MetroBus Guide For SLU Law Faculty, Staff, & Students
Very soon the Saint Louis University School of Law will move into a renovated building downtown, near the courts.
But this post isn’t about the alterations to the building, this post is meant to help faculty, staff & students understand how to use the MetroBus system.
The distance between the current law school on the main SLU campus and the new building is 2.3 miles via Lindell/Olive & Tucker. Driving time is 9 minutes end to end, but no parking is available at the ends, so walking time needs to be added.
Taking the #10 (Gravois Lindell) MetroBus is 16 minutes, per Google Maps, including walking time. Time on the bus is 11 minutes plus 5 for walking, so taking the bus is competitive with driving in this example.
Those going from the main campus can catch the #10 in one of two places: on Lindell east of Spring or Lindell east of Grand. You’ll exit the bus on just after it turns on 14th St., next to the Ford Building.
In the opposite direction you’ll walk two blocks west along Pine to the stop shown above. You can exit at Grand to Spring for the main campus.
Frequency is every 30 minutes, 40 minutes after 11pm. The #10 line is the bus I use most often, the 30 minute frequency isn’t a problem when you know the schedule. I personally don’t use the printed schedule, I just check the times on the Google Maps iPhone app (or online) as needed.
Here are some other things to remember:
- Make sure you look for your bus, if you are busy reading the bus driver may not realize you want to board and pass you.
- Transfers offer a good value. Say you board the bus at 10:30am and pay $3 ($2 fare + $1 transfer), you’ll get a transfer good until 1pm!
- Bus drivers can’t offer change, so having $1 bills is a good idea, a monthly pass is $72. Hopefully a new SLU administration will join the Metro campus programs like St. Louis Community College, Washington University, and University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL).
- Let others get off the bus before boarding, when you exit use the back door rather than the front door. This reduces delays.
- You’ll need to pull the cord to signal you want to stop at the next bus stop.
- Don’t be afraid to sit toward the back, the front seats must be given up for elderly & disabled passengers.
- Other MetroBus lines within 2 blocks of the law school include: 30, 41, 74, 94, 97, 99. Four blocks away at 14th & Market adds the 4 & 11.
Anyone else have any positive advice?
— Steve Patterson
1. A system map is much more useful than a list of routes. Ideally it should be posted at major bus stops and so on. http://www.metrostlouis.org/PlanYourTrip/SystemMap.aspx
2. I hope law students are smart enough to figure out things like “You’ll need to pull the cord to signal you want to stop at the next bus stop.”
Don’t underestimate the Midwest mentality of avoiding feather-ruffling. To new transit passengers, that first chain pull can be a tough step to take. I’ve seen it — people who timidly tug on it or go to do so, only to pull back and wait until someone else signals a stop.
He’ll, I remember having some hesitancy myself the first time I had to. 🙂
1. SLU should follow Wash U, UMSL and SWIC and join Metro’s UPass program and provide discounted transit passes to all their students: http://www.metrostlouis.org/FaresPasses/Studentsemesterpasses.aspx
2. Check out Metrolink, as well – it might offer better connections, depending on where on the main campus or the medical center one is starting from / trying to get to.
3. The Trip Finder on Metro’s main page is a good starting point: http://www.metrostlouis.org/Default.aspx
4. SLU may need to either work with Metro to tweak the #10 schedule or look at their own class schedules to minimize wait times – 30 minute frequency could very well mean waiting 25 minutes after class or arriving 30 minutes early.
5. SLU should invest in constructing and maintaining bus shelters at bus stops their students use.
1. slu should almost certainly get involved in the metro campus program.
2. any slu students know if there are slu-managed shuttles being planned?
3. “Don’t be afraid to sit toward the back, the front seats must be given up for elderly & disabled passengers.” whoa there, steve. there are only a few seats (1 pair? 2 pair?) that MUST be given up. i can think of at least 1 person whose entire life was famous for rejecting the notion that someone must sit at the front of the bus and someone else must sit at the back. although it may be courteous (and even “right”) to give up your non-reserved seat at the front, no one MUST sit at the back of the bus who doesn’t want to.
Steve, I too, often use the #10. what a bus, cwe, midtowe, downtown, soulard, bentow park/fox park, benton park west/tower grove east, bevo/towergrove south and more all served by this bus. wish it had better headways, and the central corridor portion will (hopefully) go the way of the dodo bird if we get that street car.
ps, phase 2 of streetcar GRAVOIS!!!!
The bus drivers are generally friendly and happy to help; ask if you’re not sure the bus goes where you need to go, or where you should get off.
Part of the drivers’ job is to make sure the ride is safe and comfortable. Most will quickly squelch any loud or rowdy passengers. Don’t be afraid to sit towards the front near the driver if you’re a bit nervous. (Only a few seats are specially reserved.) Most (all?) buses have cameras, and the drivers have multiple radios to call for help if needed.
Many, many people *choose* to take a bus; the idea that they are only for people so poor they have no car is a myth weirdly prevalent around St Louis. Don’t underestimate the reduction in stress that comes from not have to find a parking place or fight the traffic, nor the flexibility in planning when there is no meter to feed.