St. Louis Does the Opposite of the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)

Last month I wrote about a new book, an excellent design guide, see Reading: Urban Street Stormwater Guide by the National Association of City Transportation Officials. I loved it so much I asked the publisher to send me the rest pf the hardcover guides: Transit Street, Urban Bikeway, and Global Street. All information in the printed guide books is available for free online.

There are some here trying to get the City of St. Louis to become a member city of the National Association of Transportation Officials (NATCO). Who you ask?

NACTO’s mission is to build cities as places for people, with safe, sustainable, accessible and equitable transportation choices that support a strong economy and vibrant quality of life.

We do this by:

• Communicating a bold vision for 21st century urban mobility and building strong leadership capacity among city transportation officials.
• Empowering a coalition of cities to lead the way on transportation policy at the local, state, and national levels.
• Raising the state of the practice for street design that prioritizes people walking, biking, and taking transit.

Here’s their intro video:

Since St. Louis, and the region by extension, does the opposite of what NACTO recommends, we could benefit greatly if the city joined — and followed their lead. But I doubt the traffic engineers in the Streets Dept and the like-minded engineers at the Board of Public Service are willing to change the way things have always been done.

Again, see various departments fighting NACTO’s recommendations. In the coming months I plan posts showing the NACTO way vs the St. Louis way.

— Steve Patterson

Readers Are Mostly Comfortable With Small Arch Tram Capsules

Tram rides to the top of the Gateway Arch began just over fifty years ago, on July 24, 1967. A few weeks later, 50 years ago. yesterday, a najor malfunction occurred:

An eight-car tram is in the north leg of the Gateway Arch descended about forty feet from the observation gallery and stopped, trapping thirty-six passengers in semi-darkness. From 6:40 to 8:15P.M. the passengers waited calmly to be freed. Arch personnel moved the train back up to the observation deck with a winch. and passengers climbed out, descending the fifty-foot spiral staircase to the elevator halfway down the arch. The train ran no more that evening, and others waiting for a ride were given refunds. 

An even more harrowing entrapment occurred a few years later when a party of four was left in a capsule after the last tram was thought to have been vacated. The door of their capsule did not open and the trash was “parked” for the night. Lights in the Arch were extinguished and the air vents were shut off. Their screams went unheard, so one of the passengers, using a knife to pry open the catch, succeeded in getting the doors open. He climbed out on a foot-wide beam and helped the others across to the stairs and safety.

I’ve been up in the Arch twice in my 27+ years in St. Louis — once pre-stroke and once post-stroke. Getting into and out of the capsule was a challenge post-stroke, but I can’t imagine having to walk down a spiral stair. Though I’ve done so on the Texas Eagle train.

Thankfully, as part of all the work being done at the Arch the Trams were given a major update, this should ensure years of reliable service.

The results from the recent non-scientific Sunday Poll:

Q: Agree or disagree: I’m uncomfortable while riding the Arch tram due to the small capsules.

• Strongly agree 5 [17.24%]
• Agree 1 [3.45%]
• Somewhat agree 5 [17.24%]
• Neither agree or disagree 3 [10.34%]
• Somewhat disagree 2 [6.9%]
• Disagree 8 [27.59%]
• Strongly disagree 4 [13.79%]
• Not Applicable/Unsure/No Answer 1 [3.45%]

More who voted are comfortable. I’ll go up a 3rd time once all the work, museum, etc are finished.

— Steve Patterson

The Civic Center MetroBus Transit Center Reopens Today…Smoke-Free!

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A look back at the original Civic Center MetroBus Center. The block North of Spruce had many trees.

The new design is substantially different, it has 3 times as many bus bays. First we have to get to it. For both the ribbon cutting (8/10) and open house (8/11) I arrived from the North on the West side of 14th Street (next to Peabody Opera/Scottrade Center). Both times I had to take a detour, hopefully this morning this is open.

At the ribbon cutting on Thursday Metro Transit Exec Dir Ray Friem was adamant Civic Center would open allowing smoking, like their other bus centers. I argued this was the perfect time to make Civic Center smoke-free. Metro staff told me their inconsistent policy of no-smoking on train platforms but smoking at bus shelters on their private property had been the subject of many internal debates over the years. Friem said Metro would go smoke0-free, he just didn’t know how or when.  I rallied others to talk to Friem. It worked.

Metro has announced Civic Center is opening smoke-free, other bus transit centers will go smoke0-free  next month. Finally I can change buses at a transit center without having my eyes water or throat close because of smokers around me.

Four bus routes are being split up:

• The #30 is being split into the #19 St. Louis Ave and #30 Arsenal
• The #32 M.L. King-Chouteau is being split into the #31 Chouteau and #32 M.L. King.
• The #40 Broadway route becomes the #20 S. Broadway and #40 N. Broadway  — yes, both are being routes through Civic Center.
• The #99 Downtown Trolley is having a West portion split off into the #96 Market Street Shuttle.

You can read all the changes here.

— Steve Patterson

Sunday Poll: Are You Uncomfortable In The Arch Tram?

I’d guess that most of you reading this post have been up in the Gateway Arch at least once. Today’s poll question is curious if you get uncomfortable doing so.

This poll will close at 8pm

— Steve Patterson

Reading: Places in Need: The Changing Geography of Poverty by Scott W. Allard

A new book, Places in Need: The Changing Geography of Poverty, by Scott W. Allard, takes a close look at poverty and where it is increasingly located  — the suburbs. AS Allard points out, poverty still exists in the city center.

Americans think of suburbs as prosperous areas that are relatively free from poverty and unemployment. Yet, today more poor people live in the suburbs than in cities themselves. In Places in Need, social policy expert Scott W. Allard tracks how the number of poor people living in suburbs has more than doubled over the last 25 years, with little attention from either academics or policymakers. Rising suburban poverty has not coincided with a decrease in urban poverty, meaning that solutions for reducing poverty must work in both cities and suburbs. Allard notes that because the suburban social safety net is less developed than the urban safety net, a better understanding of suburban communities is critical for understanding and alleviating poverty in metropolitan areas.

Using census data, administrative data from safety net programs, and interviews with nonprofit leaders in the Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. metropolitan areas, Allard shows that poor suburban households resemble their urban counterparts in terms of labor force participation, family structure, and educational attainment. In the last few decades, suburbs have seen increases in single-parent households, decreases in the number of college graduates, and higher unemployment rates. As a result, suburban demand for safety net assistance has increased. Concerning is evidence suburban social service providers—which serve clients spread out over large geographical areas, and often lack the political and philanthropic support that urban nonprofit organizations can command—do not have sufficient resources to meet the demand.

To strengthen local safety nets, Allard argues for expanding funding and eligibility to federal programs such as SNAP and the Earned Income Tax Credit, which have proven effective in urban and suburban communities alike. He also proposes to increase the capabilities of community-based service providers through a mix of new funding and capacity-building efforts.

Places in Need demonstrates why researchers, policymakers, and nonprofit leaders should focus more on the shared fate of poor urban and suburban communities. This account of suburban vulnerability amidst persistent urban poverty provides a valuable foundation for developing more effective antipoverty strategies. (Russell Sage Foundation Press)

Suburban poverty, as Allard demonstrates, isn’t limited to low-ibcxomw suburbs either. Middlew class and even affluent suburban areas have poverty.

The chapters in the book are:

Interesting data is available in the online technical index. Once just an inner-city problem, poverty is now wide-spread.

— Steve Patterson