Poll: How Should Auto Dealerships Sell New Vehicles?

Electric auto manufacturer Tesla has been having trouble selling the model S in many states, but not due to lack of interest from potential customers:

Tesla’s fight with dealers across the country has increased scrutiny of U.S. auto franchise rules that go back decades. Already, Texas and Arizona have barred Tesla from selling cars directly to customers. New York auto dealer lobbying groups last week reached an agreement with Tesla to maintain its five company-owned stores, and Ohio lawmakers approved a similar measure. (NJ.com)

This month a bill in the Missouri legislature would’ve added Missouri to the list of states prohibiting Tesla from selling direct to customers, bypassing the usual franchised dealer arrangement.

Last week, with only a week remaining in the legislative session, the Missouri Senate made an amendment to alter a run of the mill, non-controversial House bill to prevent the sale of vehicles direct from a manufacturer. Tesla snapped into action and called a press conference Monday, trying to get word out about the amendment.

Tesla’s executives say few people actually support the auto dealers’ position. Tesla’s game plan is to get the word out fast, and count on public pressure to derail anti-Tesla legislation. In other states, like New Jersey, where dealers were successful in ending Tesla’s direct sales, public sentiment was decidedly against the dealers’ position. (WSJ)

For now Tesla can continue to sell vehicles directly to customers in Missouri, the change didn’t pass.  But should it have? Do independently-owned dealerships protect consumers from auto manufacturers? The poll this week asks how auto manufactures should sell cars, the three main choices are:

• via franchised dealerships only
• option of direct to consumer
• low volume manufacturers should have option to sell direct

The poll is at the top of the right sidebar in desktop view. Full disclosure: we have shares in General Motors (GM).

— Steve Patterson

Connecting St. Louis’ Downtown Sports Facilities Via 7th & Clark

I’ve made this argument before, but it’s worth repeating: Clark Street needs to be a connector street. On the west end, at 18th, you have Union Station. At 14th you have the Scottrade Center, home of the St. Louis Blues NHL team, and the Civic Center Transit Center/Station. To the East at 8th Busch Stadium and Ballpark Village. People are already walking back & forth between these dots along Clark, despite the poor conditions. Just imagine if we improved the streetscape along both Clark Ave and 7h Street.

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Just as Washington Avenue serves as the connector for the downtown loft district, 7th and/or Clark could serve to connect our sports venues to each other, to entertainment venues, hotels, transit, etc.

— Steve Patterson

Civic Center Transit Center Sans Trees, Awaiting Redo

In late March the Civic Center Transit Center, serving MetroBus and MetroLink, got a visually shocking change: all the trees were cut down. Take a look:

The reason the trees were cut down was to clear the site for the construction of a larger MetroBus area, so more can pull into the center rather than stay on 14th. Metro has talked about this for a number of years, but the process is moving forward now.  On Monday I inquired with Metro about plans, yesterday they posted information on their blog, see Metro Moves Forward With New Transit Projects, and sent me the text that will appear on the project page shortly:

Civic Center Transit Center Expansion

The Civic Center Transit Center is one of Metro’s busiest transit hubs and it presently lacks the space needed to adequately serve the number of MetroBus routes converging at this location. The location at 14th and Spruce Streets in Downtown St. Louis is served by MetroLink, 18 MetroBus routes and Metro Call-A-Ride service.

Metro secured federal funding to redesign the Civic Center Transit Center to more effectively accommodate more buses and to provide greater customer safety, convenience and comfort.

The expansion will include:

• 18 MetroBus bays
• 2 Call-A-Ride bays
• Space for 60-foot articulated buses
• Construction of a new building with
  • An indoor, climate-controlled waiting area
  • Public restrooms
  • Digital messaging boards
  • A security sub-station
  • Concessions

The design contract for the project was awarded to Arcturis Inc. on October 2013. The project is scheduled to be completed by next fall with construction expected to begin late summer or fall 2014.

To redesign the property for the expansion, it was necessary to cut down the bald cypress and oak trees. The trees were removed prior to April 1 so as not to affect migratory birds. Metro will plant the same number of trees at another location or make a donation to a local forestry project.

