Transit activists are denied same access
To the Editor:
A large part of the reason St. Louis has the problems it has with public transit is the public refuses to listen to the people who actually know transit. They keep listening to people who tell only half truths. No one ever actually looks into what these people say.
Cases in point: Bill Bandle for years sent letters to the editor to any publication that would print them insisting that light rail was a failure in St. Louis. He claimed that according to the 1987 Environmental Impact Statement, Metrolink was supposed to carry 74,254 daily fares. There were two things incorrect about this statement. First, the number was not a ridership figure. It was actually a station utilization figure. It was in reality twice the actual ridership that Metro was expecting. It was based on the fact that you had to get on and off the train at two different stations. Second of all, the numbers on the EIS were not exepected to be reached until the year 2000. They had already been passed by 1995.
On three separate occassions I responded to Bandle’s misstatement of fact. The final time Bandle made this statement, I responded by just short of calling him a liar. Afterwards, he responded by claiming that it was a matter of “inturpreting the data.” It was not. It was the fact that Bandle could not make a legitimate case against Metrolink. Suffice to say, Bandle pretty much stopped writing about Metrolink after that or the papers caught on that he was intentionally misstating the truth. I have seen very little from Bandle on Metrolink in quite some time.
Then there is Thomas Sullivan. Thomas Sullivan has gone on a one man crusade to trash Metro and particularly Metrolink. He claims to represent the Public Transit Accountability Project. This is an organization dedicated to controling transit spending and advocating on behalf of bus riders. Yet, his most recent actions have resulted in the loss of almost all bus service west of I-270 (go figure). You never hear from anyone else from the organization outside of Sullivan. I have often concluded that his Public Transit Accountability Project consist of him and his house pets. I often wish he would turn his pen over to his parakeet because I bet his parakeet could write a better editorial than Sullivan.
Sullivan is Bill Bandle on steroids. He has repeatedly taken actual data he has obtained from Metro and misrepresented it in the press. On one occasion, he claimed that the most recent Prop M was unnecessary because Metro had $80,000,000 in reserve and therefore the tax was unecessary. What he does not say is that this money was actually budgeted to retire debt and financial obligations. He seems to believe that the only passengers that St. Louis County should pay for are the ones that board and exit on the Missouri side of the Mississippi River. He is constatntly parsing ridership figures trying to insist that a person who transfers from a bus to a train “does not count” nor that people going sporting events “don’t count” either. This is in spite of the fact that regardless of where they are going, everyone pays the same fare. The only people who pay more are those who bought tickets at the airport.
The problem is people like Sullivan are allowed to have access to the press while the legitimate transit advocates are denied. As a result, Sullivan was able to convince 15,000 people more to vote NO over those who voted yes. That was enough to wreck St. Louis’ transit system.
Bill Heger
Rock Hill
So, Metro’s problem is Sullivan’s fault? ARe you kidding? Most people don’t even know who Sullivan is. I assure you Metro is responsible for their own demise. Metro management is a joke and this one time that the people voted correctly. It would be great if Metro had good management and more importantly put metro where it needs to be.
I always wondered why Metro is not going north and south on Hiway 270 where the real traffic is. I know of countless numbers of people who have to fight that mess every day that would gladly take Metro but for some reason that just didnt happen. Let’s face it, there are less and less people working downtown. St. Louis City has scared so many businesses out of the city with high taxes and lets not forget the 1% earnings tax that they say they cant do without. Well you bunch of clowns, how many businesses have to move out of the city before you finally figure this out.
So, with all the great planning by the political leaders and lets not forget that great management of Metro.
So Bill, lets put credit where credit is due. Tom who?
I don’t get why people that want the transit don’t simply pay more to use it and stay out of my pocket.
Yeah Egoist and why don’t people driving cars pay for the road system and stay out my pocket, get real. Not only do automobile taxes come no where near the cost of maintaining and building highways and roads, there is also the numerous hidden costs to society such as ambulances from accidents, hospital care, congestion, police time, free parking on massive amounts of land that have value and monitoring various violations and so on are never considered. Yeah get the damn automobile out of our pocket, it is ruining America. If you think you pay the costs for running your automobile in society you are a fool.
Let’s face it METRO will never be in the same league as Chicago, San Francisco, Atlanta, Washington, DC when it comes to mass transit. These cities all had well thought out plans and saw the big picture. The routes laid out by METRO seem to be determined by where they can place tracks, rather than potential usage. Metro is not much more than a Disneyland-like ride, that’s why it has poor ridership.
superdave,
he is not saying all this is sullivan’s or bandle’s fault, he’s saying that there is never a chance given to tell the whole story. you are proving his point. you are taking things that he said and making them your own. this is about how people get information, and it seems to be a one sided debate. and yes, most people don’t know who sullivan is, maybe that is part of the problem as well, there is just way too much apathy for this agency.
Going back to horse and buggy should solve all of our problems…..
Bill, the problem is Salci’s arrogance, Metro’s mis-managment, and the Board’s inytansigence. I’m an advocate of mass transit but voted against Prop M because all I saw was the certainty of more of the same. Get rid of the Board, get a personality, get more money.
I agree with Bill - transit advocates are not being listened to in St Louis. I am a CWE resident who rides Metro every day - several different buses as well as the train in the course of a week - so I know that our Metro system WORKS. It is reliable, effective, and provides a pleasant travel experience - also cheaper and kinder to the environment than driving a car. Of course it will work less well for thousands of people who can’t get to their jobs after March 30.
Metro has many hard-working people who do their best to serve the public with few resources. They don’t deserve scape-goating by irresponsible media and citizens bearing grudges. The state of Missouri spends almost nothing on public transit compared to the states with lively cities such as Chicago. Public transit doesn’t pay for itself through the farebox anymore than public libraries are paid for with book fines. Nor are public schools expected to make a profit. But these things are part of the PUBLIC good, and help ensure equality of opportunity.
More than the region’s transit system is wrecked by a NO vote. I am in mourning for a City that will not be attractive to new business and young people looking for opportunities in vibrant urban areas. I regret having spent so many years in a state where “transportation” means highways, thus perpetuating sprawl, pollution, dependence on oil, and squandering of revenue.