customer information including: route(s) served, Customer Service phone number, Metro website and brief instructions on how to obtain information about next bus times. We are working now to implement several new features that will provide customers with more transit information, including real-time arrival information via desktop applications, mobile applications, text messaging and Metro's Transit Information call center.
Posting print schedules at all MetroBus stops is not feasible due to issues of cost and durability. We do not have sufficient manpower to post schedule information at all bus stops (and re-post when schedules are damaged, stolen, or changed). A better solution is to rely on the channels mentioned above, as well as Metro's print timetables. Schedule information is posted at all Transit Centers and MetroLink stations, and could potentially be included at Metro's busiest bus stops as part of the signage project.
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?
Metro staff
reviewed a number of potential fare structures to identify several
options that are estimated to meet revenue goals of $2.5 million per
year in increased passenger revenue. Those scenarios, along with
projected revenue increases are shown below. These are projections only.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.
Metro has reached out to customers about the fare increase through the following mechanisms: Posting signage on buses, trains, MetroLink Stations and MetroBus transit centers; publishing news releases that have been covered by local news media; advertising in local newspapers including the St. Louis Post Dispatch, Belleville News Democrat and St. Louis American; posting on Metro's website at www.metrostlouis.org; and via Metro's blog at www.NextStopSTL.org; and via social media (Facebook and Twitter).
Through these outlets, Metro has published that we are soliciting feedback not only at the four scheduled meetings, but also via a telephone hotline; e-mail; a web survey; and US Postal mail.
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?
Mandated
use of transit is not a condition of employment. However, we encourage
employees to take advantage of the transit system and many employees
do.
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?
Metro
reduced service in 2009 in response to an approximately $50 million
budget deficit. This deficit was created after years of increased costs
and service expansions without sufficient revenue to support those
expansions. Without revenue to support service, Metro was forced to
scale service back to a level that could be supported within the
available financial resources.As discussed above, passenger revenue supports only about 22% of the cost to operate transit service. The remainder of that cost is supported primarily through local sales tax proceeds. Passenger revenues could not have been increased to a level that would have sustained service in the face of this budget deficit.
Metro's policy moving forward is to grow passenger revenues at a rate that will keep pace with inflation, in part to prevent future service cuts (assuming other revenue sources including local sales tax proceeds and federal funding are not diminished).
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/
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?
The American Public Transit Association (www.apta.com)
reports that for every $1 invested in transit service, $4 in economic
value are returned through development spurred by transit and wages
generated by transit riders. Metro does not calculate these statistics,
nor are they calculated by APTA for service sub-areas. 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?
Metro is not working to advance the construction of any particular streetcar routes. Metro's long-range plan (http://metrostlouis.org/http://optinstl.blogspot.com/
These are the answers I can provide for you without requiring that you file a Sunshine request for research and compilation of documentation. If you need such documentation, please contact Shirley Bryant in the agency’s Legal Department at sbryant@metrostlouis.org.
WHY POLITICAL ACTIVISTS AND OCCUPY MOVEMENTS SHOULD TARGET PUBLIC TRANSIT FOR CHANGE
I named this blog "Occupy" because I thought Occupy Wall Street was a good idea, even if its' time hasn't come yet.
But I don't think that starting at the top, at a national level, is the best way to get things done.
In less than two weeks since I started this blog and began investigating Metro, I have learned how powerful public transit agencies are.
Public transportation is a microcosm for how government and business work hand in hand to make sure wealth flows into the hands of only a small percentage of the population.
They are a funnel for receiving government funds.
They contract local police departments.
They own A LOT of real estate.
They supply a necessary service for low-income people, but, at least in Metro's case (and the Los Angeles Metro) that is not what they are really about, or their primary function.
"Incarceration by lack of decent public transit" is used to keep poor people in poor neighborhoods. People that will work for any wage and in any conditions, and be willing to travel 4 hours a day to get to those substandard jobs.
Moreover, anyone interested in making their city more "green" and eco-friendly does not need to be told that decent public transportation will help save the environment.
