Metro CEO presses case in Missouri House for $35 million
Baer
JEFFERSON CITY – Calling the cuts to St. Louis public transportation a “crisis,” Metro transit CEO Bob Baer pleaded his case to a Missouri House committee Wednesday for $35 million in emergency funding.
For the past month, Baer has been quietly working the halls of the Capitol, trying to drum up support for a proposal that the Legislature dedicate $35 million in federal stimulus money to balance Metro’s books and reverse the massive cuts in service that went into effect last month.
Now he and other public transportation advocates are putting on the full-court press. On Tuesday, Baer appeared along with Bob Kohler, the director of transportation for Kansas City’s mass transit system, and asked the House to consider emergency funding for both cities.
“This is a crisis,” Baer said. “There are people who can’t get to work. Any number of people are going to lose their jobs because of our cuts in service.”
Metro faces an operating deficit of about $45 million this year, and on March 30 started implementing cuts that will reduce its service area by about a third and staff by about 25 percent.
Baer is banking on the fact that the Republicans who control the Legislature have been talking about using stimulus funds for one-time uses that save or produce jobs.
“The connection between the economy, tourism and transit is inextricably linked,” Baer said.
While the St. Louis public transportation system is asking for $35 million for one year, Kohler is requesting $14 million for the Kansas City mass transit system. He said the funding would stem cuts for two years.
Baer said his hope is that St. Louis County will put a sales tax measure on the ballot next April similar to the one that failed earlier this year. He told House members he believed that with a better campaign the measure would pass this time.
“I believe that if it were on the ballot yesterday, it would pass,” Baer said. “People now understand that we were serious about the cuts.”
Rep. Charlie Schlottach, R-Owensville, told Baer that getting the Legislature behind the funding request would be an uphill battle. Schlottach is the chairman of the committee that heard from Baer on Wednesday.
“It won’t be an easy task,” he said.
Baer and Kohler said the two largest Missouri cities are supportive of each others’ requests for emergency funding.
Kansas City’s transit system first made its request in a letter to House budget chairman Allen Icet, R-Wildwood, last week.
Baer provided the House with letters supporting the $35 million request from Civic Progress, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Regional Chamber and Growth Association and other business and government officials.
How come when the issue was on the ballot the shortfall was only $8 million and now they want $35 million? What other business operates on revenue of 20-25% for their goods/services and gets a subsidy for the rest of the other 70-75%? If Metro didn’t go into the black when Hwy 40/64 shut down, it never will. And let’s not forget that when the issue was on the ballot, gas was $4/gallon with their forecasted shortfall. Now it is down to $2/gallon and that should be easing their operating costs. When gas hit $3/gallon, fares should have gone up say 25 cents, and then again when gas was $4/gallon. Would it not be better to increase the fares and keep the busses running than to charge a ridiculously low fare and have no service? Also, inefficient routes should have been continually being cut, or off peak service reduced, instead of this all or nothing situation we have today.
Also, isn’t it discriminatory to cut all service outside of Hwy 270 loop? Aren’t municipalities collecting taxes that now have no service?
This agency deserves no new capital, that’s why the ballot issue didn’t pass. They wanted capital money without disclosing any plan. And they tried to push the capital through with the operational shortfall. And let’s not forget they supposedly ARE getting money for capital expenditures from TARP according to the previous news articles. Doesn’t this ease their overall budget as well?
Why doesn’t Metro work? 1,) For one, hardly any park and ride lots for commuters. They are not developing new ridership. 2.)When Hwy 40/64 first closed, there was an 11th hour attempt to set up a park and ride at Queeny and then was moved to Chesterfield Mall at the extreme last minute with little advertising/publicity. This could have been huge, but they didn’t market it and make the public aware. And who goes by Queeny on the way to work on Hwy 40? It is not close to the off ramp and by the time you’re there you are half way to downtown. Plus, it’s kind of deserted during the day, and what services are there for commuters? 3.) Metro doesn’t really have a great distribution/transfer system. It really appears to be hap-hazard. Why didn’t Metrolink get extended to a logical location like the Ballas transfer station? Why wasn’t the future ground work laid during the Hwy 40 construction when easements were being bought, houses demolished etc.? What a perfect opportunity to run it out to the Ballas Transfer station. 4.) Who is riding Metrolink to go to a job in Shrewsbury? What businesses/retail is there that people would travel to that location in the morning? 5.) Two and a half years ago I stopped at the Ballas Transfer station to buy a bus ticket. Guess what, no ticket agents, no operating kiosk, no nothing! Oh there are ticket windows inside but they looked like they were being used for storage. No signs of any people ever staffing there. No one to ask about transfers, route info, etc. I couldn’t believe I couldn’t buy a ticket at a transfer station. What a joke.
