St. Louis: More Light Rail vs. Streetcars vs. Bus Service

Few topics raise so much debate as public mass transit. Some, mostly wealthy suburbanites that profit from sprawl, suggest we shouldn’t subsidize mass transit (leaving money to subsidize their sprawl). Others strongly advocate expensive light rail systems including our own MetroLink. Still others advocate an expansion in bus service as a means of reaching more people, in particular those that can’t afford private cars. And finally you have streetcar advocates looking to use their retro charm to invigorate areas while providing transportation.

In July Post-Dispatch reporters Shane Graber and Elisa Crouch questioned the $550 million being spent on eight more miles of MetroLink:

Graber and Crouch continue their argument with some interesting math:

So for $550 million, here’s how many more buses Metro could have put on the road every day of the year for 16 hours a day: 241 new bus routes for five years; 120 bus routes for 10 years; 80 bus routes for 15 years; or 60 for 20 years.

That is a lot of buses. Perhaps too many? But their point is well made. Light rail is very expensive and doesn’t always serve the population that needs it most.

I’ve been utilizing our bus service in combination with my bike quite a bit over the last few months. I’ve been very impressed with the cleanliness of the buses, their on-time rate and the friendliness of my fellow riders. The economic difference between riders on the bus and light rail is pretty apparent but in the end not a deterrent. But the stigmatism of the bus is alive in many people’s mind.

Streetcars are basically a bus on a fixed rail. Well, in truth, the bus was a streetcar removed from the rails and given a diesel engine. People universally seem to love streetcars. Even new streetcars that don’t have the retro look. Something about the rail and the overhead wires. Not even the wires so much. Seattle’s buses become electric in the city, connecting to overhead wires. It really comes down to the fixed rail.

You’d think the flexibility of the bus would be more appealing but I believe we all have this secret love of railroads and the rails. The streetcar is the most accessible form of rail transportation. Light rail is superior to streetcars in that one train can hold many more passengers. Each operator carries more passengers a day than would an operator of a streetcar or bus. This is ultimately the big argument in favor of light rail. However, the cost to get those people from place to place is high.

Before people start attacking me let me say that I love our MetroLink system and I’m glad we are expanding it. But I’m wondering about the wisdom of expanding the system further. I’m not suggesting we stop building our mass transit system, just changing from light rail to streetcar.

Part of my reasoning is purely selfish. Where I currently live MetroLink will never be convenient. In about 20 years I might have a stop about a mile West of me that will take me downtown. Twenty years! I’ll be pushing 60 years old by then. Sorry, but I’m not that patient. The #40 Broadway bus is just three blocks to the East and it gets me the six miles to downtown in very short order.

I see the future Northside MetroLink route as being a critical component to repopulating and reinvigorating North St. Louis. But can we afford to wait the 15+ years for it to be finished? As much as I love light rail I think we’d be better off substituting streetcars along the Northside and Southside routes. We can have an efficient system in place years earlier and for millions less. Streetcars offer the lower cost per passenger of buses while increasing ridership through their magical charm.

Ultimately, the sooner we get more mass transit in place the better off we’ll be as a region. Streetcar lines would reach more people in more neighborhoods than light rail. And, after all, that is the goal of mass transit.

– Steve

What Became of…

I’ve got a couple of things that I was wondering about.

First, I attended a public meeting back on August 2nd regarding the proposed Mississippi River Bridge. The followup meeting was supposed to be in September but I’ve not heard a word. Did I miss an announcement? I have no doubt it will be argued we need the bridge to help evacuate the city. Whatever it takes to justify a massive public works project right guys?

Second on my list is the downtown traffic study. It has been nearly six weeks since the surveys were collected but I’ve not seen any data or conclusions. This really shouldn’t take this long since the conclusion portion was most likely written prior to sending out the surveys!

– Steve

Dutchtown’s Virginia Mansion Has Been Sold!

Hallelujah!

