What Took Me So Long To Become A Regular Transit Rider?

I’ve always supported public mass transit, at least in theory. Sure, I’d ridden both rail & rubber tire transit from time to time in St. Louis during the last 20 years.  Getting to & from the airport was probably the most frequent reason for using transit, but even though I lived a block from the #70 Grand  bus line I’d get a friend to drop me off or pick me up from the MetroLink station on Grand.

I do recall one trip in 2007 where I walked to the bus stop, then a few blocks, to catch the bus to MetroLink so I could reach the airport. I may have done it twice but I know it wasn’t three times. From my last home in South St. Louis I’d bike over to catch the #40 Broadway bus to go downtown.  Again, this was only a handful of times.

After my stroke, in February 2008, I used the MetroLink light rail to get out of downtown a few times, especially before I started driving in July 2008 — dropping transit at that point. But two years later, in June 2010, I decided to see how difficult it would be to become a regular transit rider so I purchased a monthly pass for July 2010.

One thing I knew I’d have to let go of way my idea that I wouldn’t like the wheelchair lift on the buses because many destinations were only reachable by bus. Others were reachable by bus or light rail, but the bus was closer on both ends.

Short clip of lift in operation:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cw0w1ASPKUw

So what did I find out over the last three months?

• Having a smart phone (iPhone 3GS in my case) with Google Maps was very helpful for determining routes and times.  Additionally, I can access PDF files of route maps I’ve saved on Dropbox.
• Not having to pay each time I boarded made me more open to taking transit throughout the month.
• The quality of bus and train operators varies widely, none were bad but some are better than others.
• Using transit takes longer than driving my car but the convenience is worth the extra time.
• The restoration of lines that came recently make a huge difference.
• The level of ridership has been good on the many lines I’ve ridden, at different times of day & night.
• Riders
• The quality of the bus service is much higher than I had expected.
• Initially it would have been cheaper to buy individual tickets rather than the monthly pass.  As my ridership has increased I’m probably at a break even point.

I feel like a regular now that I ride the bus and/or train 3-4 times per week.  I plan to keep buying a monthly pass so I don’t have to drive my car much.

For the last five months I drove my car just 1,000 miles locally (excludes road trips out of town), that extrapolates to 2,400 miles per year.  Not bad, I think.  I’d love to not have the expense of a car but due to the modifications I need I can’t just rent one as needed.

I’m fortunate that I have two bus lines each just a block away (#97 & #10) and three MetroLink stations nearby (Union Station, 8th & Pine, Convention Center).  My address got a “good transit” rating of 69/100 but is a “walker’s paradise” with a score of 94/100 on Walkscore.com.

I realize that had I been riding transit for the last 20 years I probably wouldn’t have gained so much weight, my blood pressure wouldn’t have been off the charts and I wouldn’t have had a stroke.  It took 20 years but I’m finally a regular transit rider.

– Steve Patterson