Riding for Education

Each day, the light rail plays a crucial role connecting citizens to sites of education. In particular, a large and diverse group of student passengers regularly make "the college" station at Southwestern Illinois Community College (SWIC) their destination.

We've discussed the importance of the light rail for workers and fans traveling to Cardinals games, but certainly, the students making their way to SWIC along the light rail make up an integral portion of the trains' demographic. Students from various parts of the around the region, including Fairview Heights, O’Fallon, Cahokia, East St. Louis and St. Louis City, regularly ride the trains to this school.

Riders might find the ride to the SWIC college campus, in particular, to be easy and affordable. SWIC is the only school in the region that offers a free lightrail pass to any registered student, teacher, or faculty member.

With just a swipe of their college i.d. cards, college bound riders have instant access to the trains. And, they can unload from the trains and walk straight to classes. These incentives work quite well.

But, one of the biggest incentives for this demographic of students is that SWIC is the only community college in the area with direct Metro link access. The direct rail access helps make SWIC a more tangible possibility and destination for students and employees.

From Two States to a Common Region

For Illinoisans, the light rail represents a crucial mobile connector, the vital link between home and work. Every weekday morning, thousands of commuters make the trek from Illinois to Missouri for work.

The exchange between Illinois and Missouri workers is crucial. Illinois residents count on companies like Barnes Jewish Hospital, Anheuser Busch, and Purina to hire a larger number of people for a wider variety of jobs than they will find in Illinois. Also, there are a wide range of citizens who live in Illinois that find more unconventional and artistic jobs in the city.

Illinoisans are not the only ones who benefit by traveling to Missouri for work. The businesses in St. Louis certainly benefit from the access they have to a number of employees with a wide range of degrees and skills.

As travelers cross the Eads and consider the congested morning traffic on the Popular Street Bridge, they perhaps give a small sigh of relief that they are using public transit instead of a car. The light rail seems more desirable at times like these.

And although there's a crowd of passengers during peak hours, something about light rail travel creates opportunities for napping and day-dreaming. Perhaps it's the smoothness of the ride, the scenery outside their windows, or simply the freedom from driving. Whatever the case, it's possible to be all alone there in the crowd while riding.

Notably, this mode of transportation might be completing another, larger feat in addition to taking so many commuters to and from locations near their places of employment. By easily connecting Illinoisans to Missouri, the light rail seems to achieve the task of transforming two different states into a common region.

Public Transit & the Science of Networks

Often, aspirant professionals are directed to “network” as a catchall for meeting and mingling with the right people in order to achieve career advancement. Social networking sites such as facebook and myspace have given new light to the idea of staying connected.

And, the field of study known as “network science” offers a wide array of explorations and explanations concerning “how everything is connected to everything else.”

So where does the light rail fit in discussions of networks?

Attending those Metro public hearings reminded us about the interconnected relationships between bus, light rail, and call-a-ride services. Many travelers depend on multiple forms of transit that are linked to various routes, hubs, and destinations. In short, public transportation in the Metro East and St. Louis constitutes an extensive network.

The light rail, no doubt, is an important link or a useful connector in that larger network.

For instance, passengers are exposed to people who work and play. Some passengers ride the trains to get to the baseball games; others ride the trains to connect to the busses which will take them to their early morning shifts at the hospitals, restaurants, and factories.

Also, students are exposed to other collegiates in the area. Since the metro serves as a convienient form of transportation for students from campuses such as Fontbonne, Forest Park, all the way out to Scott Air Force Base, students will more than likely meet students with diverse backgrounds and multiple disciplines along their routes.

And so we view public transit as a vital cultural network as well.

Viewing the light rail as an integral part of this larger cultural network means that we are taking into account more than just the ways that this form of transportation connects passengers to places. Instead, we have come to recognize that how travels along the light rail can put people in touch with new and diverse ideas.

Viewing the City

On their daily journeys into the city, lightrail commuters see a variety of scenery such as buildings, houses, nature, and artwork. The St. Louis skyline with the Gateway Arch is perhaps one of the more distinctive shared scenes that riders witness. As Illinois travelers approach Missouri from East St. Louis, they have an especially scenic view of the skyline.

The Arch is actually an important business enterprise for Metro as the organization “operates the Gateway Arch Tram and ticket center” for the thousands of tourists who visit. The Arch is a popular tourist designation for many one-time visitors to the area, but what do the Arch and, more broadly, the St. Louis skyline mean for daily travelers?

