Metro Transit (St. Louis)
| Metro | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Locale | St. Louis City & St. Louis County, Missouri St. Clair County & Madison County, Illinois |
| Transit type | Light rail Bus Express Bus |
| Number of lines | 2 Light Rail lines |
| Number of stations | 37 Stations (all light rail) |
| Daily ridership | 147,945 Daily FY 2007 |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | 1949 |
| Number of vehicles | Light Rail: 31 Siemens SD-400s & 56 SD-460s Bus: 409 Busses, mostly Gilligs Paratransit: 123 Vans |
| Technical | |
| System length | 46 Miles 72 Kilometers |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The Bi-State Development Agency is the formal name of an interstate compact formed by Missouri and Illinois in 1949. Since February 2003 the agency is doing business as Metro.[1]
System
Metro owns and operates the St. Louis Metropolitan region's public transportation system, which includes MetroLink, the region's light rail system; MetroBus, the region's bus system; and Metro Call-A-Ride, the paratransit van system.
History
The agency was created in 1949 through a compact between Missouri and Illinois and ratified by the United States Congress. The agency continued to operate streetcars in St. Louis till May of 1966, the last streetcar to operate was the Hodiamont line. Buses continued to dominate Metro's fleet till a feasibility study in the late 80's suggested the construction of a Light rail line from Lambert St. Louis International Airport to 5th and Missouri in East St. Louis via an abandoned segment of railway; that included abandoned tunnels under downtown St. Louis and the then disused Eads Bridge lower deck railway. For more information, see the Metrolink part of this article.
Other Assets
In addition, Metro also owns or operates St. Louis Downtown Airport (formerly Parks) and the adjoining industrial business park, paddlewheel-style river excursion boats, the tram system leading to the top of the Gateway Arch, and the Arch's parking garage.
Metrolink
MetroLink is the light rail transit system in the Greater St. Louis area of Missouri and Illinois. The system currently consists of two lines connecting Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and Shrewsbury, MO with Scott Air Force Base near Shiloh, IL through downtown St. Louis. The system features 37 stations and carries an average of 67,684 people each weekday (FY 2007).[2]
A second line, the "Cross-County Extension," now known as the Shrewsbury/I-44 Line, opened to the public August 26, 2006. This 8 mile (13 km), 9-station line connects Washington University, Clayton, the popular Saint Louis Galleria shopping center and Shrewsbury to the system.[3]
Further extensions are under study, but no alignments have yet been chosen, engineered or funded.
MetroLink is operated by the Bi-State Development Agency, which since 2003 is doing business as Metro.[4]
History
Construction on the initial MetroLink alignment from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport to the 5th & Missouri station in East St. Louis began in 1990. The portion between North Hanley and 5th & Missouri stations opened in July 31, 1993, and the line was extended westward to Lambert Airport Main station in 1994.[5] At that time another station, East Riverfront, was opened in East St. Louis.[6] Four years later, in 1998, the Lambert Airport East station was added.[7] The capital cost to build the initial phase of MetroLink was $465 million. Of that amount, $348 million was supplied by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).[2]
MetroLink exceeded pre-opening ridership estimates, but the system has expanded slowly. Construction on proposed extensions has been delayed by the increasing scarcity of FTA funds. As time has passed, an ever-greater share of the costs has been borne by state and local governments. The most recent work has been entirely funded by local dollars.
Construction on the St. Clair County MetroLink extension from the 5th & Missouri station to the College station in Belleville began in 1998 and opened in May 2001. The extension added eight new stations and seven park-ride lots. The total project cost was $339.2 million, with the FTA and St. Clair County Transit District sharing the burden at 72% ($243.9 million) and 28% ($95.2 million), respectively. Local funding was provided by the St. Clair County Transit District as a result of a 1/2 cent sales tax passed in November 1993.[2]
In May 2003, a 3.5 mile (5.6 km) extension from Southwestern Illinois College to Shiloh-Scott station opened. This $75 million project was funded by a $60 million grant from the Illinois FIRST (Fund for Infrastructure, Roads, Schools, and Transit) Program and $15 million from the St. Clair County Transit District.[2]
The recent Cross-County Extension project was funded by a $430 million Metro bond issue. Metro cited repeated delays and cost overruns as its reasons for firing its general contractor in Summer 2004. The contractor, itself a coalition of four general contractors (Cross County Collaborative), in turn cited excessive change orders by Metro as the cause of the problems. After firing the general contractor, Metro functioned as its own general contractor on the project. Metro sued the Collaborative for $81 million for fraud & mismanagement. The Collaborative counter-sued for $17 million for work that Metrolink hadn't yet paid for. On December 1st, 2007, the jury voted in favor of the Cross County Collaborative, awarding them $2.56 million for work as yet unpaid for.
