ABOVE: Downtown Trolley at Broadway & Market with the Old Courthouse in background
The #99 MetroBus is also known as the “Downtown Trolley.” It’s not an actual trolley, just a standard short-length bus wrapped to vaguely resemble a trolley. From Metro’s website:
The #99 Downtown Trolley provides regular, all-day service throughout Downtown Saint Louis moving workers to jobs, visitors to cultural and sports venues, and everyone to the restaurants, retail, and service providers. The #99 Downtown Trolley route also recently expanded to serve downtown’s thriving residential developments, retail outlets, and cultural attractions along Washington Avenue. A reliable schedule, frequent trips, and quick connections to MetroLink and numerous MetroBus routes at the Civic Center Station make this route a practical option for traveling around Downtown Saint Louis.
The Downtown Trolley was introduced two years ago today and I’ve used it often in that time. Tourists use it as well to get from their hotel to different spots like City Museum and America’s Center. Conventional buses are intimidating to many but the cartoonish wrap, colorful signs for stops and simple route map put people at ease. The #99 Downtown Circulator bus that did a similar loop before the Downtown Trolley debuted didn’t have the same level of ridership.
Since many bus lines don’t go east of 14th Street many local transit riders have to take the #99 to reach their final destination. But when it began service it didn’t operate on Sundays, which presented challenges to locals and tourists in town on Sunday. Last month Sunday service was added.
For both I made my observations from each station and seeing a lack of connection in various directions. Last week I found myself 9/10ths of a mile from the Wellston station so I got to experience the problems area residents face in reaching that particular station. Before I get into the problems I want to explain why I was nearly a mile from that station.
Walkability expert Dan Burden was in St. Louis for a few days last week. Thursday morning a group met at the MET Center near the Wellston station and did a “walking audit” of problems we observed.
ABOVE: Looking west from the MET Center toward the Wellston MetroLink station. Parking is a barrier between the entrance and the station.ABOVE: Dan Burden of the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute, click image for more info
The next afternoon a group met at the University City Library on Delmar at Kingsland (map) to discuss safe routes to schools. I’d arrived by MetroBus (#97). After the presentation we walking north to the new Pershing school. Well, it was very hot so everyone else drove and I made my way the 8/10th of a mile to the school.
ABOVE: Dan Burden and the group start to form a human traffic circle at Bartmer Ave & Ferguson Ave, the SW corner of Pershing Elementary School. Click image for map.
It was over 100 degrees and when we finished here the sessions were over, we were all on our own. A bus route was close but the sidewalk to reach it was blocked by construction at the school. I decided to “walk” to the Wellston Station in my power chair. I’m not sure when I left University City and entered Wellston.
ABOVE: Habitat is building new houses on Bartmer Ave. This is looking east at Kingsland Ave, one block east of Pershing School. The police car is from University City.ABOVE: Looking east on Etzel Ave from 66th Street
The housing stock in Wellston appears older and not as nice even when new as the housing in nearby University City. Though modest, I didn’t feel unsafe in what many would consider a “bad area.” I encountered no one, probably because of the excessive heat. The sidewalks were all complete and passable until I got out of the residential area and into the industrial area near the station. Sixty-sixth street only had fragments of sidewalks, I ended up in the roadway.
The last part of my trip would take me through Robert L. Powell Park.
ABOVE: The last part of the journey would take me through Powell Park
I’d seen the park on map before and got up to it back in April to see the sign facing Metro’s largely empty parking lot.
The park was dedicated to Wellston Mayor Powell in 1993. In 1998 Mayor Powell resigned after being sentenced to a year in jail for using tax dollars to fund his reelection campaign and celebration party. Click image for more info.
The park is appropriately named because it’s a disgrace.
ABOVE: Powell Park is a giant square of grass with zero improvements.ABOVE: Over the last 19 years residents have worn a clear path across the open field…ur, parkABOVE: I went as far as I could but the grade dropped off. I had to go west to get to a point where I could get onto Metro’s parking lot.ABOVE: For 19 years people have been walking up/down this steep & dirty incline to reach transit.ABOVE: After the shortcut through the park the residents still have to walk through a parking lot. Pedestrians shouldn’t have to walk through a parking lot, they’re among the least appealing places to walk.
