“I can get on the 58 Bus and then on the Metro Link, so I’ll be okay,” said Audrey Jones, who was on her way home from work after exiting the soon-to-be-defunct 93 Lindell Bus.
“But the folks that are out past 270, they are going to be the ones with some serious problems.”
On Monday, March 30, Metro Bus and Metro Link riders will wake up to big changes. Fewer routes, less frequency, shorter distances, all but extinct late-night and early-morning service, and eliminated St. Louis County express buses will be the new reality for those who rely on St. Louis’ public transportation.
More than 40 percent of Metro Bus and more than 30 percent of Metro Link services will be cut.
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen,” said Yolanda Coach, as she waited in the rain Tuesday night for the 13 Union Bus.
“I ride the bus pretty often, but I don’t have a job to worry about getting back and forth to. I’m just worried about the people that do have a job, because what are they going to do?”
As commuters waited, they talked about the upcoming changes with as much detail as an operator on the destination assistance hotline – discussing alternative routes as well as the new names and destinations of bus lines once they go into effect.
Joe Harris, the young man standing next to her en route to his job at the Schnuck’s on Union and Natural Bridge, could predict how the changes will affect him.
“It’s going to mean more money out of my pocket because I will have to catch a cab,” Harris said.
“I could catch the Natural Bridge Bus, but it is out of my way. I’m going to get to work regardless, but my department closes at 8 and the bus stops at 6:30 so I’m affected either way.”
Harris is indeed affected, but because he’s headed towards the city he’s relatively fortunate.
“There are a lot of people who can’t get to work because of the bus changes,” said Deborah James.
“The ones that live in the city and have to work out in the county are really in trouble – they cut a lot of the routes and all of the express routes.”
Crisis coming
“Some people think that this problem is a recent development, but the truth is it has been a decade coming and we have been fighting it off as best we could but now its here,” said Dianne Williams, director of communications for Metro.
“Nobody was listening before it became a crisis, but that’s just how the world is. Now what we’re faced with is a community that needs more and is going to see less.”
Williams says that even though the scale of the changes to service was a surprise to many, it started 20 years ago. It was back in the late 1980s that federal funds stopped being allocated to public transportation, but metropolitan areas were given 10 years to replace missing federal funds. Failed tax measures in 1997 and in 2008 could have prevented the cuts by adding a stream of revenue to Metro, but it didn’t happen.
“Chesterfield Valley has grown and the Mills was created, so bus services have been stretching with no new money,” Williams said.
“We’ve been making cuts that the customer didn’t see, like staffing, etc. But next fiscal year there is just too big of a gap to fix with just internal cuts.”
So in order to eliminate the $50 million necessary to balance Metro’s budget, this time they had to eliminate from the outside in.
“We are within a quarter-mile of 97 percent of the places you can work – you can get there by bus or train,” Williams said. “But when the cut goes into effect, we will be reaching 74 percent. That’s a large majority but it is still not the transit that this region needs.”
Of the 54 million boardings that took place on Metro this past year, 9 million will not happen because of displaced patrons. There will be no bus service beyond I-270 in South and West County, and North County residents past I-270 will have reduced bus service.
Special unmet needs
But the individuals who will undoubtedly be most heavily impacted by the changes will be the special needs community.
“For people with disabilities, this is going to be awful,” Williams said. “They can’t drive.”
While riding on one of the routes that will be axed, Williams talked with a passenger who was visually impaired and bought her house based on its access to Metro Bus. The route, which was the determining factor in purchasing her home, is now going away.
The determination of what routes would stay and which would go was based on ridership, amount of subsidy required and the number of transit dependent commuters.
“This is why North County is going to see more service than South and West County,” Williams said.
“And we had to look at the amount of taxpayer subsidy required. For the 70 Grand, it’s less than $1 a ride but something like the Bissell Hill Express is about $15 a ride.”
But even on popular bus routes like the 70 Grand and Metro Link service, there will be reduced frequency.
Williams cited ridefinders, carpool and vanpool services and the Transportation Management Association management as possible transportation alternatives.
Metro remains optimistic. Even though the agency was rejected for stimulus funding, Williams said they are hoping for capital support from the government. With the federal government’s blessing, Metro is holding onto the more than 100 parked buses for a year.
For a full listing of the upcoming changes to the Metro Bus and Metro Link service, visit www.metrostlouis.org or call (314) 231-2345.
For more information about ridefinders, call (800) VIP-Ride and (314) 652- 2600 for assistance available through the Transportation Management Agency.