For those not familiar with the Virginia Mansion let me give you a short brief. It is a well known building on Virginia just South of Meramec. Purchased a few years ago by a local non-profit (Our Lady’s Inn that intended to renovate the building for transitional housing. This news didn’t raise many eyebrows but when about a year later said they wanted to raze the building people were upset. Demolition permit was denied by city and reaffirmed by circuit court judge. OLI lists and sells this building and buyers a four-family for their transitional housing program.

Myself and a small group of other local property owners were instrumental in fighting the demolition plan. OLI attempted to characterize our opposition as racist since many of their clients are African-American. But our opposition had nothing to do with who their clients were and everything to do with the building and zoning. We repeatedly suggested four-family buildings in the area as alternative locations — even some adjacent four-family buildings were they could have a total of eight units. They were having nothing to do with anything other than razing the building.

I’m glad OLI has moved on and purchased a four-family near their main facility. Now we can move on by working with the new owner on getting the building renovated and once again contributing to the area.

– Steve

Alderman Bauer is Recalled!

The precedent has been set. A South Side Alderman (read: white) can be recalled if the constituents are unhappy.

While I never cared for Bauer I did like that he was at least open to change which is more than I can say for some. But like too many Aldermen he didn’t seem to understand the reasons for the unrest.

Bland new developments and the threats of eminent domain are the crux of the issue. Other Alderman need to pay attention! One specific issue in the Bauer recall was the proposed taking of homes via eminent domain to build a new QuikTrip gas and convenience store.

QuikTrip is one of the most destructive forces currently in the City of St. Louis. But I defy you to find an Alderman (or Mayor) that is willing to say we don’t need anymore QuikTrip locations. I’ll give QT one thing — they maintain their locations well. The problem is they are huge. The small corner gas station now spans the length of an entire city block. It makes no sense to have smaller and older gas station sites sitting vacant while we build new QT locations.

QuikTrip is a major campaign donor. No QT exists in the 25th Ward where I ran for Alderman back in March yet they gave Alderman Kirner’s campaign the maximum allowed of $300 and another $300 in the general election. Perhaps they want to take homes in my ward and build one of their massive stores? To our elected officials that don’t really understand urbanity and city living they see this “investment” as a good thing. The rest of us see it as a reason to flee.

Many of our gas stations are locally owned franchise operations. But the QT stores are corporate owned so profits leave not only the city but the state. Money talks and if we continue to patronize QT they’ll continue razing our buildings and constructing behemoth gas stations. But here is the question — are we buying more gasoline or is another gas station losing business each time a new QT opens? While each year we are consuming more gasoline the overwhelming answer is another gas dealer — most likely a local owner — is losing business. Former gas station sites are one of the most costly to redevelop so does it make any sense to build more?

Bauer actually had the gaul to claim, before the recall, that the recall was motivated by greedy gas station owners that didn’t want the QT. The area in question is already awash in gas stations so it amazes me an alderman would want to take homes to build yet another. Some elected officials think progress equals razing neighborhoods and building new. Real progress is increasing the number of residents & local business in the city while remaining urban. Turning our city into suburbia is not a city in which I want to live.

I’m glad Bauer was recalled but that is only a first step. Too often we must spend our time fighting bad development rather than nurturing good development. We need new leadership throughout the city at all levels that will put an end to pushing through suburban sprawl crap development and work with citizens to bring appropriate new development to the city.

– Steve

SBC Continues to Redline Parts of St. Louis City

I needed to call SBC today to look at adding an additional feature to my phone service. After deciding not to change my service the person tried to push internet or tv service. Little did he know he hit a hot button for me.

You see, SBC’s DSL service is not available everywhere in the City of St. Louis. Some areas, including my house, cannot get DSL. For my internet access I had little choice but to go with Charter Communications (cable). My office on South Broadway in Carondelet is also unable to get DSL.

I find it unacceptable that our Board of Alderman and Mayor allow such a large public utility to continue redlining neighborhoods. How can we attract new residents and businesses without such a basic of modern life?

– Steve