If you are political activist, please consider working with OPTINSTL to investigate and change public transportation.
Especially if you are lawyer or accountant. To change things might require legal action- against Metro and the agencies that fund them.
And Metro definitely needs to be audited by the public. They get audited to make sure they are spending federal funds as directed, but there is no one investigating if their budgets could be changed to better serve the public (instead of business owners).
Consider requesting all the information available through the Sunshine Act. I am going to:
From an email from Metro: These are the answers I can provide for you without requiring that you file a Sunshine request for research and compilation of documentation. If you need such documentation, please contact Shirley Bryant in the agency’s Legal Department at sbryant@metrostlouis.org.
(From this post: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/metro-responds-to-my-first-round-of.html)
If you are a social worker or philanthropist, investigate setting up programs to fund low-income and unemployed people with discounted or free transit passes.
I will be adding more as I learn more, but I hope I have convinced you that taking on Public Transit is as effective as going after Wall Street. The "Local 1%" is much easier to reach.
OCCUPY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FOR CHANGE!
But I don't think that starting at the top, at a national level, is the best way to get things done.
In less than two weeks since I started this blog and began investigating Metro, I have learned how powerful public transit agencies are.
Public transportation is a microcosm for how government and business work hand in hand to make sure wealth flows into the hands of only a small percentage of the population.
They are a funnel for receiving government funds.
They contract local police departments.
They own A LOT of real estate.
They supply a necessary service for low-income people, but, at least in Metro's case (and the Los Angeles Metro) that is not what they are really about, or their primary function.
"Incarceration by lack of decent public transit" is used to keep poor people in poor neighborhoods. People that will work for any wage and in any conditions, and be willing to travel 4 hours a day to get to those substandard jobs.
Moreover, anyone interested in making their city more "green" and eco-friendly does not need to be told that decent public transportation will help save the environment.
If you are political activist, please consider working with OPTINSTL to investigate and change public transportation.
Especially if you are lawyer or accountant. To change things might require legal action- against Metro and the agencies that fund them.
And Metro definitely needs to be audited by the public. They get audited to make sure they are spending federal funds as directed, but there is no one investigating if their budgets could be changed to better serve the public (instead of business owners).
Consider requesting all the information available through the Sunshine Act. I am going to:
From an email from Metro: These are the answers I can provide for you without requiring that you file a Sunshine request for research and compilation of documentation. If you need such documentation, please contact Shirley Bryant in the agency’s Legal Department at sbryant@metrostlouis.org.
(From this post: http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/04/metro-responds-to-my-first-round-of.html)
If you are a social worker or philanthropist, investigate setting up programs to fund low-income and unemployed people with discounted or free transit passes.
I will be adding more as I learn more, but I hope I have convinced you that taking on Public Transit is as effective as going after Wall Street. The "Local 1%" is much easier to reach.
OCCUPY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION FOR CHANGE!
Friday, April 4, 2014
FLOODING THE PHONE LINES: BE POLITE, BUT DON'T BE AFRAID TO BE ANNOYING
Today was the first day of "Jam The Phone Lines". It must be working, because the Metro people are already annoyed, and I only rode three buses today. (I don't know how many other people are calling, though. Maybe it wasn't just my calls.)
To get decent public transportation, there is really no other avenue open to us. Metro is really about making St. Louis more attractive to businessmen, owning and maintaining real estate, and funneling government funds into business development for individual businessmen.
I am still looking into this, but as of right now it appears that:
We cannot elect new officials to change it, because the politicians do not have any real say in the matter. And unless a really wealthy developer wants to come in and do for us what Joe Edwards and Washington University has done in the Loop, we cannot get enough property votes.
We also cannot elect anyone or appeal to any agency to change the federal monies that Metro receives-- and even if we did, we cannot control how they spend it.
In fact, even if Metro executives were truly on the side of their most frequent customers, THEY don't appear to have enough power to change things.
It's really only individuals with wealth that have any power, and they are shaping the city with their needs in mind.
We are going to have to be really annoying to change things.
