MetroBus & MetroLink: Separate And Unequal
Winter weather is here but not to worry, Metro will keep you warm.
Unless you are like most transit riders and you take MetroBus. I’ve not inspected all the MetroBus Transit Centers but I know the Civic Center Transit Center doesn’t have any heaters, yet all MetroLink platforms do!
A Metro blog post in October titled It’s Getting Cold Outside: Platform Heaters Now on All Outdoor MetroLink Stations explains the heaters:
Is it us, or is it getting colder outside? Not too cold for baseball fans though! All outdoor MetroLink Stations are now fitted with platform heaters, but it’s important to remember that in order to conserve energy, the heaters operate under the following conditions:
-  Only during regular scheduled service (4:30 a.m. – 12:30 a.m.)
- Only if the temperature is 45 degrees Fahrenheit or below.
- Only for 15 minutes each time the button is pushed.
All platform heaters now have decals on them with information about how and when they can be turned on.
Uh, it’s cold at MetroBus Centers as well. Metro treats rail and bus riders differently and in the winter this is painfully obvious…oh the pain is frostbite. Â Most exterior MetroLink platforms are in a depressed rail right-of-way somewhat naturally sheltered from the cold wind, but most MetroBus Transit Centers are at grade and fully exposed to cold winds.
This inequity is new too:
Metro’s partners in Illinois at the St. Clair County Transit District determined that MetroLink passengers need to stay toasty while waiting for MetroLink. In 2009, Metro finished installing platform heaters at all Illinois MetroLink stations, thanks to funding from St. Clair County Transit District. These heaters are passenger-controlled, ceiling-mounted heaters that Metro installed along with a wind shelter on the MetroLink platforms. They run on a timer, so they turn off after 15 minutes, to save energy. The heaters are also set so that they don’t come on at all if the temperature is above fifty degrees. This initiative was so popular, Metro decided to extend it to Missouri stations as well.
Beginning in February 2010, Metro began turning on new platform heaters at several Missouri MetroLink stations, including: North Hanley, Delmar Loop, Clayton, Shrewsbury, Civic Center, and Central West End. All other Missouri MetroLink stations are slated to get heaters, excluding the underground stations (such as the 8th & Pine station downtown – passengers are already sheltered and those stations don’t get as cold), and the two airport stations.
The project necessarily includes an evaluation of the power needed at each station, and in some cases updating equipment to move extra power into the station. The stations chosen for the first round of installation in Missouri are some of the busiest stations, but also the easiest to upgrade. The Grand Station heaters will be placed as a part of the station redesign in 2011, in conjunction with the construction of a new transit plaza underneath the new Grand Avenue bridge that the City of St. Louis will build.
Metro is working to complete all remaining stations -with the exception of the tunnel stations, two airport stations, and Grand – by the end of 2010. (source)
I don’t even know the total number of MetroBus Transit Centers, they aren’t listed online — at least not that I can find. Metro needs to put a plan in place to rectify this inequality.
– Steve Patterson
I couldn’t agree more!! Â And why aren’t there more shelters at the Metro bus stops?
I couldn’t agree more!! And why aren’t there more shelters at the Metro bus stops?
Shelters cost money and require approval from the jurisdiction that they’re located in. They also tend to block sidewalks, especially narrow ones. Besides sheltering bus riders, some also end up sheltering homeless people, something most adjoining property owners frown upon. But the biggest challenge is that many of them tend to get vandalized. Maintenance cost many times exceed the revenues generated by riders using the stop, so it boils down to a hard cost-benefit analysis – amenities versus actual buses. One solution is to include advertising and to transfer maintenance responsibilities to the advertising company, but many cities object to advertising on the public right-of-way.
The short answer salvdr? Money. As a metro(bus and link) user I know that the system is disastrously underfunded. That said there are a few relatively cheap things that could be done to improve the experience of riding our public transit system. Post bus schedules and bus route maps (and system maps) at bus stops. This is already done at metrolink stations, so we have another example of the unequal treatment of bus and train passengers. The cost would be minimal to print out some paper schedules and maps and slap a protective plastic plate over them. Metro’s leadership has no idea about the realities of transit in this town.