Once I reached the station I didn’t catch the train, instead I got on the #94 (Page) MetroBus since that’d drop me off only a block from my loft. It’s clear to me that in the last two decades nobody has done anything to make it easier for Wellston residents to get to transit. What can/should be done?
Replace sidewalks along 66th Street.
Pave path through Powell Park, plant shade trees along path and have a few benches and a water fountain. Will require a ramp to navigate the grade change.
Rename the park something besides a disgraced former mayor.
Develop the parking lot, provide a nice sidewalk to reach the light rail platforms and bus stops.
I’m sure many of you can list numerous reasons why my list can’t/shouldn’t happen. I’m not interested. I’m interested in thoughts on how the type of connection that should have been built 19 years ago can finally get done.
June 22, 1900 was an important day in St. Louis, a beginning to restoring order and mobility:
The first breakthrough came in the streetcar strike which had terrorized St. Louisans for almost eight weeks, when employees of the Suburban Road reached an amicable settlement with management. Violence during the long strike had been frequent. Dynamite placed on the tracks of several lines on June 17 had damaged cars, but not passengers. A citizens’ posse had had violent encounters with strikers, and several people head been killed in riots and shootings. Those bold enough to brave the union’s disfavor by riding the cars were jeered at and sometimes assaulted by angry crowds of union sympathizers, and several riders had had their clothes torn off when they alighted from the cars.
The union’s grievances were concerned with low pay and long hours. The seriousness of the strike, largest of of (sic) its kind to date in the nation, was attested by the arrival of Samuel Gompers, president of the American Federation of Labor, who tried uncussessfully (sic) to arbitrate with local authorities in mid-June. (Source: The book ‘St. Louis Day by Day’ by Frances Hurd Stadler)
ABOVE: The Roberts, Johnson & Rand Shoe Company was built at 15th & Washington after the strike in 1909
From Wikipedia:
The St. Louis Streetcar Strike of 1900 was a labor action, and resulting civil disruption, against the St. Louis Transit Company by a group of three thousand workers unionized by the Amalgamated Street Railway Employees of America.
Between May 7 and the end of the strike in September, 14 people had been killed, and 200 wounded. (Wikipedia)
From a 2010 Post-Dispatch article (recommended):
Employees of St. Louis Transit Co., controlling all but a few routes, voted at 2 a.m. May 8, 1900, to strike. The bosses vowed to operate the cars. Strikers and sympathizers quickly gathered along the routes leading downtown.
At 15th Street and Washington Avenue, women from the Garment Workers Union stood across the tracks. A large crowd at Sixth and Locust streets pelted streetcars with rocks and cut overhead power lines. (stltoday.com: A look back • Bloody street strike in 1900 rips open class divide)
In anticipation of a commenter asking “so what?’ let me state this post is a history lesson; there is no hidden agenda, no special meaning, etc. If you’re not satisfied please email me to request a refund.
On June 21, 2012, American Public Transportation Association (APTA), in partnership with The Sierra Club, The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and public transportation systems across the country will celebrate the 7th Annual National Dump the Pump Day.
In these tough economic times with high gas prices, everyone is looking for a way to save money. National Dump the Pump Day encourages people to ride public transportation (instead of driving) and save money.
Riding public transit is an economical way to save money, particularly when gas prices are high. The latest APTA Transit Savings Report shows that a two person household that downsizes to one car can save – on the average – about $10,000 a year.
It’s been over two months since I sold my car. While there have been a few times I missed the easy mobility the car offers I love the greater financial freedom I have now. We all make trade offs in life, I just decided more money in my pocket was more important to me than 24/7 mobility. I’m still mobile, just on Metro’s schedule.
Most likely you weren’t aware of Dump the Pump Day. Even if you were you’d cite a long list of reasons why transit won’t work for you, why you must have a car. Here are some of the reasons to use transit:
Quick Facts
In 2011, Americans took 10.4 billion trips on public transportation.
35 million times each weekday, people board public transportation.
Public transportation is a $55 billion industry that employs more than 400,000 people.
More than 7,300 organizations provide public transportation in the United States.
Public Transportation Helps People Save Money
Using public transportation is the quickest way to beat high gas prices.
According to APTA’s Transit Saving Report, a two-person household can save, on the average, more than $10,000 a year by downsizing to one car.