I had two people put me into call waiting system and never come back. The "Customer Analyst", Brandy, got very annoyed with me and called me "ridiculous" and didn't understand why I was asking so many questions that she did not think was relevant. (The questions were: how many buses are in operation on a regular weekday-- not bus lines, actual vehicles. Also how many bus drivers work on regular day-- not paratransit, just regular buses. How much do bus drivers make and when was their last increase in pay?)
My calls to Metro's Chief of System Planning and Development, Jessica Mefford-Miller, are instantly deposited to voice mail, and I suspect future emails to her will be answered less and less quickly as the days wear on, and my unending list of questions about how their agency operates continues.
Also, even though I have all the bus schedules, and the internet, I now call them to verify my trip plans. And ask any one of my unending questions.
Yes, I am annoying and ridiculous. I feel sorry for the analysts and the customer service people. The more successful we are, the busier they will be. They will need to find out things about the agency they work for, as they answer out questions. Knowledge is power.
And the more successful we are, the more the internal organization of Metro will have to change.
People don't like change, especially at their jobs.
So, fellow rider, I know you want to be a nice person. You might even know what it is like to work in a call center (that is, awful).
Remember, your intention is not to just complain or question-- it is TO CHANGE METRO.
To those people that are content to accept whatever is offered them, that do not believe change is possible, that just want what is easiest, who are comfortable where they are, you are going to seem annoying and ridiculous.
Most people think it is ridiculous to try to change the way things are.
Tonight's vigil in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded me of how ridiculous it was in the 1960's for a black man to think he could march down the middle of the street and demand his rights. How annoying he was to the authorities and others, who kept telling him there was nothing he could do to change things.
Getting better bus service is not the same as civil rights, but the process for change is the same. It makes the world a better place. It keeps fascism and tyranny in check. It empowers people that feel powerless.
If we are too busy trying to be nice, or worrying about being ridiculous or annoying, we are never going to change anything.
We live in this world and our worth should not be dependent on our bank accounts. Public transportation is a necessity for a lot of people. We should be able to shape it to our needs.
Calling every time you ride, asking for what you want, communicating your needs, and asking questions about how Metro operates is not wrong. It is not illegal. If they think a question like "how many buses do you have in operation every day" is challenging, they are going to have a real problem when I find someone to audit their books and look for the money they say they don't have for bathrooms, for subsidized passes for low-income and unemployed, for more Metrolink service, and etc.
They are really going to be annoyed when people start showing up at the East West Gateway Council of Governments meetings and asking questions about their one-sided development of the trains and Greenways. Or when journalists begin looking into the structure of public transit companies nationwide.
And they will be really annoyed when the carefully laid, thirty year plan, for developing "business" and "attracting entrepreuners" suddenly becomes about mapping a transit system that serves the people that ride it. And being accountable to us, as well as the wealthy businessmen of St. Louis.
Be nice. Be calm. Speak slowly.
But keep calling.
A lot.
Feel free to print and distribute the leaflet:
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/jam-phone-lines-leaflet-for-use-and-to.html
To get decent public transportation, there is really no other avenue open to us. Metro is really about making St. Louis more attractive to businessmen, owning and maintaining real estate, and funneling government funds into business development for individual businessmen.
I am still looking into this, but as of right now it appears that:
We cannot elect new officials to change it, because the politicians do not have any real say in the matter. And unless a really wealthy developer wants to come in and do for us what Joe Edwards and Washington University has done in the Loop, we cannot get enough property votes.
We also cannot elect anyone or appeal to any agency to change the federal monies that Metro receives-- and even if we did, we cannot control how they spend it.
In fact, even if Metro executives were truly on the side of their most frequent customers, THEY don't appear to have enough power to change things.
It's really only individuals with wealth that have any power, and they are shaping the city with their needs in mind.
We are going to have to be really annoying to change things.
I had two people put me into call waiting system and never come back. The "Customer Analyst", Brandy, got very annoyed with me and called me "ridiculous" and didn't understand why I was asking so many questions that she did not think was relevant. (The questions were: how many buses are in operation on a regular weekday-- not bus lines, actual vehicles. Also how many bus drivers work on regular day-- not paratransit, just regular buses. How much do bus drivers make and when was their last increase in pay?)