Daily commuters have likely grown accustomed to this sight that so often leads tourists to snap photos. For the transit riders headed toward Missouri in the mornings, approaching the St. Louis skyline means that work is fast approaching.

And perhaps the association to work diminishes some of the skyline’s glow. For daily commuters from Illinois, it is perhaps preferable to be traveling away from the St. Louis skyline, away from work, and toward homes, toward families.

But then, the view of the city holds a special interest for baseball fans traveling from various parts of Illinois to watch the St. Louis Cardinals play. Glimpses of the Arch in the distance mean that the city approaches, and with the city comes the game.

One recent evening, we traveled from the SWIC College station headed west. At each stop, more and more Cardinals’ fans boarded the train. As we moved toward the city, the skyline came into view.

The Cardinals’ faithful had no doubt seen the view of the city countless times before this journey. Still, the particular lights and shadows produced by the clouds and the setting sun gave us reason to take notice and look upon the skyline with renewed interest.

Image: View of St. Louis from East St. Louis while traveling along the light rail. Courtesy of H.R.

Vocal Citizenship

Last Wednesday, we attended another one of Metro’s public hearings. We wanted to hear more about challenges and opportunities facing the region’s transit system, and we were interested in the distinct information Metro officials might provide Illinois residents.

The PowerPoint presentation regarding the distribution of funds and services towards transportation lines in both Illinois and Missouri was the same. Since the state of Illinois provides considerable funds for public transportation, bus service would be far less affected on this side. However, reductions in light rail operations in Missouri would necessarily mean changes in service in Illinois as well.

The turnout for the public hearing was small, but that did not prevent the few attendees from participating in a lively Q&A session and offering suggestions. One citizen in particular felt that Metro would benefit greatly by forming alliances with colleges around the region. Another citizen suggested that Metro look to New York and Chicago for models of ideal transportation systems. All in all, it was clear that the attendees had been thinking on these issues quite a bit.

The Metro officials were receptive to the ideas offered by the audience, but there was a sense that they could easily predict the complications involved with many of the suggestions. Of course, those officials have studied the challenges facing public transportation in the region much longer than we have. They are especially knowledgeable about what probable solutions won’t work.

The gap between what transit riders hoped for and what Metro officials knew was unlikely had us wondering about how citizens might become more knowledgeable in order to offer useful, practical solutions.

What information and skill-sets, for instance, would a group of citizens need to gather in order to move beyond unrealistic expectations? In what ways can we become more capable at developing citizen-driven practical yet innovative solutions? And what roles could Metro or any official organizations play in the process?

Image: courtesy of H.R. for Along the Light Rail

Following the Rochester Model

The St. Louis Metropolitan region’s public transportation system, which is known as Metro has been facilitating a series of public hearings entitled “St. Louis Region at a Crossroads: Which Way do We Go?” The hearings are designed to inform the public about the impending budget deficit that public transportation could face in the coming year.

In particular, Metro’s budget problems would mean reduction in bus, park-and-ride, and light rail services—services which we view as vital connectors for people in the region.

During the public hearings, officials from Metro have made PowerPoint presentations on the benefits of the services they offer, the specifics of their operating budget, history behind the financial challenges that they face, and what improvements would be made if they managed to receive funds. They also discuss the crucial November Vote, where St. Louis County residents will decide on a sales tax increase that would be vital for Metro and more importantly the continuation and extension of services for transit riders.

After the presentation portion of the hearing, Metro opens the floor for comments and suggestions. We plan to submit our own list of recommendations, one of which will be based on an article about how “Creativity Helps Rochester’s Transit System Turn a Profit.”

The article describes how transportation officials in Rochester “reached agreements with the local public school district, colleges and private businesses to help subsidize its operations, warning in some cases that certain routes might be cut if ridership did not increase or a local business did not help cover the cost.”

In our view, following the Rochester model would be useful because it could ensure continued, full transportation service for citizens. In addition, the businesses and educational institutions would help prevent the loss of thousands of clients and workers who rely on public transit to get to their venues, which would be important for the companies and colleges.

But even beyond the benefits of continued service, this creative system would highlight a vital collaboration between clients, workers, businesses, and public transportation in the region.

So, we will recommend that Metro consider reaching out to those schools and businesses whose clients and workers rely on public transportation. Do you have any more ideas that we or they might consider?