Washington University Provides Free Access to St. Louis Metrolink
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO on 08.20.06
The newest extension of St. Louis' Metrolink light rail transit system will open on Saturday, and for students at Washington University, this means greater access to the St. Louis metropolitan area at a price that can't be beat: free.
Students, faculty and staff will now be able to access the Metrolink at two close underground stops, one by the Village at Big Bend and Forest Park Parkway and the other by Kayak's Coffee at Skinker and Forest Park Parkway. These stops will connect to the current system and to new ones at Olive, Forsyth by West Campus, downtown Clayton, the Galleria and southern suburbs of St. Louis.As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes, the new extension into some of the southern suburbs will provide an affordable mass transit option to more people on both sides of the Mississippi River. For college students at a number of the area's universities, the new line (and the older one, for that matter) gives greater access to amenities around St. Louis, and create an alternative to high-priced on-campus parking that doesn't come with a guarantee of finding a convenient parking place when needed.Current, existing stops at must-see locations still offer fun things to do and see like the Loop on Delmar, Forest Park, the Central West End and Busch Stadium.
The free Metrolink access [is] available to all students who request a Metropass...
Hopefully, the new line, in providing greater convenience and access to more parts of the metro area, will create greater awareness of the benefits of public transportation, and give rise to more demand. As in so many American cities, the development of mass transit in the Lou' has been hampered by lacks of both funding and a vision of the city and suburbs as a metropolitan whole. Perhaps more people that readily take the Metrolink downtown for Rams, Cardinals and Blues games will come to recognize that it's a viable alternative to daily stop-and-go car commutes. ::Washington University's Student Life and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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Fantastic! What I look forward to here is the transit oriented development that will take place around these stations if allowed to - beginning to rein in suburban housing by offering people residences in higher density. The nice thing is, because businesses tend to spring up around light rail stations, people who live here will also be able to walk or bike for more of their non-commute trips.
Nice post! I'm excited that the riff-raff will now have easy access to Wash U, Clayton, U-City etc. But even though students can ride free, the Wash U has not committed itself to sustainable transport. From what I hear, there are several plans in the work to build giant underground parking lots throughout campus. This is a crime, especially considering the number of people that actually drive just three and four blocks to campus. Also, Wash U is using the metro link as an excuse to cut its own shuttle system, which goes many places that the new rail system doesn't go. Oh well.
Jokes about the riff raff are really disheartening - that's the same annoying west-county attitude that keeps St. Louis down. Anyway, I think cutting the shuttle is a good thing, why not save the University some money? When I was at Wash U the most annoying thing about it was the spoiled brats whose only St. Louis experience consisted of driving to the Galeria. Hopefully this will make a positive difference in some of their lives!
Didn't intend to offend anyone with the joke--I was just trying to satirize the prevailing opinion. Currently, I live in Washington DC where a similar problem exists. In the 1970's Georgetown used the riff-raff argument in order to keep the metro system out. Now Georgetown is a traffic nightmare and is totally inaccesible. Anyhow, it's fun the see so many people from STL hanging out in the Green Blogosphere!