My calls to Metro's Chief of System Planning and Development, Jessica Mefford-Miller, are instantly deposited to voice mail, and I suspect future emails to her will be answered less and less quickly as the days wear on, and my unending list of questions about how their agency operates continues.
Also, even though I have all the bus schedules, and the internet, I now call them to verify my trip plans. And ask any one of my unending questions.
Yes, I am annoying and ridiculous. I feel sorry for the analysts and the customer service people. The more successful we are, the busier they will be. They will need to find out things about the agency they work for, as they answer out questions. Knowledge is power.
And the more successful we are, the more the internal organization of Metro will have to change.
People don't like change, especially at their jobs.
So, fellow rider, I know you want to be a nice person. You might even know what it is like to work in a call center (that is, awful).
Remember, your intention is not to just complain or question-- it is TO CHANGE METRO.
To those people that are content to accept whatever is offered them, that do not believe change is possible, that just want what is easiest, who are comfortable where they are, you are going to seem annoying and ridiculous.
Most people think it is ridiculous to try to change the way things are.
Tonight's vigil in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded me of how ridiculous it was in the 1960's for a black man to think he could march down the middle of the street and demand his rights. How annoying he was to the authorities and others, who kept telling him there was nothing he could do to change things.
Getting better bus service is not the same as civil rights, but the process for change is the same. It makes the world a better place. It keeps fascism and tyranny in check. It empowers people that feel powerless.
If we are too busy trying to be nice, or worrying about being ridiculous or annoying, we are never going to change anything.
We live in this world and our worth should not be dependent on our bank accounts. Public transportation is a necessity for a lot of people. We should be able to shape it to our needs.
Calling every time you ride, asking for what you want, communicating your needs, and asking questions about how Metro operates is not wrong. It is not illegal. If they think a question like "how many buses do you have in operation every day" is challenging, they are going to have a real problem when I find someone to audit their books and look for the money they say they don't have for bathrooms, for subsidized passes for low-income and unemployed, for more Metrolink service, and etc.
They are really going to be annoyed when people start showing up at the East West Gateway Council of Governments meetings and asking questions about their one-sided development of the trains and Greenways. Or when journalists begin looking into the structure of public transit companies nationwide.
And they will be really annoyed when the carefully laid, thirty year plan, for developing "business" and "attracting entrepreuners" suddenly becomes about mapping a transit system that serves the people that ride it. And being accountable to us, as well as the wealthy businessmen of St. Louis.
Be nice. Be calm. Speak slowly.
But keep calling.
A lot.
Feel free to print and distribute the leaflet:
http://optinstl.blogspot.com/2014/03/jam-phone-lines-leaflet-for-use-and-to.html
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
WHY FLOODING METRO'S PHONE LINES IS EFFECTIVE ACTION FOR CHANGE
At last night's Metro Hearing on the July 1st Fare Increase, a man came up to me and said "what is jamming their phone lines going to do? It will just prevent people trying to call in to get bus information."
Yes. That is the point. We, the people, are so blocked from making changes to this agency through the channels that are available to us, that it is necessary to apply pressure to the people running it. It might create some inconvenience and stress. Change- good or bad- does not seem to come without a little stress.
I don't necessarily think Metro exec's are playing computer games and surfing social media all day at work, but they are not working to make things better for us. Even a 10% increase in call volume will disrupt their day to day activities. When these executives are so flooded with calls demanding change, it will alter "business as usual."
AND THAT IS WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN.
THE SQUEAKY WHEEL GETS THE GREASE.
THEY WILL BE FORCED TO FIND SOLUTIONS.
AND THE MORE PEOPLE THAT PARTICIPATE, THE LONGER THE PHONE RINGS AND EMAILS COME IN AND LETTERS ARRIVE IN THE MAIL, THE MORE LIKELY THE CHANGES WE ARE DEMANDING WILL HAPPEN.
