For those of you that don’t know, the 2007 National Urban League Conference is being held in St. Louis this week, attendees began arriving yesterday. It was great to see so much activity near the convention center.
Above, St. Louis Urban League President & CEO James Buford talks with members as they wait for the crossing signal.
The rest of this post is a direct message to our guests in our city, but the rest of you can read along as well.
Dear National Urban League conference attendees:
On behalf of regular citizens of the City of St. Louis and the St. Louis region, welcome! We hope that you enjoy your stay in our city. To make your stay and the conference safe & enjoyable I need to offer a word of advice — watch out for the taxis on the sidewalk in front of our convention center.
I noticed yesterday, as many of you were coming and going between the center and the convention hotel, you were unaware that what looks like it should be the public sidewalk parallel to our Washington Ave is really a taxi stand. Some of you found this out as a taxi would honk at you as you tried to leave. So yes, getting from the convention hotel to the convention center requires crossing four lanes of traffic, then a taxi stand and then the drop-off/pick-up lane. At least crossing the street you get a traffic light and a pedestrian signal but without warning a taxi might be heading toward you just when you think you’ve made it to a sidewalk.
Now, I don’t want you to get the wrong impression, this taxi stand is not some subtle racial discrimination trick aimed at your convention. We genuinely want you here — and your money. No, taxis coming and going on a public sidewalk in one of the most heavily pedestrian areas in our downtown is business as usual in St. Louis. I was able to unearth an interesting policy:
The St. Louis Taxi Cab Commission prohibits taxi drivers, when driving on public sidewalks and nudging pedestrians, from discriminating between pedestrians on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic characteristics), ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or status as a covered veteran.
Basically, the drivers cannot aim for someone of a certain race, gender or so on — every pedestrian on what should be our sidewalk is fair game (for anyone reading that is satirically challenged the above ‘policy’ is pure fiction — the drivers are free to discriminate in who they hit). So again, I simply ask that you use as much or more caution going from the curb to the door of the convention center as you do crossing the street.
Should you be so unfortunate as to get hit by one of our taxis I have some helpful information for you. If you witness someone getting hit, please use your cell phone camera to get information such as the taxi company (sometimes the color of the cab alone with help), the driver and all the usual things you’d record if a car was driving on a sidewalk in your city. Of course, make sure someone calls 911 to help the victim(s).
Let me share a few images with you to help navigate this area and to illustrate just how close many of you were yesterday.
Yesterday I noticed that most people were using the crosswalk nearest me as it is more direct to the convention hotel (note the van that crossed in the crosswalk space). In the background you see a group of women that crossed toward the convention center, just beyond them is the taxi stand for two taxis. As you can see, they are pointed westbound means you are crossing their taxi lane (formerly a sidewalk) when you get across Washington Ave.
Above, say you return to the convention area from using our MetroLink light rail system and you are walking back to your hotel along Washington Ave. As you approach the convention center you’ll see taxis, like the green one above, in the sidewalk space. Pedestrians are forced to either side of the taxis. Remember as you get along side or past them, watch for them to take off and they head westbound toward the exit.
Everyone walking westbound from the centerpoint remains fair game. This group above is walking not on a sidewalk but in the taxi exit lane right where it combines with the exit area from the drop-off zone. Don’t stop and marvel at the brick paving — this is no place for pedestrians!
Luckily here we can see the taxi drivers waiting for a fare which allows this group to safely cross what they probably think is a sidewalk area.
Above we see a brave volunteer for Barack Obama talking with one of your fellow conference attendees. In the background we see two women going around the taxis waiting on the former sidewalk area. I know this appears to be a safe place to stop and talk but it is not.
From the other direction we can see, above, how the taxis on the pedestrian sidewalk narrow this area considerably, forcing pedestrians to go around. If you are waiting on a bus at this bus stop, I strongly suggest you do as the woman is doing above and wait behind one of the bollards for protection.
Above, you can see how those using our bus system are placed right in the path of the taxis.
You will see locals and tourists having to do just like you will, walking around the taxis. This forces you to go from walking side by side to in line as the space narrows.
We can’t provide any benches for those waiting for the bus. If you are like the woman on the right, simply use a planter as a bench while waiting on your bus. The only trick is you need to keep looking past the taxis to see if your bus is coming so you can dart in front of the taxis to get out to the curb in time.
Standing up every so often will help to see if the bus is arriving. In the background, a group of young men foolishly walk on what they think is the sidewalk, walking directly in the exit route for the cabs.
Pedestrians coming from the east, from the west, waiting on the bus, two crossings over Washington Ave. Just remember, you are not really safe until you hide behind a bollard or dash into the convention center.
Oh, the bus has arrived so the woman that had been using a planter as a bench cuts in front of the sitting taxi to catch it. The older woman in the far left walks slowly with a cane, she remained leaning against the light standard for about 15 minutes while waiting for her bus.
Above we see two attendees of the conference walking on one side of a taxi while a young man who just exited the bus on the other.
And below is a short video showing the cabs navigating the space:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ij5CTxZ8I[/youtube]
Well, I think you get the point. I want you to enjoy your visit to our city but just because something looks like a sidewalk do not assume that is the case. A few years ago a nationally known pedestrian expert, visiting St. Louis, was tragically killed by a tour bus as the woman crossed the street returning to her hotel a few blocks away.
However, should you get hit by a taxi while visiting St. Louis I want to offer some helpful information for your attorney, just email them a link to this post.
Here is a shortlist of the people and entities to consider suing for damages due to negligence:
Your lawsuits against the city should be sent to Patricia A. Hageman in the City Counselor’s office. The Taxi Commission and the Convention & Visitors Commission are separate entities so they have their own counsel but I’m not sure who that is — I’m sure your attorney can find out easily enough.
As a sort of “convention special” to you, our guests, I’m making a limited time offer to waive any fees as an expert witness in any case arising out of getting hit by a taxi in front of our convention center. So if you are hit this weekend, I’ll gladly work with your attorney sharing my hundreds of photos that fully document how the area is dangerous, poorly designed and lacking proper warnings. Furthermore, I will share videos taken at the site as well as private emails to and from the above and others regarding this issue which helps illustrate they’ve been given notice as to the problem. You know, I am feeling generous, so I will forget any limitations — I will voluntarily be an expert witness to anyone hit by a taxi in front of St. Louis’ convention center regardless of who you are (local or visitor) or regardless of if it happens this weekend or anytime going forward.
If you, or your attorney, cares to read more about this situation check out my prior posts on the subject from January 12, 2007 and May 30, 2007. My full collection of photos on this subject, ranging from January through yesterday, can be viewed here.
I hope that those of you visiting our city will use extra caution when coming and going from the convention center this weekend. I’m sure the speeches from presidential candidates and the many other speakers will be uplifting but you will need to come down to earth when venturing back outside.
To this end activists across the country have organized the ‘Road to Freedom’ tour which will stop here in St. Louis this Saturday. From the tour website:
