Downtown Trolley Ignored By Metro, CVC, & Downtown Community Improvement District

In July 2010 the #99 downtown circulator became the #99 downtown trolley, a bus wrapped in a cartoonish look.

“We are pleased to introduce this new trolley service, which will not only benefit downtown residents and workers, but also the millions of visitors St. Louis welcomes annually,” said Kitty Ratcliffe, president of the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission (CVC). “Just in time for the Fourth of July holiday weekend, this new service will enable tourists to experience more of the world-class attractions, sports venues, culture, retail and dining that St. Louis offers.” (Partnership)

Many laughed three years ago, but based on observations during my use, I’d say it has been a resounding success. I regularly see other downtown residents, workers, & tourists on the trolley bus. It does the job Metro, The Downtown Community Improvement District, and the Convention & Visitors Commission intended.

Unfortunately, it is all too often ignored by these three entities. I’ve got two examples:

First, I overheard a Metro employee helping tourists who wanted to go from the Crowne Plaza hotel to Sweetie Pies’ Upper Crust the next day.  The Crowne Plaza is located downtown at 200 N 4th St (@ Pine St) and Sweetie Pies’ Upper Crust at 3643 Delmar in Midtown/Grand Center.

The Metro employee suggested walking to the Convention Center MetroLink station to catch the train to Civic Center MetroLink station to catch the #97 (Delmar) MetroBus to Sweetie Pies. Really?

I’d have suggested catching the #99 trolley across Pine St, taking it to the City Museum stop on 16th between Delmar & Washington Ave, walking half a block to 16th & Washington Ave to catch the #97 to Sweetie Pies. Google Maps agrees, though it would make the transfer at 14th & Washington.

The order of suggested routes does vary based on departure or arrival times. The MetroLink option it suggests is to go to Grand and take the #70 bus north to Delmar. This may have been what the Metro employee told them to do, but I’m pretty sure I heard her suggest the Civic Center. The point is people get needlessly directed to MetroLink, having them walk more or go way out of their way.  I’d never want a tourist to try to find the #97 bus after leaving the train, it is confusing to me and I know the area well.

The other example is one of omission.

Yes, the pedestrian directories to help tourists navigate downtown doesn’t the trolley route & stops. It’s as if the trolley doesn’t exist at all.

Trolley info doesn’t appear on the downtown directories! Such a huge omission, but not surprising given the anti-bus attitude of so many. The trolley route could easily be shown on the directories.

The directory listings are just printed, easily updated. I’ll be notifying all three entities (Metro, Downtown CID, CVC) about the omission. We’ll see how long it takes to get them updated.

— Steve Patterson

Readers Apathetic About Bridgeton Landfill Issues

The poll last week was a bust, only 34 people voted, about a third of the usual number of responses. I attribute this to a combination of the poll itself (poorly phrased?) and apathy about an issue miles from the municipal limits of the City of St. Louis.

Here are the results:

Q: Thoughts on government (EPA/MO-DNR) regulation/oversight at the Bridgeton & Westlake landfills?

1. Government should’ve done substantially more 18 [52.94%]
2. Government should’ve done a little more 7 [20.59%]
3. Government reaction has been just right 7 [20.59%]
4. Government should’ve done a little less 1 [2.94%]
5. Government should’ve done substantially less 1 [2.94%]
6. Unsure/No Answer 0 [0%]

For what it’s worth, more than half thought government should’ve done substantially more. I agree, but I also think we can all do substantially more to reduce what we send to landfills.

My boyfriend and I recycle everything we can, but also to reduce the items sent to landfills & recycling:

• Buy some items in larger sizes to reduce packaging waste from multiple smaller packages
• Make cleaning products with Borax and Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, such as liquid laundry detergent & dishwasher powder. Saves lots of packaging, as well as money.
• For 3 months now we’ve been vermicomposting in a Rubbermaid container in our loft. Yes, red wiggler worms eat our kitchen scraps!

Here are some other green things we do:

• Use connected LED bulbs in our 3 most used lights
• Use the Nest thermostat to control our HVAC system
• Line dry our clothing indoors
• Use reusable shopping bags
• Try to buy more fresh fruits & veggies rather than packaged processed “food”
• Make our own yogurt, hummus, and other items.

The two landfills with issues mentioned in my original post have been closed for years now, but everyone should be concerned about the mountains of trash we create.

— Steve Patterson

St. Louis Galleria To Improve Pedestrian Access, Adding ADA Access Routes From Public Transit Stops

I’m very pleased to announce The Galleria Saint Louis & General Growth Properties, Inc. (GGP) will make substantial site modifications to better accommodate pedestrian visitors to the mall.

Thankfully GGP was very cooperative from day one, they willingly recognized the access issues I raised and quickly agreed to address them.  For the last 18+ months we’ve been working together on a mutually agreeable resolution. GGP and I share a desire to increase accessibility for persons with disabilities.

