A Couple More Transit Thoughts

With MetroLink events today (paid preview ride), this weekend (ribbon cutting & free rides) and Monday (new fares, revenue service on Cross County line) this is becoming an unofficial transit week here on Urban Review. I have some additional thoughts that I’ll toss out for discussion: Fare based on distance, not direction and a renewable transit debit card.

Distance Based Fares:

A person traveling a short distance on our light rail system, MetroLink, pays the same rate as the person traveling the full length. To the person traveling to the end of the system (Illinois, Lambert or now Shrewsbury) the fare is a bargain relative to travel time, fuel, parking and such. But the person going only one or two stations away the fare really sucks. For local travel the MetroLink is set up to be more regional in its approach and the fares reflect as much. But not all cities are this way.

In Washington D.C. and San Francisco, for example, their system charges you based on distance. You swipe your card as you enter the system and again as you leave. It deducts the rate from station to station. The greater the distance you travel the more you pay. For those that only travel one or two stations it really makes sense. The issue here is how to track the coming and going of everyone. In these examples they have more complicated stations and you must swipe your card to enter and leave the stations. This adds cost, lots of cost. When the original MetroLink system was being designed in the late 1980s and early 1990s a decision was made that we’d be on the honor system for payment, thus reducing the necessity to have costly limited access stations. Our stations, if you haven’t seen them, sell tickets which must be validated before boarding the train. Weekly and monthly passes are available and offer real value for those using the system often.

Transit Debit Card:

No, I’m not thinking of a Visa card with the Metro logo on it to show your support for transit when making a purchase a Target. Rather, one thing I like about the D.C. and San Francisco systems, among others, is the ability to buy a transit card with an amount such as $20. As I use the system the fare is deducted from the original balance. At any point I can go to a machine, check the balance and add more money to the card. As someone who rarely has more than $10 in their pockets this is really convenient. But, as described above, we have a ticket/honor system for our light rail. Currently transit officers randomly check passengers for a validated ticket or a weekly or monthly pass for the current period. How would my debit card work in this case?

We’d need some sort of device at the stations to swipe before boarding a train. Unlike the closed systems in other cities, this could just be on a platform and not be required to enter/exit. Officers checking tickets & passes would need some sort of hand-held device to swipe the transit card to ensure the holder swiped the card back at the station and thus “paid” the fare for that ride. To offer the “distance based fare” noted above, when the card holder swipes the card at the first station it assumes the full fare. But swipe it again upon arriving at a shorter station then you get a credit back for only using a portion of the system. But, this idea has a bigger upside.

The debit card could also work with MetroBus. Again, I seldom carry cash and I almost never have any coin in my pockets. I see stores near bus stops proclaiming “No change for bus” as they don’t want to break someone’s $5 bill or even give change for a buck. “Buy a monthly pass” some might say but for those of us that don’t or can’t use the system enough to justify a monthly pass we are left with exact change being our only option. The debit card would allow someone to put money on the card when they got paid and monitor their balance as they use the system. When it gets low they might add a few bucks or even that $5 to the card. As I noted in my previous post, if I ride the bus all semester it will cost me just over $50, less if I bike home sometimes. I would gladly put $50 on a card that could be used on the bus or light rail.

The obvious problem is where to sell the cards. It is easy to put such devices at MetroLink stations but we certainly can’t put one at the thousands of bus stops. This is where convenience stores earn their name — they could sell Metro cards along with all the other items they sell. Stores along popular bus routes might sell quite a few and it would let bus riders use their debit or credit card if they are short on cash. Once you’ve got the card you can simply add to it at a MetroLink station or one of the various bus transfer stations.

The other question becomes the existing card readers in the buses. They currently can note who has a valid weekly or monthly pass but it is unclear if they could be programed to both keep track of the fare paid for that bus route as well as subtract the amount from the holder’s card. Most likely they could not deduct the fare from the debit card. New card readers and the associated equipment in all the buses and at the stations may not be cost effective — the number of new riders to the system not justifying the capital expense.

The idea behind these concepts is to look at some new ways to get more people, like myself, that have several bikes a scooter and a new car to consider using transit. The more transit choice riders added to the system the better it can become for those that are transit dependent. Maybe these ideas have already been examined and rule out for any number of valid reasons?