This havoc is exactly what Metro wants to get its way. I would rather see charitable foundations and people buy tickets and donate them to charity rather than to just give Metro a handout.
Also, let the riders be subsidized if they are need based, not the agency. Other cities do this.
Metro has NOT been a good steward of their resources. Wait a couple of weeks. The people needing to get to work will have found an alternative. People are resourceful.
Charge the occasional rider more, give the discounts to frequent riders through multi ticket packages or monthly passes. Tourists should pay full undiscounted fare cost. We do when we are visiting other cities, why don’t visitors here do the same? Some cities even make you show ID for resident rates. Other cities charge based on distance traveled (ie zones).
DO NOT GIVE METRO MORE SUBSIDIES! They have had their chance and blown it.
Hey, maybe the honeymoon with subsidized transportation needs to end…maybe it will go the way of inflated union pay and junky american cars. No more free rides. No more taxing of property owners so that non-taxpaying,non-property owners can get a free ride at others expense. If I could work at a meesly babysitting job enough to pay for a car, insurance, gas and repairs…at only age 15 1/2…..why can’t everyone else?? Take the Metro money and use it for low interest loans for vehicles to people that qualify for their need.
………….Google Earth the Metro Brentwood Garage (s. Brentwood & Marshall), I counted 104 cars on the Metro parking lot!
It would seem that Metro employees prefer private transportation too, they just want the public money.
Anyone notice that they want 35mm from the government, but when it came to taxing us, it was a 50mm deficit, now its only 45mm? So we’re supposed to give this idiot 35mm to waste it, and end up almost 100mm short? They screwed up the funding to begin with, and yet we all are supposed to pay. Raise the fares, should be pay on demand, popular routes would be cheaper, less popular routes would be more expesnive. The users should pay for metro, if 100 people ride a route a day, take the expense and charge the riders that fare, more people ride the fare goes down… Where did this management force go to school? They should be shut down as they don’t teach business!!
Metro should not get any further state subsidies until management is cleaned up. Only the top few got the boot after the failed law suit. What about all the others who reported to Salci?
Its stunning to think that anyone at Metro would believe they have a chance to get funding when they, and the St. Louis County government, have a well documented history of running a horrible operation. Where were Darin Cline and Charlie Dooley, the people who pretty much orchestrated the FAILED Prop M Campaign today? My guess is that they weren’t with Metro begging for money. County officials share the blame for Metro’s troubles. Why haven’t we heard from them lately?
In a related note, see the info on Metro putting its foot in its mouth in a new high-tech way http://markontheweb.blogspot.com
No futre for st Louis till the idiots move out/It’s own people are killing St. Louis Said:
“BTW please support the Air-China Hub, it might be the only hope the city has.”
Why so jobs can have direct flight out of the United States? Screw China! They’re communists! And screw you! You love them so much, why don’t you go live there and see how wonderful they are! Then you can use a hole as a toilet and live in a mud hut down by the polluted rivers.
Metro did blow 10’s of millions of our tax dollars on that lawsuit and they could have resolved the whole damn matter with money in their pocket. Instead, they let their egos get in the way and lost big time. Look, the light rail thing looks sexy and sometimes it runs with some full cars, but that is rare. Most of the cars I see are at about 10% of capacity. Same thing with buses. There is a lot of inefficiency in the entire system and no competition. It is a lot like the program that bused city kids to the county and spent nearly a billion dollars with very poor outcome. We are in very deep with Metro. We have a highly dependent passenger base, largely poor and working class folks on a daily basis. They must have a subsidized to travel. If anyone had to pay the true cost of light rail or bus, nobody would use the system. We need a complete reevaluation of what the heck we are doing with Metro. Now we have poor service and lots of red ink. Throwing more tax dollars at it sounds stupid. I’d also bet we are top heavy with management types in Metro. Our elected representatives need to take a hard look at this nightmare.
I have an idea. Why don’t we eliminate public transportation altogether, and hopefully, the poor people and disabled who rely on it slowly die out and we don’t have to waste our tax money supporting them. You know how much money it costs to equip a workplace for someone with a visual impairment? Or to transport someone in a wheelchair?
Hm…what possible interest could Missouri have in susbsidizing what is, as one commenter put it, “an essentially local problem?” Let me think…where do all the tax dollars that run the state come from? Oh - St. Louis and Kansas City? And transit helps people get to work so they can pay those taxes, and focuses development, and stimulates people coming downtown and spending money for sporting events and conventions…Nah, there’s no connection. Let’s just ignore the infrastructure in St. Louis and see how long the tax money keeps rolling in to the state.