Public transportation provides an affordable, and for many, necessary, alternative to driving.
Public Transportation Provides Economic Opportunities
Every $1 billion invested in public transportation creates and supports 36,000 jobs.
Every $1 invested in public transportation generates approximately $4 in economic returns.
Every $10 million in capital investment in public transportation yields $30 million in increased business sales.
Every $10 million in operating investment yields $32 million in increased business sales.
Public Transportation Saves Fuel and Reduces Congestion
Public transportation has a proven record of reducing congestion.
The latest research shows that in 2010, U.S. public transportation use saved 796 million hours in travel time and 303 million gallons of fuel in 439 urban areas.
Without public transportation, congestion costs in 2010 would have risen by nearly $17 billion from $101 billion to $118 billion.
Public Transportation Reduces Gasoline Consumption
Public transportation use in the United States saves 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline annually.
Households near public transit drive an average of 4,400 fewer miles than households with no access to public transit.
Public Transportation Reduces Carbon Footprint
Public transportation use in the United States reduces our nation’s carbon emissions by 37 million metric tons annually. This is equivalent to the emissions resulting from the electricity generated for the use of 4.9 million households or every household in Washington, DC; New York City; Atlanta; Denver; and Los Angeles combined.
One person with a 20-mile round trip commute who switches from driving to public transit can reduce his or her daily carbon emissions by 20 pounds, or more than 4,800 pounds in a year.
A single commuter switching his or her commute to public transportation can reduce a household’s carbon emissions by 10 percent and up to 30 percent if he or she eliminates a second car.
Public Transportation Enhances Personal Opportunities
Public transportation provides personal mobility and freedom for people from every walk of life.
Access to public transportation gives people transportation options to commute to work, go to school, visit friends, or travel to a doctor’s office.
Public transportation provides access to job opportunities for millions of Americans.
83 percent of older Americans acknowledge public transit provides easy access to things they need in everyday life.
All the above reasons are valid, but it’s the cost savings that did it for me personally. I’m single but for many couples going from two cars to one gives them savings without giving up mobility.
A couple of weeks ago I laid out a suggested route for a modern streetcar route from downtown to the Loop (Feasibility Of A Streetcar From Downtown To The Loop). I suggested using Olive, Vandeventer and Delmar. I’ve got more on the subject.
Extension of Loop Trolley, Not A New Start:
Alex Ihnen posted on NextSTL that Olive/Lindell was the “only feasible route” (see: Olive/Lindell Streetcar or Bust: Why a New St. Louis Line Must Build On Success) and that an all Olive route wasn’t a good option. I’m not sure who suggested a route on Olive West of Vandeventer,but I agree with Ihnen that staying on Olive isn’t wise but I disagree that Lindell is the only possibility.
ABOVE: Passengers unboarding a modern streetcar in Portland OR
Ihnen admits with his Lindell route the “problem remaining is the potential to connect to the Loop Trolley.” That’s a deal breaker of a problem! This streetcar line needs to be sold to the Feds as an extension of the Loop Trolley, not a new stand-alone system. Maintenance and storage buildings are costly so getting the maximum use of the Loop facility, rather than building a second, makes financial sense and increases the odds of getting the Feds to improve funding.
The Loop Trolley will initially use restored vintage cars, which are cheap to buy, but very costly to operate. Fortunately, the Loop Trolley is being designed to handle modern streetcars as well. Replacing the vintage cars with modern cars would come as part of an expansion. This is inevitable because the operating costs of the Loop Trolley won’t be sustainable.
So while we might talk about a downtown streetcar heading out west, the reality is the Loop Trolley would be extended east to downtown, something I’ve advocated since the Loop Trolley has been discussed. The most feasible way to get a streetcar line in midtown and downtown is building upon the Loop Trolley, not starting over from scratch.
Given that reality let me describe the route from the Loop to downtown. Extend the line east on Delmar from DeBaliviere to Vandeventer, south to Olive, east on Olive to the Central Business District.
The one alteration I’ve been thinking about is due to the fact the Olive/Lindell intersection was recently redone is to use McPherson for a block. When south on Vandeventer instead of turning east on olive the line could continue south two blocks then head east on McPherson in front of the Moolah Theater. These are diagramed later in this post.