The rail portion of the extension opened to the public August 26, 2006, and a parking garage at the Brentwood I-64 station opened on June 12, 2007. The garage parks 1000 cars where riders can park for free.
Rolling stock
MetroLink operates a fleet of 87 light-rail vehicles composed of 31 SD-400 and 56 SD-460 vehicles. Each 90 foot long, single articulated vehicle has 4 high platform doors per side and has a capacity of 72 seated and 106 standing passengers. [8][9] The cars are powered by an electric motor which gets its electricity from an overhead wire with a 750 volt current.
Each car has an enclosed operator cab at each end. This allows the most flexible system for managing operations, but prevents travel between cars except at stations. Each car also has separate doors for station level and track level access. In normal operations the track level doors (equipped with stairs) are unused.
There are two train yards in the transit system for the storage and maintenance of light-rail vehicles: the primary yard is located between the Grand and Union Station stops just west of downtown St. Louis; the other yard is located between the JJK and Washington Park stops in Illinois.
List of stations
Further Plans
St. Clair County Extension Phase 3: Shiloh-Scott to Mid-America Airport
This 5.3 mile (8.5 km) extension to Mid-America Airport was originally part of the St. Clair County Extension Phase 2 project that extended MetroLink to Shiloh-Scott, but was separated into its own project by the Federal Transit Administration due to low ridership projections. Design work for this extension has been completed, but funding for construction has yet to be secured.[10]
Metro South: Shrewsbury to Butler Hill
This project would extend the current Shrewsbury branch further into South County and beyond I-255 to Butler Hill Rd. An environmental impact study was completed in 2004; however, selection of a locally preferred alternative was deferred due to the lack of local funding sources as well as many other factors.[11]
Daniel Boone: Clayton to Westport
A study perfomed in 2000 recommended a new MetroLink line from Clayton, Missouri to Westport Plaza in Maryland Heights, Missouri. The line would run North from the Clayton station along the old Rock Island Railroad right-of-way paralleling I-170, then turn West to follow existing TRRA trackage to Page where the line would then follow Page Avenue to Westport Plaza.[12] Metro officials have suggested that this line could be the next MetroLink extension to be built.[13]
Northside: Downtown to Goodfellow & I-70 to St. Louis Community College-Florissant Valley[14]
Southside: Downtown to Bayless to Butler Hill[15]
Madison County: East St. Louis to Alton or Edwardsville
A feasibility study was performed in 2005 to investigate the potential costs, ridership, and impacts of extending MetroLink into Madison County, Illinois. The recommended alignment options would extend MetroLink from the 5th & Missouri station in East St. Louis north to Madison, Illinois and potentially to Alton or Edwardsville 21-23 miles away. No further studies have been performed nor any sources of funding identified.[16] In 1997, voters in Madison County rejected a half-cent sales tax proposal to fund a MetroLink extension.[13]
References
- ^ "Bi-State Development Agency Adopts "Metro" As New Name" (PDF) (Press release). Metro. 2003-01-24. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
- ^ a b c d "Metro - Inside MetroLink". Metro. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^ "Metro Announces August 26 Grand Opening Date for Cross County MetroLink Extension" (PDF) (Press release). Metro. 7 August 2006. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
- ^ "Bi-State Development Agency Adopts "Metro" As New Name" (PDF) (Press release). Metro. 2003-01-24. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
- ^ Tipton, Virgil (1994-06-22). "Takeoff: MetroLink Opens Lambert Stop Saturday". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- ^ Goodrich, Robert (1994-04-27). "East St. Louis Starring in MetroLink". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- ^ "2nd MetroLink station opens at Lambert". St. Louis Business Journal. 1998-12-23. Retrieved 2008-08-07.
- ^ "Siemens AG - Projects - Rolling Stock". Siemens AG. Retrieved 2007-01-23.
- ^ "SD460 Light Rail Vehicle - St. Louis" (PDF). Siemens AG. Retrieved 2007-01-23.
- ^ Wolinsky, Julian (July 2002). "For St. Louis, a long-term strategy - St. Louis, MO's rail transit plan". Railway Age. Retrieved 2007-06-07.
- ^ "MetroLink Planning - Metro South". East-West Gateway. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
- ^ "MetroLink Planning - Daniel Boone". East-West Gateway. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
- ^ a b Hilligand, Terry (2008-07-29). "Commuters in St. Charles, Madison counties still waiting for the train". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved 2008-08-11.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "MetroLink Planning - Northside". East-West Gateway. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
- ^ "MetroLink Planning - Southside". East-West Gateway. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
- ^ "MetroLink Planning - Madison County". East-West Gateway. Retrieved 2008-08-08.
External links
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