The short answer salvdr? Money. As a metro(bus and link) user I know that the system is disastrously underfunded. That said there are a few relatively cheap things that could be done to improve the experience of riding our public transit system. Post bus schedules and bus route maps (and system maps) at bus stops. This is already done at metrolink stations, so we have another example of the unequal treatment of bus and train passengers. The cost would be minimal to print out some paper schedules and maps and slap a protective plastic plate over them. Metro’s leadership has no idea about the realities of transit in this town.
Kimbo –
I think Metro leadership isn’t in denial about the realities of transit in St. Louis, I think the general public is. Take a look at an organization like CMT which has done wonders for transit in STL and yet they very strongly lean towards rail. Is there an organization here which seeks to further the the needs of MetroBus riders? The Transit Riders Union -http://trustl.org – looks promising.
I understand the argument, generally speaking rail transit fosters local growth and transit friendly development while bus transit typically struggles in that regard. However, in St. Louis MetroLink has hardly fostered he type of development needed to justify itself. It seems like we’ve fallen victim to our age old habit of trying own method of doing something and when it fails to provide results we throw our hands up and say nothing can be done.
Limited funding is only one part of the equation, the other half is in how every dollar is actually allocated. Every dollar spent on amenities is a dollar not spent on actually moving customers from point A to Point B. Shelters and heaters don’t come free. And the real problem isn’t that we don’t have heaters (or public restrooms) at every transfer station, the real problem is that we don’t have (many?) timed transfers. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to wait for our next bus, we’d just walk a short distance and board the correct one, with little or no waiting involved.
Just like with rail, these centers can also be the starting point for a rider. Yes funding is limited so why then would a MetroLink platform what has less passengers get heaters before a busier MetroBus center ?
Because of hard budget choices. Let’s play You Are A Metro Board Member. Assume that one bank of heaters costs the same amount as one stand-alone, unheated, bus shelter (capital cost + annual maintenance and operating costs). Is it more important to provide heat 4 months out of the year or shelter 12 months a year? Assume that in building the Civic Center TC, the choice came down to generic, heated, bus shelters from Bus-Shelters-R-Us versus unheated shelters using Metro’s unique, “signature” design vocabulary? There never is “enough” money, yet hard choices always need to be, and are, made. You may not always agree with them, but you weren’t privy to much of the back discussion, either.
Transit Centers, by definition, are like hub airports. They’re primarily places for people to make connections. Yes, some people will start or end their trips at one, but more will just be passing through. Metrolink has a finite number of stations and carries a large number of passengers. Metrobus has what seems to be an infinite number of stops and carries a widely varying number of riders. At Transit Centers, each route is typically assigned a specific bus bay. If you have a dozen bays, do you install a dozen banks of heaters? Or do just the busiest routes get them? (Most Metrolink platforms have only 4 sets of heaters, two in each direction.) And, at many Transit Centers, buses actually stop for extended periods, since it’s where their routes start/end. Knowledgable riders plan their trips around these realities.
Bigger picture, I do share your frustration with the local mindset of viewing bus and rail as separate and unequal systems. Most successful transit systems view them as an integrated whole, one where the goal is to move customers from point A to point B, as quickly and efficiently as possible, using the most appropriate mode for each segment of the trip. Until we embrace the reality that you can never design a rail system that will serve everyone, we’re going to be stuck with the current paradigm. In a perfect world, heaters would be deployed based only on ridership numbers – for every xxxx departing riders using a stop or station every day, one bank of heaters would be provided (arriving riders don’t need them, since they’re leaving, not hanging around). It wouldn’t matter if it were rail or bus, hub or mid-route, at grade, above grade or below grade, majority would rule. But that may already be the case at the Civic Center TC – no one bay may have “enough” riders to justify adding heaters, even though, in aggregate, there are plenty of riders . . . .
All of the structers already existed when the decision was made to add heaters. Based on an earlier comment one bus TC has heaters but all the MetroLink platforms got them.