For those pedestrians arriving at The Galleria via the Richmond Heights MetroLink light rail station, a new pedestrian access route will be completed.

Additional pedestrian access routes will be constructed as well.

Again, I’m very pleased to be able to make this announcement.

— Steve Patterson

Labor Needs To Be Paid A Living Wage

My first job was assisting my father, a carpenter, on construction sites in the summer, starting around age 8 (1975). One summer I decided to assist a rock layer to earn more money but that was grueling labor. My first job, other than for my father or other trades, was working for the local Arby’s fast food chain at age 16 (1983). I lasted 4 days before I knew I wasn’t cut out for fast food work. I worked for my next employer, Toys “R” Us, for 5 years. When I left Toys “R” Us in 1988 the minimum wage in Oklahoma was $3.35/hour (source), but I was making $5.90/hour as a part-time head cashier. Many of my co-workers were also in school (high school or college) or had other full-time work, but for some it was their only job. They were young and not supporting a family though. Today face of the minimum wage worker is radically different from when I started at mimim wage 30 years ago. They’re older, more educated:

Government statistics and studies suggest that the common picture of the fast food worker is inaccurate. Not only are relatively few of them teenagers looking for some pocket money while attending school, but the number of adults working in low-paying part-time jobs against their wishes is rapidly growing. [snip] Meanwhile, these jobs are no longer introductions to the world of work. The age of the average worker is 28, with 70 percent 20 years old or older, according to statistics compiled by AOL Jobs. One out of four has at least one child. A third has at least some college education. And, according to the National Employment Law Project, there is “limited occupational mobility,” so the positions don’t lead to higher paying positions let alone opportunities to own franchises. (CBS News)

These adult workers “Can’t survive on $7.35.” They’re employed, working full time, yet not surviving.

You may dismiss their situation, thinking they should’ve gotten more education to land a better paying job. Again, these workers aren’t high school dropouts, nationally a third have some college education. Suppose they all found better jobs, most fast food establishments & retail stores would have to close because they’d have no employees. Even now far suburban places must pay more to lure workers to commute to the newly created jobs. The closer jobs often being created by developers seeking tax-increment financing (TIF) likely pay just minimum wage with no benefits. The other thing you might be thinking these people have made poor decisions in life, so they must deal with the consequences.

However, life is never that simple:

In a series of experiments run by researchers at Princeton, Harvard, and the University of Warwick, low-income people who were primed to think about financial problems performed poorly on a series of cognition tests, saddled with a mental load that was the equivalent of losing an entire night’s sleep. Put another way, the condition of poverty imposed a mental burden akin to losing 13 IQ points, or comparable to the cognitive difference that’s been observed between chronic alcoholics and normal adults. The finding further undercuts the theory that poor people, through inherent weakness, are responsible for their own poverty – or that they ought to be able to lift themselves out of it with enough effort. This research suggests that the reality of poverty actually makes it harder to execute fundamental life skills. Being poor means, as the authors write, “coping with not just a shortfall of money, but also with a concurrent shortfall of cognitive resources.” (How Poverty Taxes the Brain)

Poverty adds a burden that makes it difficult to make good decisions to escape poverty. Additionally,

Fast food is a billion dollar per year industry in St. Louis, and we believe that no one who works for a living in such a profitable business should be forced to rely on public assistance to provide for their family. One-quarter of St. Louis’s workforce works in the service economy, and in fast food the average annual salary is less than $19,000. When workers are paid a living wage, not only will it strengthen the economy but it will also reduce crime in our neighborhoods. (source)

Living wage?

The living wage shown is the hourly rate that an individual must earn to support their family, if they are the sole provider and are working full-time (2080 hours per year). The state minimum wage is the same for all individuals, regardless of how many dependents they may have. The poverty rate is typically quoted as gross annual income. We have converted it to an hourly wage for the sake of comparison. Wages that are less than the living wage are shown in red.

The minimum wage isn’t enough for an adult to support themselves. With such a huge part of our region, largely in the city, making minimum wage it is easy to see the region will not be able to prosper. Sure, there are business owners getting very wealthy off the backs of many.

A few benefit while the region is held back.

— Steve Patterson

Poll: How should St. Louis County invest Prop A funds to expand public transit infrastructure?

In April 2010 voters in St. Louis County approved a transit sales tax, Prop A:

The sales tax is expected to generate about $75 million a year in St. Louis County, which will be used to restore lost service and expand MetroLink and bus rapid transit. Metro officials said passage of the measure also would trigger collection of a transit sales tax that voters in the city of St. Louis approved in 1997. (stltoday.com)

I’m not sure how much St. Louis County is putting toward operations versus holding back for future transit infrastructure. Regardless of the exact amount, having a discussion about where & how to expand transit is beneficial.

Light rail? Bus Rapid Transit? More regular bus routes?

The poll is in the right sidebar.

— Steve Patterson