Frequency and total travel time are probably the two biggest factors in determining whether someone takes transit or not. Beginning on Monday we will see greatly improved frequency between Forest Park in Missouri and Emerson Park in Illinois combined with reaching a whole new area of the region. These factors should contribute to many new transit riders. Still, we cannot discount convenience factors such as a debit card vs. exact change.

With the exception of the weekly and monthly passes, the light rail and bus service are very separate from a ticketing and perception point of view. Bus service has the ‘only for the poor’ stigma about it. Having a debit fare card that works on both systems might help bridge that perception gap.

What are your ideas, other than increase frequency, to bring in more riders to mass transit in our region?

– Steve

I’m Too Old For a Student Transit Pass

I keep telling myself that being just shy of 40 is not too old to return to college for a Masters. My first class in grad school starts a week from today. But, faced with hostel SLU safety officers that don’t like my scooter locked out of the way on the sidewalk and parking rates ranging from $145 to $1200+ a semester I’m considering bus transit to get me to my two classes this semester.

Sadly, our transit agency thinks I’m too old for a transit pass (source). In fact, I’ve been too old for the last 16 years! Ouch.

Full-time students age 23 and younger with a valid Student ID card who attend a registered school are eligible to purchase a Student Semester Pass for only $125.00 (valid for the fall 2006 semester)! Please check with your school to see if they are currently registered with Metro.

Well, I’m only part-time this Fall anyway. I did manage to save $2 at the Chase the other night by flashing my student ID when purchasing a ticket for The Devil Wears Prada.

On the plus side I will be able to qualify for the senior discount in just over 25 years. Assuming, that is, they don’t raise the senior age by the time I get there.

In truth my 15-week semester with two classes would require only $52.50 in bus fare per the new rates which take effect on August 28th — the day before my first class. I’m looking at biking to the #70 Grand bus and then using it to get to the SLU campus, biking the rest of way to class. Weather and energy permitting I may simply decide to bike home rather than taking the bus. Having my bike would give me the freedom to stop at the store and pick up a few items or head to a coffee house to study. From my door to class I estimate about 45 minutes via this method — about 15+ minutes longer than if I rode my scooter. Driving my car would also save time but there I run the risk of getting parking tickets if parked more than 90 minutes at a meter (the classes are 2.5 hrs long).

Taking the bus certainly looks good, even for us old students.

– Steve

In the Interest of Safety?

Last week a reader emailed me with the following:

Around noon today, the Eads Bridge was shutdown to vehicular traffic while MoDOT investigated a “suspicious package”. At the same time, Metrolink continued to run.

Why is a threat that is considered high enough to warrant vehicular traffic diversion not sufficient to warrant the shutdown of Metrolink?

Back on June 24, 2005, authorities shutdown I-64/40 to traffic because of the threat posed by the explosions at the Praxair facility. Just as today, even though the highway was closed, Metrolink continued to operate. I went through that area on a westbound train at approximately 4:20 that afternoon and can tell you the air was very thick with chemical odors. Yet once I arrived home, you could see from the aerial shots that the trains continued to run.

In both instances, is this a case of transit authorities making an informed decision to continue operations? or is it a communications failure between police/MoDOT and Metro?

I shudder to think its the latter.

Last June I pursued this matter with Metro to no avail. With this latest incident, I’ll be trying again.

Interesting questions posed, I have no answers. I am too am curious why these threats are sufficient to divert motorists in cars yet trains with hundreds of passengers continue as if nothing is going on. None of the explanations are satisfactory:

1) Metro didn’t know about the dangers so they continued to operate as normal.
2) Metro knew about the dangers but didn’t feel they were strong enough to warrant messing up the schedule.
3) Any others?

With vehicular traffic closed in these two cases the Metro bus service would have been impacted, requiring bus drivers to find alternate routes due to the emergency situations. What is Metro’s responsibility in these situations? Should they announce to the passengers that a potential threat exists and give them an opportunity to exit at a station prior to entering the danger zone? I’d certainly like an official response from Metro on their policy relative to safety threats as well as an explanation about how the trains continuing to run during these two incidents relate to said policy. I have sent an email to Metro inquiring about this issue and will relay their response, if any, in a new post.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

– Steve

16th Ward Alderwoman Out in Front on Planning & Communication

16th Ward Alderwoman Donna Baringer has posted several items on the 16th Ward News section of the Board of Aldermen website. At this time only Baringer and Young (7th Ward) are posting online news about their respective wards on the site. It is unclear how the other 26 are communicating ward news to constituents, city residents, potential residents, existing businesses and potential businesses.