Money that wasn't available for improvements to existing services will be found. Government regulations will be relaxed for "special circumstances." Loopholes will be found
That's why women can vote. That's why black people can sit on the front of the bus. (That's why marijuana is becoming legal, although that is not in the same class as the other examples.) Etc.
And OPT INSTL is not doing anything illegal or violent, or encouraging anyone to do anything illegal or violent. No one is going to be harmed or injured from this action. Not even the phone lines.
IN FACT, WE ARE DOING JUST WHAT METRO SAYS THEY WANT-- GIVING THEM FEEDBACK!
Metro spends a lot of time crafting responses to complaints and demands for change in service. We callers have to be prepared to hear the same things over and over again from them, every time we call.
BUT THEY ARE USED TO ONLY A CERTAIN VOLUME OF FEEDBACK.
That is why civil disobedience, protests, petitions, marches, sit-ins, strikes, and call-ins so often work.
Most people hate disruption and surprises more than anything else. The more comfortable a person's life, the less likely they are to welcome disruption. That is why so many people just run through their lives, like rats in mazes. (Turns out rats might have more empathy than many people. http://www.nature.com/news/rats-free-each-other-from-cages-1.9603)
WE HAVE TO MAKE OUR NEEDS OVERWHELMINGLY OBVIOUS, SO THAT METRO WILL NOT BE ABLE TO IGNORE US!
You know, like when you are trying to sing a long with a song, and someone turns up the volume on another piece of music? It's hard not to slide into that key, that harmony and melody, that rhythm. The sound of the other song is too loud. Flooding the Metro phone lines, jamming them with calls, giving them so much specific information about what we need, they will not be able to continue running through the rat maze of "business as usual."
INFORMATION CREATES CHANGE.
And if there ARE any visionaries and forward-thinking innovators among the Metro executives then jamming the phone lines and creating disruption will bring them out. We won't even need to ask them directly or know who they are. The Metro workers that create the solutions will be put in charge to get the phones to stop ringing!
In the current situation, even if those leaders and idealistic engineers wanted to make the same changes we are demanding-- even if they are singing the same song we are-- the "business as usual" tune is too loud. They would have to risk their jobs to make as much noise as we can.
This is why we, the transit riders, have to be so willing to really go the distance-- keep calling, every week, every month, every time we ride. As I said, they will keep saying "our hands are tied" and "we can't do that" and "that's in development" and "we don't know when."
Slave owners did not teach slaves to read because knowledge is power. A slave might read about a successful slave revolt. And get the idea that he or she could revolt, too. It's the same thing with all other protests and movements for change. Not just the material change the protest brings about, but the changes to the people doing the protesting.
If a small portion of this city is able to change something in the transportation system by legal, non-violent action, you have a whole new crop of leaders, ready to take on another problem. Then the success encourages other people to join. Even those that might have refused to take part in the first revolt.
Now profits and business as usual are disrupted again. And again. And the changes will just keep coming. And the leaders.
IF THE SONG OF THE 99% GETS EVEN A LITTLE LOUDER-- JUST 3.5% OF THE POPULATION-- THE 1% WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THEIR TUNE.
The 75ish, middle-class, white, guy (who I suspect is a retired Federal cop***) that told me it was wrong to jam the phone lines also said to me "I hope when you Occupy the bus you will pay your fare." That statement told me what he thinks Occupy is about, and was against it.
I laughed. Of course I am going to pay my fare. I don't have a car! Besides, I want to live in a city with great public transit and I don't mind paying for it. I DO mind paying so much for such awful service and lack of attention to the real problems with Metro.
Then he told me that Occupy Wall Street was just a bunch of "criminals camping out illegally in Zucotti Park", and that "nothing" would happen from jamming the phone lines or the World Wide Wave of Action.
Who was a bigger threat in Occupy Wall Street? Non-violent protestors, using their right to Free Assembly at Zucotti Park, or the armed SWAT teams surrounding them? Who is really dangerous? The people working for social change and justice, through non-violent, legal means? Or the 1% starting wars to make themselves more money?