One light rail car carries 2.5 times as many passengers as one standard-size bus. One bank of heaters at a Metrolink station serves one car. I’m not aware of any bus stop / bus bay that is used more frequently than any light rail stop. Can you show where any of the bays at the Civic Center TC actually has a significant number of riders waiting for extended periods? Comparable to a Metrolink platform?
The heaters at the Gravois-Hampton TC are located in a central location, not at the individual bus bays. The Civic Center TC does not have a central, enclosed waiting area (like Gravois-Hampton, Ballas or Riverview). I don’t know if this is because of a lack of available land and/or a conscious decision to not create a homeless magnet.
Shelters cost money and require approval from the jurisdiction that they’re located in. They also tend to block sidewalks, especially narrow ones. Besides sheltering bus riders, some also end up sheltering homeless people, something most adjoining property owners frown upon. But the biggest challenge is that many of them tend to get vandalized. Maintenance cost many times exceed the revenues generated by riders using the stop, so it boils down to a hard cost-benefit analysis – amenities versus actual buses. One solution is to include advertising and to transfer maintenance responsibilities to the advertising company, but many cities object to advertising on the public right-of-way.
There is a power grid that serves the MetroLink and its probably relatively simply to tap into it. However, I can’t imagine seperate systems (including metered boxes) for bus stops even if only the one’s with shelters (I think even those aren’t Metro’s – aren’t they owned by an advertising co?) Perhaps there are more riders concentrated at the MetroLink platforms giving more bang for the buck.
Finally, since some folks LOVE to crash the glass at those shelters I’d imagine the fun one could have with the elements of heaters out on the streets. Â
There is a power grid that serves the MetroLink and its probably relatively simply to tap into it. However, I can’t imagine seperate systems (including metered boxes) for bus stops even if only the one’s with shelters (I think even those aren’t Metro’s – aren’t they owned by an advertising co?) Perhaps there are more riders concentrated at the MetroLink platforms giving more bang for the buck.
Finally, since some folks LOVE to crash the glass at those shelters I’d imagine the fun one could have with the elements of heaters out on the streets.
I’m not talking about heaters at all the many bus stops, I’m talking about the 6-7 points where buses converge. Many, such as Civic Center, are adjacent to MetroLink stations.
If you pull up the pdf system maps, you can find the transit center locations – look for the boxes with route numbers in them:Â http://www.metrostlouis.org/PlanYourTrip/SystemMap.aspx
I’m pretty sure that the transit centers at Gravois-Hampton, I-64 & Ballas and Riverview offer more shelter and heat than the Civic Center TC does. A big part is probably budget (limited), but it may also have something to do with large amount of bus service available at the Civic Center TC – maybe the assumption / decision was made that most people wouldn’t be waiting very long downtown, since it’s at the center of the route system.
If you pull up the pdf system maps, you can find the transit center locations – look for the boxes with route numbers in them: http://www.metrostlouis.org/PlanYourTrip/SystemMap.aspx
I’m pretty sure that the transit centers at Gravois-Hampton, I-64 & Ballas and Riverview offer more shelter and heat than the Civic Center TC does. A big part is probably budget (limited), but it may also have something to do with large amount of bus service available at the Civic Center TC – maybe the assumption / decision was made that most people wouldn’t be waiting very long downtown, since it’s at the center of the route system.
I’m sure of money no doubt plays a large factor into the decision but to say that people would be waiting less at MetroBus Transit Centers than MetroLink Stations seems faulty – buses typically run every 20-60 minutes while trains run about every 5-20.
I’m not talking about heaters at all the many bus stops, I’m talking about the 6-7 points where buses converge. Many, such as Civic Center, are adjacent to MetroLink stations.
OK, Steve. Good point. Now that you mention it – the steam loop runs near the Civic Center… and doesn’t it even feed into a sculpture at the SWC of 14th / Clark ? I’d be happy standing over a grid that one of those steam pipes ran under when its bone-chillin cold!
OK, Steve. Good point. Now that you mention it – the steam loop runs near the Civic Center… and doesn’t it even feed into a sculpture at the SWC of 14th / Clark ? I’d be happy standing over a grid that one of those steam pipes ran under when its bone-chillin cold!