From the PDF of a print newsletter I can see that Baringer was at Francis Park this past Saturday (the 19th) to show off plans for revisions to the playground and asking for feedback.

In commercial news I can read a summary of the Shrewsbury transit charrette that I attended recently (see post) as well as a Hampton & Chippewa charrette that I was unaware of. A two-page PDF entitled a “16th Ward Retail Profile” is an excellent marketing piece for businesses considering locating in or near the 16th ward. Among the information included is buying power for the area relative to Lindbergh & I-44 and other retail corridors.

I’ve yet to review a new Starbucks with drive-thru recently built in the 16th Ward. My initial drive-by was not overly impressive as it had a drive lane between the public sidewalk and building. Still, I am impressed by Ald. Baringer’s willingness to get involved in planning issues, bringing in the planning staff and clearly communicating this information to the public. Currently Baringer is out front leading other aldermen, many of whom have decades of “experience.”

Baringer, elected in 2003, is still in her first stint as alderwoman. While the ward has not turned into a dense urban oasis during her term it is clear she is making a strong effort to move the 16th in a positive and more pedestrian-friendly direction. From my vantage point, Ald. Baringer is way out in front of all the aldermen on planning and communications.

– Steve

Comprehensive Planning Process for Soulard Neighborhood on Sept 26th

From Ald. Phyllis Young:

Soulard has changed significantly through the 30+ years I’ve lived here. The changes that have occurred have taken place without a thorough planning process, but they generally have been positive for the neighborhood. The efforts of small groups of concerned and committed individuals have paid off, resulting in changes such as the historic code revision. The code revision group spent much time and effort writing a thoughtful and sensitive document that has guided development on a case-by-case basis. The Soulard Housing Corporation made up of neighborhood residents, initiated a plan for the renovation and infill of the 800 block of Allen many years ago when that block was the eyesore of the neighborhood. Their vision is reality today, and their efforts continue. Each group has established a goal and worked to achieve it. All these have made Soulard the neighborhood that it is today.
A much larger planning process is in the works. In 2005 the City of St. Louis Planning Commission adopted the Strategic Land Use Plan for the entire city. This was the first time since 1947 that the city had taken a look at the uses of property, the areas where opportunities were available for redevelopment, those areas that should be preserved, and which areas should be commercial/retail or business/ industrial. You can check out this plan at stlcin.missouri.org/landuse. Of course Soulard was included in the plan.

Now it is time to take the next step and look at a comprehensive planning process focusing on the future of each neighborhood, including Soulard. Through this effort I hope that we can establish our goals for the future of our neighborhood and devise a plan of action to achieve those goals. We’ll also need to prioritize the goals and identify the resources needed to achieve them. We’ll need to look at zoning issues that exist in the neighborhood and address those. Parking is always an issue that must be addressed if there’s a need/desire for more retail. There are urban design issues in our neighborhood such as signage, public art, streetscaping, lighting, and many others I’m sure you’ll add.

The planning process will be led by the City of St. Louis’ Planning Department. Rollin Stanley, a Soulard resident, directs this department and has led many of these efforts throughout the city. He and his staff are gathering data that will be used to help make decisions during our sessions. The initial planning meeting will be Tuesday, September 26th. It will be held at St. Peter and Paul’s hall located at 816 Allen (the entrance is from the parking lot at 8th and Allen). The meeting will start at 6:30 PM so come and participate in planning the guidelines that will be followed in the next phase of our neighborhood’s development.

Soulard represents one of the 12 neighborhoods that is at least partially in the 7th Ward. While I am glad to see Ald. Young working with our city’s talented planning staff I wonder when we will see it spread to other areas. I know many in the downtown section of the 7th ward feel a bit ignored by their alderwoman.

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, September 26th at 6:30pm. I’ll be there after class to check it out.

– Steve