This guy and his kind, they are afraid of the power of the people, and their mindset is ALL about money. They always assume that you are motivated by the same greed they are. ("Don't think you can get a free ride and call it social change, missy." No, he didn't say that. But it seemed like he did.)
(The JAM THE PHONE LINES flyer will be updated soon with some telephone numbers for the real power behind Metro- The East West Gateway Council of Governments. The local businessmen and politicians that make the decisions and control the money. The face of the "Local 1%." http://rt.com/usa/sadoff-inequality-rich-poor-685/)
I hope people will join me in working to change public transportation in St. Louis. Part of the reason I am doing this is to share what I have learned about political activism. To encourage others. To try to find the way that works. I can write this blog and hand out leaflets, and research the power structure, but if no one calls Metro this won't be effective.
If my suggestions don't work for you, I hope you will do something else. I hope you will believe in yourself and your power. It almost doesn't matter WHAT you do, just that you DO SOMETHING AND KEEP TRYING. We can't be afraid to fail and try again, just like the first Occupy Wall Street seemed to fail, and now is going to try again, with World Wide Wave of Action.
YOUR VOICE MATTERS!
YOU MATTER!
YOUR NEEDS ARE IMPORTANT! YOU ARE NOT JUST A COG FOR PROFIT!
IT IS TIME FOR AN END TO "INCARCERATION BY LACK OF DECENT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION"!
OPT IN STL!
*** EDIT: This post has been heavily edited and the edits will eventually be a separate post called Why Occupy? And also one about undercover cops, federal and local, and vigilantes, and their tactics at meeting like this.
I will post the links here when they are done.
Yes. That is the point. We, the people, are so blocked from making changes to this agency through the channels that are available to us, that it is necessary to apply pressure to the people running it. It might create some inconvenience and stress. Change- good or bad- does not seem to come without a little stress.
I don't necessarily think Metro exec's are playing computer games and surfing social media all day at work, but they are not working to make things better for us. Even a 10% increase in call volume will disrupt their day to day activities. When these executives are so flooded with calls demanding change, it will alter "business as usual."
AND THAT IS WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN.
THE SQUEAKY WHEEL GETS THE GREASE.
THEY WILL BE FORCED TO FIND SOLUTIONS.
AND THE MORE PEOPLE THAT PARTICIPATE, THE LONGER THE PHONE RINGS AND EMAILS COME IN AND LETTERS ARRIVE IN THE MAIL, THE MORE LIKELY THE CHANGES WE ARE DEMANDING WILL HAPPEN.
Money that wasn't available for improvements to existing services will be found. Government regulations will be relaxed for "special circumstances." Loopholes will be found
That's why women can vote. That's why black people can sit on the front of the bus. (That's why marijuana is becoming legal, although that is not in the same class as the other examples.) Etc.
And OPT INSTL is not doing anything illegal or violent, or encouraging anyone to do anything illegal or violent. No one is going to be harmed or injured from this action. Not even the phone lines.
IN FACT, WE ARE DOING JUST WHAT METRO SAYS THEY WANT-- GIVING THEM FEEDBACK!
Metro spends a lot of time crafting responses to complaints and demands for change in service. We callers have to be prepared to hear the same things over and over again from them, every time we call.
BUT THEY ARE USED TO ONLY A CERTAIN VOLUME OF FEEDBACK.
That is why civil disobedience, protests, petitions, marches, sit-ins, strikes, and call-ins so often work.
Most people hate disruption and surprises more than anything else. The more comfortable a person's life, the less likely they are to welcome disruption. That is why so many people just run through their lives, like rats in mazes. (Turns out rats might have more empathy than many people. http://www.nature.com/news/rats-free-each-other-from-cages-1.9603)
WE HAVE TO MAKE OUR NEEDS OVERWHELMINGLY OBVIOUS, SO THAT METRO WILL NOT BE ABLE TO IGNORE US!
You know, like when you are trying to sing a long with a song, and someone turns up the volume on another piece of music? It's hard not to slide into that key, that harmony and melody, that rhythm. The sound of the other song is too loud. Flooding the Metro phone lines, jamming them with calls, giving them so much specific information about what we need, they will not be able to continue running through the rat maze of "business as usual."