Kimbo -Â
I think Metro leadership isn’t in denial about the realities of transit in St. Louis, I think the general public is. Take a look at an organization like CMT which has done wonders for transit in STL and yet they very strongly lean towards rail. Is there an organization here which seeks to further the the needs of MetroBus riders? The Transit Riders Union -http://trustl.org – looks promising.
I understand the argument, generally speaking rail transit fosters local growth and transit friendly development while bus transit typically struggles in that regard. However, in St. Louis MetroLink has hardly fostered he type of development needed to justify itself. It seems like we’ve fallen victim to our age old habit of trying own method of doing something and when it fails to provide results we throw our hands up and say nothing can be done.Â
I’m sure of money no doubt plays a large factor into the decision but to say that people would be waiting less at MetroBus Transit Centers than MetroLink Stations seems faulty – buses typically run every 20-60 minutes while trains run about every 5-20. Â
What a prime example of discrepancies between MetroLink and MetroBus service/amenities. Another large discrepancy between the two is smoking allowed at bus transit stations while it’s not allowed on MetroLink platforms. I know Metro’s answered this via twitter at least once and gave a rather offensive reason. Personally I say keep it the same across the board.Â
What a prime example of discrepancies between MetroLink and MetroBus service/amenities. Another large discrepancy between the two is smoking allowed at bus transit stations while it’s not allowed on MetroLink platforms. I know Metro’s answered this via twitter at least once and gave a rather offensive reason. Personally I say keep it the same across the board.
I agree. We should allow smoking at Metrolink platforms.
the hampton loop transfer station has enclosed shelters with overhead heaters. This would definitely be a huge improvement for the civic center station.
the hampton loop transfer station has enclosed shelters with overhead heaters. This would definitely be a huge improvement for the civic center station.
I doubt that the Gravous-Hampton TC has as many potential “residents” as the Civic Center TC does. One unfortunate reality in designing infrastructure of this type is to make it (marginally) comfortable for true customers, yet making it uncomfortable (enough) to discourage its use by non-customers, i.e., the homeless. (And yes, having the homeless take up residence in bus shelters is bad for business, even though it may be the humane thing to allow.)
Many multi-family buildings are just north of the Schnuck’s. But many of the stations on the Shrewsbury MetroLink like see far few passengers than through the Civic Center TC.
Reread my comment – my reference to residents was an attempt to be PC about the homeless. It was not a reference to adjacent multi-family housing.
Agree on Sunnen and probably Richmond Heights/Galleria. Disagree on Manchester/Maplewood, Brentwood and Clayton. All the other stations are below grade.
I agree. We should allow smoking at Metrolink platforms.
Limited funding is only one part of the equation, the other half is in how every dollar  is actually allocated. Every dollar spent on amenities is a dollar not spent on actually moving customers from point A to Point B. Shelters and heaters don’t come free. And the real problem isn’t that we don’t have heaters (or public restrooms) at every transfer station, the real problem is that we don’t have (many?) timed transfers. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to wait for our next bus, we’d just walk a short distance and board the correct one, with little or no waiting involved.
Just like with rail, these centers can also be the starting point for a rider. Yes funding is limited so why then would a MetroLink platform what has less passengers get heaters before a busier MetroBus center ?
Because of hard budget choices. Let’s play You Are A Metro Board Member. Assume that one bank of heaters costs the same amount as one stand-alone, unheated, bus shelter (capital cost + annual maintenance and operating costs). Is it more important to provide heat 4 months out of the year or shelter 12 months a year? Assume that in building the Civic Center TC, the choice came down to generic, heated, bus shelters from Bus-Shelters-R-Us versus unheated shelters using Metro’s unique, “signature” design vocabulary? There never is “enough” money, yet hard choices always need to be, and are, made. You may not always agree with them, but you weren’t privy to much of the back discussion, either.
Transit Centers, by definition, are like hub airports. They’re primarily places for people to make connections. Yes, some people will start or end their trips at one, but more will just be passing through. Metrolink has a finite number of stations and carries a large number of passengers. Metrobus has what seems to be an infinite number of stops and carries a widely varying number of riders. At Transit Centers, each route is typically assigned a specific bus bay. If you have a dozen bays, do you install a dozen banks of heaters? Or do just the busiest routes get them? (Most Metrolink platforms have only 4 sets of heaters, two in each direction.) And, at many Transit Centers, buses actually stop for extended periods, since it’s where their routes start/end. Knowledgable riders plan their trips around these realities.
