May 12, 2015Featured, Transportation, TravelComments Off on Thirty Hours on Megabus: St. Louis to Memphis to Little Rock to Dallas & Back
Two week ago I arrived in Dallas for a workshop & conference. I left St. Louis at 3:40pm Monday, arriving at 7:35am Tuesday morning. Amtrak? Drive? Greyhound? No, Megabus. I last wrote about Megabus in August, see My First Trip Via Megabus. At that time the official stop was just a spot on 14th between Spruce & Clark. Now Megabus uses one of Greyhound’s bays at the Gateway Transportation Center — a huge improvement.
Sign inside the Gateway Transportation Center
Departing & arriving inside a building with food & restrooms is so much nicer than just a spot next to the road. At just before 4pm in the afternoon it isn’t a big deal — assuming it isn’t raining. But in a couple of weeks we’ll be leaving just after midnight for a trip to Chicago. It’s the middle of the night when a building makes a difference — especially in a strange city.
Two hours each way were spent in Memphis at the META North End Transfer Center. The restroom was awful, but they had plenty of outlets for charging electronics.Very happy when we arrived in Dallas!
But when your conference stipend covers your hotel for four nights sometimes sacrifices must be made. My roundtrip was $32.50 — purchased about a month in advance. Airfare & Amtrak were both in the hundreds, renting a car would’ve been just as costly. Flying or driving wouldn’t have allowed me to have my power wheelchair, not a good option in this case.
May 10, 2015Featured, Sunday PollComments Off on Sunday Poll: Favorite Public Fountain in St. Louis?
Please vote in the poll, located in the right sidebar
Unlike Kansas City, St. Louis isn’t known for fountains. Still we have a nice collection of them and other water features (waterfalls, wading pools, etc). Today’s poll is about celebrating these!
The exact poll question today is: “What are your two (2) favorite public fountain/water features in the City of St. Louis? Pick two — one can be added”
Let me clarify a few things:
Public fountain means you don’t need to pass through an entrance gate or pay an admission. For example, this excludes fountains in the Missouri Botanical Garden, Saint Louis Zoo, etc.
By fountain/water feature I mean something manmade — the Mississippi River doesn’t count.
15 answers are provided, but you can add one additional that’s not listed when you vote.
Please vote for TWO in the right sidebar.
Tomorrow I’ll present the results, focusing on the top 1-3 fountains. The poll closes at 8pm tonight.
To reduce pedestrians being hit by light rail trains they’ve been making changes to conflict points, this is about the access to the Civic Center MetroLink Station from the Gateway Transportation Center, which opened in late 2008.
When the Gateway Transportation Center (Amtrak & Greyhound) opened in the Fall of 2008 the access to the adjacent Civic Center MetroLink Station was a straight shot. November 2010 photoIn May 2014 work was underwayView looking the opposite directionBy March 2015 the change was completeNow it isn’t a straight shot across the tracks.Everyone must go through a wide switchback
This change may also be related to the coming smart card technology, a reader is shown above. The question I have is will I have a problem passing through the Civic Center MetroLink to reach the Gateway Transportation Center?
Dog owners are already using the wedge of grass between 8th St & the MetroLink tracks, Busch stadium is on the right.The site isn’t flat — which might be a problem or an advantageWith Busch Stadium & MetroLink the visibility would be excellent
The grassy area and adjacent parking is divided into many separate parcels of land, some owned by the State of Missouri. Most would agree, because of the small size, this isn’t a desirable site for a new building. The location is convenient to those living in the nearby Cupples warehouses. The Cardinals might be able to help out with finding a permanent dog park at this location.
I’ve now had two instances where I used the Parkmobile smartphone app to pay for time parking on-street, both downtown. The first was on 10th Street between Olive & Locust, the second on 13th between Olive & Pine.Both were last month. The Parkmobile app had been on my phone since late 2014, I’d only set up my profile (car license plate & credit card) but never had a need to use it since I rarely drive our shared car.
1) 10th Street:
As soon as I hit “start parking” the countdown timer began.
After parking I had two choices: walk a car length in the opposite direction of my destination and use the pay station or try out the mobile app. The combination of a shorter walk and getting to use my phone rather than fumble with money or credit card made the decision a no brainer. I knew this convenience would cost me $0.35.
I manually typed in the zone number & space number indicated on the sign for my space, I opted for two hours (maximum) and used most of it by the time I returned.
2) 13th Street:
The second time we were returning home from lunch on South Grand, we decided to stop for dessert. My husband could’ve put change in the meter while I was getting out of the car, but I wanted to use the app again.
This spot had the meters we’re all pretty familiar with plus a new green sticker with the zone number and a QR code in the bottom rightThis time I selected “scan” rather than type the number. This is the menu that pops up. I selected the first but it wouldn’t read it so I canceled and entreated manually. No space numbers here since meters are individual. Note: this screen shot was made later that dayWe paid for an hour, I’d received a 15 minute warning from the app, I took this screen shot when we got bask to our car. As we had only used 1 hour of the 2 hour maximum the app gave us the option to extend the session — which costs the time plus another $0.35 fee.
While we had dessert I tweeted about the problem with the QR code. The Treasurer’s office tweeted back“The QR code allows you to download the app…not enter the space #” This, it turns out, was untrue — more later. Whomever was tweeting even suggested I watch Parkmobile’s video if I needed help — the video isn’t on Parkmobile’s mobile-friendly site anyway.
As it turns out I was using the app correctly — the person tweeting for the Treasurer’s office didn’t understand the use of the QR code within the app. Parkmobile clarified in two tweets:
First“Hi @urbanreviewstl, if you scan the QR code in our app it will populate the zone #.”
Second“@urbanreviewstl If you scan it through an independent QR scanner, it will take you to our website. Hope this helps!”
So when it wouldn’t load that first time it was either my AT&T service or their server. If this happens to you just manually enter the zone, I tested the QR code later and it worked in seconds.
Here’s the video the Treasurer’s Office office wanted me to watch, which clarifies the QR code can be used within the app — something they didn’t realize! Have they not watched it?
I really like this app, the fact the QR code does double duty is a nice bonus. I realize not everyone likes the idea of paying $0.35 every time they park on street. But if you have a smartphone I’d advise having the app set up in case you find yourself parking and not having any change for the meter — you don’t want to wait until that point to 1) download the app 2) add your vehicle 3) link to your credit card — just have it ready to use. Eventually every meter in the city will be marked for mobile payment.
The Parkmobile app works on the following mobile devices:
AARP Livibility Index
The Livability Index scores neighborhoods and communities across the U.S. for the services and amenities that impact your life the most
Built St. Louis
historic architecture of St. Louis, Missouri – mourning the losses, celebrating the survivors.
Geo St. Louis
a guide to geospatial data about the City of St. Louis