Here’s the proposed site plan:

This changes the flow for buses and pedestrians, after I’ve had a chance to absorb the proposed design I’ll share my thoughts in a separate post.

— Steve Patterson

Readers Prefer Public Transit Over Car Sharing & Taxicabs

In the poll last week I was trying to see if there was a preference among readers for an app-based service (CARmil, Lyft, Uber, etc) vs local taxicab. Just before posting the poll I changed the options, adding public transit to the mix. I very quickly regretted the change but it was too late.

Q: Next time you need to get from A to B (not in your own car), which type of service would you use?

1. Public transit 42 [56%]
2. App-based service (CARmil, Lyft, Uber, etc) 12 [16%]
3. Unsure/no answer 12 [16%]
4. Local taxicab company 9 [12%]

The app-based services did come out slightly ahead of taxicabs, but based on the totals I don’t think we can draw any conclusions.  I do have some thoughts on the topic though. While a few taxicab  companies have their own apps or are part of Taxi Magic, they’re boring by comparison. The local apps don’t simplify the payment process at your destination, one taxicab company we took last year handed us a credit card receipt to sign after swiping our card on their reader up front. Really? The other we took last year had credit card machines in the back and no paper receipt to sign, but we still had to get our card out. I used Taxi Magic once last year, which only required me to use the app on mu phone, but the driver made a big deal out of it.

In fact many drivers don’t like credit cards at all; companies take a bigger cut, are slow to pay, or something. Sorry, I’m the customer and I rarely carry more than $5 in cash.  I know a few former & current taxicab drivers, I support them in earning a living. But industries that don’t adapt to change will die off.

With the app startups I do worry about issues of riding with an unknown person using their personal vehicle.  I wonder how a whimsical taxicab company would do in St. Louis, shake up the establishment or struggle among the big players?

— Steve Patterson

I’m Now a St. Louis Rams Fan

I’ve never had an interest in football, despite my mom and a brother being huge fans. Back in the 80s, the architecture department at the University of Oklahoma was in the building under the bleachers of the football stadium, a huge distraction when trying to complete a project for a Monday presentation. In the 20 years since the Rams moved here from Los Angeles I had zero interest in seeing a game, we even sold the two tickets to a game we got last year. To my surprise, I’m suddenly a Rams fan.

The St. Louis Rams drafted Michael Sam, football player, in the NFL draft on Saturday. They drafted Sam in the seventh round, not because they thought the league or the world owed him a job because he announced he was gay on his way out of the University of Missouri. They drafted him because they thought he might be one of those low-round picks who might pay off and help them be a better team someday.

As good as Sam was in college, the SEC defensive player of the year as a senior, there were always going to be concerns about where he fit in the NFL, because of his height (6-foot-2), because he is smaller than most defensive linemen, because nobody was sure if he could make the switch to linebacker in the pros. (New York Daily News)

We still don’t know what the Rams will do about the Edward Jones Dome, they will be free to leave St. Louis after the upcoming season ends, a decade earlier because we’ve not upgraded the dome to be in the top quarter of NFL facilities. I still don’t like NFL downtown, but I’d like the Rams to remain the St. Louis Rams, staying in the region.

When Sam came out in February there were many who compared him to Tim Tebow, a distraction that couldn’t cut it in the NFL:

While some compare this to the distractions Tim Tebow brought to the team, the two couldn’t be more different. Sam won’t be tweeting about his sexual orientation and slipping his sexuality into every statement the way Tebow did with Jesus and the Bible. Tebow infused his religion into everything he did, praising god to the press, leading a very public team prayer after every game, kneeling before God after success on the field. For Sam, his sexual orientation is just part of him. He doesn’t feel the need to proselytize for the “gay cause.”

Unlike Tebow’s religion, Sam will not make his sexual orientation the story. Tebow invited the media attention; Sam is already doing what it takes to minimize its impact on his future team. (Time)

Until Sam takes the field we don’t know how good of a player he’ll be, but I’ll be rooting for him and the St. Louis Rams.

— Steve Patterson