Bigger picture, I do share your frustration with the local mindset of viewing bus and rail as separate and unequal systems. Most successful transit systems view them as an integrated whole, one where the goal is to move customers from point A to point B, as quickly and efficiently as possible, using the most appropriate mode for each segment of the trip. Until we embrace the reality that you can never design a rail system that will serve everyone, we’re going to be stuck with the current paradigm. In a perfect world, heaters would be deployed based only on ridership numbers – for every xxxx riders using a stop or station every day, one bank of heaters would be provided. It wouldn’t matter if it were rail or bus, hub or mid-route, at grade, above grade or below grade, majority would rule. But that may already be the case at the Civic Center TC – no one bay has “enough” riders to justify adding heaers, even though, in aggregate, there are plenty of riders . . . .
All of the structers already existed when the decision was made to add heaters. Based on an earlier comment one bus TC has heaters but all the MetroLink platforms got them.
I doubt that the Gravous-Hampton TC has as many potential “residents” as the Civic Center TC does. One unfortunate reality in designing infrastructure of this type is to make it (marginally) comfortable for true customers, yet making it uncomfortable (enough) to discourage its use by non-customers, i.e., the homeless. (And yes, having the homeless take up residence in bus shelters is bad for business, even though it may be the humane thing to allow.)
Many multi-family buildings are just north of the Schnuck’s. But many of the stations on the Shrewsbury MetroLink like see far few passengers than through the Civic Center TC.
One light rail car carries 2.5 times as many passengers as one standard-size bus. One bank of heaters at a Metrolink station serves one car. I’m not aware of any bus stop / bus bay that is used more frequently than any light rail stop. Can you show where any of the bays at the Civic Center TC actually has a significant number of riders waiting for extended periods? Comparable to a Metrolink platform?
The heaters at the Gravois-Hampton TC are located in a central location, not at the individual bus bays. The Civic Center TC does not have a central, enclosed waiting area (like Gravois-Hampton, Ballas or Riverview). I don’t know if this is because of a lack of available land and/or a conscious decision to not create a homeless magnet.
Reread my comment – my reference to residents was an attempt to be PC about the homeless. It was not a reference to adjacent multi-family housing.
Agree on Sunnen and probably Richmond Heights/Galleria. Disagree on Manchester/Maplewood, Brentwood and Clayton. All the other stations are below grade.
In my opinion the heaters on platforms are a joke and waste of energy. They only heat the top of your head. If you are riding public transit you naturally dress for it. If your cold put a heavier coat on! And the trains and buses are usually too hot for me. I don’t understand why the drivers set the heat so high. We already have a coat on. So we don’t need it to be 80 degrees! When I ride the bus in the winter I always try to get the seat near the rear exit door so I get a little cool air.
In my opinion the heaters on platforms are a joke and waste of energy. They only heat the top of your head. If you are riding public transit you naturally dress for it. If your cold put a heavier coat on! And the trains and buses are usually too hot for me. I don’t understand why the drivers set the heat so high. We already have a coat on. So we don’t need it to be 80 degrees! When I ride the bus in the winter I always try to get the seat near the rear exit door so I get a little cool air.
AND FURTHUR MORE….the trains run on schedule and the buses run much more on time than they used to, so if you know your schedule times you shouldn’t HAVE to stand out in the cold very long. In other words, don’t get to your bus stop ten minutes before it’s scheduled arrival.
AND FURTHUR MORE….the trains run on schedule and the buses run much more on time than they used to, so if you know your schedule times you shouldn’t HAVE to stand out in the cold very long. In other words, don’t get to your bus stop ten minutes before it’s scheduled arrival.
well. in Illinois they had heaters for a LONG time before STL metrolink stops had them. i noticed that every time it got cold.
well. in Illinois they had heaters for a LONG time before STL metrolink stops had them. i noticed that every time it got cold.