INFORMATION CREATES CHANGE.
And if there ARE any visionaries and forward-thinking innovators among the Metro executives then jamming the phone lines and creating disruption will bring them out. We won't even need to ask them directly or know who they are. The Metro workers that create the solutions will be put in charge to get the phones to stop ringing!
In the current situation, even if those leaders and idealistic engineers wanted to make the same changes we are demanding-- even if they are singing the same song we are-- the "business as usual" tune is too loud. They would have to risk their jobs to make as much noise as we can.
This is why we, the transit riders, have to be so willing to really go the distance-- keep calling, every week, every month, every time we ride. As I said, they will keep saying "our hands are tied" and "we can't do that" and "that's in development" and "we don't know when."
Slave owners did not teach slaves to read because knowledge is power. A slave might read about a successful slave revolt. And get the idea that he or she could revolt, too. It's the same thing with all other protests and movements for change. Not just the material change the protest brings about, but the changes to the people doing the protesting.
If a small portion of this city is able to change something in the transportation system by legal, non-violent action, you have a whole new crop of leaders, ready to take on another problem. Then the success encourages other people to join. Even those that might have refused to take part in the first revolt.
Now profits and business as usual are disrupted again. And again. And the changes will just keep coming. And the leaders.
IF THE SONG OF THE 99% GETS EVEN A LITTLE LOUDER-- JUST 3.5% OF THE POPULATION-- THE 1% WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THEIR TUNE.
The 75ish, middle-class, white, guy (who I suspect is a retired Federal cop***) that told me it was wrong to jam the phone lines also said to me "I hope when you Occupy the bus you will pay your fare." That statement told me what he thinks Occupy is about, and was against it.
I laughed. Of course I am going to pay my fare. I don't have a car! Besides, I want to live in a city with great public transit and I don't mind paying for it. I DO mind paying so much for such awful service and lack of attention to the real problems with Metro.
Then he told me that Occupy Wall Street was just a bunch of "criminals camping out illegally in Zucotti Park", and that "nothing" would happen from jamming the phone lines or the World Wide Wave of Action.
Who was a bigger threat in Occupy Wall Street? Non-violent protestors, using their right to Free Assembly at Zucotti Park, or the armed SWAT teams surrounding them? Who is really dangerous? The people working for social change and justice, through non-violent, legal means? Or the 1% starting wars to make themselves more money?
This guy and his kind, they are afraid of the power of the people, and their mindset is ALL about money. They always assume that you are motivated by the same greed they are. ("Don't think you can get a free ride and call it social change, missy." No, he didn't say that. But it seemed like he did.)
(The JAM THE PHONE LINES flyer will be updated soon with some telephone numbers for the real power behind Metro- The East West Gateway Council of Governments. The local businessmen and politicians that make the decisions and control the money. The face of the "Local 1%." http://rt.com/usa/sadoff-inequality-rich-poor-685/)
I hope people will join me in working to change public transportation in St. Louis. Part of the reason I am doing this is to share what I have learned about political activism. To encourage others. To try to find the way that works. I can write this blog and hand out leaflets, and research the power structure, but if no one calls Metro this won't be effective.
If my suggestions don't work for you, I hope you will do something else. I hope you will believe in yourself and your power. It almost doesn't matter WHAT you do, just that you DO SOMETHING AND KEEP TRYING. We can't be afraid to fail and try again, just like the first Occupy Wall Street seemed to fail, and now is going to try again, with World Wide Wave of Action.
YOUR VOICE MATTERS!
YOU MATTER!
YOUR NEEDS ARE IMPORTANT! YOU ARE NOT JUST A COG FOR PROFIT!
IT IS TIME FOR AN END TO "INCARCERATION BY LACK OF DECENT PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION"!
OPT IN STL!
*** EDIT: This post has been heavily edited and the edits will eventually be a separate post called Why Occupy? And also one about undercover cops, federal and local, and vigilantes, and their tactics at meeting like this.
I will post the links here when they are done.
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