Line Placement:
Conventional wisdom says run the streetcars through existing areas where people are now. Well, yes and no. One lesson we can learn from the 10+ years of the Portland streetcar is you want to do both. The line needs to serve busy points but by taking an under-developed path between those points you’ll see it fill up over time provided you’ve also put the right zoning in place.
ABOVE: When connecting points with modern streetcars you need to run through active points (A, B) but you want to do so along a vacant corridor (red) rather than one that’s already developed (blue) if you hope to create new construction along the route. Land-use regulations must require density
If you’re at Euclid & Laclede you’ve got MetroLink a short walk to the south. Having a streetcar a short walk to the north at Euclid & Lindell would be great for the lucky few in between but the rest of the city should also benefit from such an investment in new infrastructure. Having the line run along Delmar on the north end of the Central West End it would serve residents on both sides of Delmar. It’d be a short walk from Left Bank Books at Euclid & McPherson to catch the streetcar at Delmar. Of course you can catch the #97 (Delmar) bus there now — every 30 minutes.
ABOVE: Blue was my original route idea, red is my variation, green is Lindell, purple is a north-south line on Vandeventer
North-South Line:
On many sites people have said a north-south route is needed. I fully agree, an eastbound line from the Loop to downtown will give points to make connections to a future north-south route(s). Again, using the one maintenance facility saves considerable money and makes future lines more sellable to the Feds.
It’s my opinion that Vandeventer would serve as an excellent north-south route with excellent development potential. A streetcar line on Vandeventer would take pressure off the #70 Grand bus route. A north-south route further east such as Jefferson would also be good and would personally benefit me more, but I think Vandeventer is a better first north-south line. No the north it could stop at Natural Bridge, a good future east-west streetcar route as well as the preferred route for a light rail line to north county. Heading south on Vandeventer the line could turn south on Kingshighway.
Modern Streetcar vs Bus:
Some of you fail to see the difference between a modern streetcar and a bus, other than the obvious track and wire. The modern streetcar used in cities like Portland & Seattle is not like a railcar where you add on cars as need (Wikipedia). These have three sections, a middle and matching ends — no adding on. They are 66 feet in length, 6 foot longer than an articulated bus and 26 feet longer than a typical bus. Seating capacity is only 30 but standing capacity is an additional 127, most passengers stand since they’re going a short distance. Our 40 foot buses have a seating capacity of about 40 and standing isn’t feasible because you’re either in the way or you’ll fall over due to the bumpy ride. An articulated bus has a capacity of roughly 60+. For comparison our MetroLink light rail vehicles are 90 feet long and “a capacity of 72 seated and 106 standing passengers.” (Wikipedia)
ABOVE: Interior of a modern streetcar in Portland OR
Boarding a bus each passenger gets on one at a time, after others have gotten off the bus. It’s a slow process. With the modern streetcar riders pay their fare at the fireboxes on-board the streetcar.
The inflexible rail and wire are very important. These permanent items give developers the confidence to invest in high density development. The high density development supplies riders for the streetcar. Bus lines are incredibly efficient means from getting from point A to point B but a bus line, no matter how frequent, can’t generate the same level of development along a route. To help justify the capital expense of a streetcar the goodwill of developers along the length of the route cannot be left to chance. Government, in exchange for the investment in the infrastructure, should demand the density of development necessary to make it worthwhile. This last part is what wasn’t done 20 years ago around our MetroLink light rail stations.
Property owners with several blocks of a streetcar will benefit financially from the new transit infrastructure as their property value increases. Measures also need to be taken to ensure low-income persons aren’t priced out of high transit areas. This could be a freeze on property taxes for existing low-income homeowners to rent control for some rental units. The goal would be to add more middle and higher income residents without displacing those on the lower end.
ABOVE: Streetcar stops are simple affairs either at the side of the road or in the middle of a wider roadway like Olive
Conclusion:
The bus is a fine mode for inner city public transit, it’s how I most often leave downtown. While it does it’s transit function well it doesn’t spur new development. The streetcar also does a great job at local transit but it’s strength is in development and creating new transit users. In making infrastructure decisions we cannot continue to put all our eggs into the CWE basket, we must spread it around.
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Built St. Louis
historic architecture of St. Louis, Missouri – mourning the losses, celebrating the survivors.
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a guide to geospatial data about the City of St. Louis
