Overcrowded #70 Grand MetroBus St. Louis
The picture at the left was taken aboard the southbound #70 Grand MetroBus at 11:45pm Tuesday, April 17. At first glance, it’s impressive that so many are on board Metro St. Louis Transit after all, ridership throughout the entire St. Louis metro region is up quite a bit compared to previous years. Yes, at first glance this is a pleasant site to see indeed.
Yet the truth of this photo tells a much different and rather distressing tale of Metro planners being painfully out of touch with migration patterns of the riders depending on them each and every day. Aboard the Grand Line, the sight to the left isn’t unique to Tuesday evenings around midnight, it’s also not unique to Tuesday mornings and it’s certainly not unique to any other time or day of the week. The fact is the 70 Grand Line moves more people per mile than any other bus in the City of St. Louis and I’d be hard pressed to believe it doesn’t give MetroLink a run for its money in regard to ridership.
The photo to the left was sent to me from friend and fellow transit advocate Eddie Williams who then went on to share the photo with other transit advocates and nerds alike in the Greater St. Louis Transit Facebook Group. Williams, the force to be reckoned with behind the former Metropolitan Area Transit Riders Alliance now holds an active leadership role in the Transit Riders Union of St. Louis, captioned his photo with:
I would like to know if you think this type of over crowding on a bus is ok at 11:45p at night? This is all the time. I got on at Arsenal.
A popular response to the issue of over crowding on the Grand line is “we need articulated buses and we need them now”. As a matter of fact that statement was almost made verbatim in the St. Louis Transit Group and then a discussion broke out about the need for articulated buses to solve the overcrowding issue. It seems Metro reps have been beating the articulated bus drum for so long even fellow urbanists want on board. Don’t get it confused, articulated buses will make a difference but they will not solve the larger issue as to why so many are cramming on board one single MetroBus line during all hours of operation.
From a planning and design prospective the Grand bus is a unique line in St. Louis for two distinct and important reasons; its frequency and the design of the route.
Frequency
As of current, Monday – Friday the Grand Line is operating with 10, 15 and 20 minute headways. This is the most frequent service of any bus line in entire Metro St. Louis network. It’s well understood that when given the choice between a number of routes and all other factors being equal, riders will board the bus which operates the most often. I also believe that if possible, most riders will walk an extra distance to board a bus with a higher rate of frequency.
Choosing to be on the more often operated route is both a matter of convenience and simplicity. From a riders perspective the more frequently a bus operates, the more comforting it is to wait for that bus. As a rider you’ll know you’ll never have more than a twenty-minute wait for the Grand Line.
A frequently operating bus typically has a simpler schedule than those which don’t. Weekdays, the Grand Bus is operating in 10, 15 and 20 minute intervals which makes remembering and understanding the schedule a rather painless process.
Route Design
There are a total of five MetroBus lines which offer nearly linear north/south service from one end of the city to the other. Those five lines are:
An elementary math axiom states that the shortest distance between two points is a direct line, these five MetroBus routes live that truth. Of course these five lines are not the only bus routes providing north/south service in the city, there are two other types of routes transporting riders between points north and south.
The first class sends riders to the east in order to travel north/south. Those routes are:
A quick glance at these route maps and one will notice that these three lines are attempting to offer travel in two directions: north/south as well as east/west. While a route of this type does have some redeeming qualities, they do not allow for north/south travel in any sort of timely manner.
The final class of north/south traveling MetroBus routes originate at a MetroLink station and travel either north or south of that station. A route of this nature successfully forces riders wishing to cross the city either into a train or different bus to complete their trip and in doing so forces many to perchance a transfer. On paper these routes look outstanding, in practice however they leave a bit to be desired. First of all, those making cash payments desiring to travel from the north end of the city to the south end aboard one of these routes is required to spend an extra 0.75¢ and to some that added 0.75¢ is hardly something to scoff at. These people generally make up a larger group of transit riders known as dependent.
I am transit dependent as is fellow TRU steering committee member Steve Patterson, a transit dependent rider is one whose primary mode of transportation is alternative transit. I firmly believe transit dependent riders make up the bread and butter of our system and are the most important riders. It happens to be that many transit dependent riders don’t have a large disposable income and to these riders an additional 0.75¢ per trip across city is a big deal. Metro’s inability to adequately serve these riders is also a big deal.
North/South Traveling Buses Operating North of MetroLink
North/South Traveling Buses Operating South of MetroLink
A feature of many of these routes – as well as originating at MetroLink stations – is they often crook, curve and take riders around the world in order to travel a few blocks in either direction. The design of these routes make traveling any distance quite time intensive and potentially more costly for riders than other routes.
There are many factors contributing to both route frequency as well as design, many of which are outside the scope of this post. It is important to understand however that it is not practical to operate every route at 20 minute headways nor is it practical to run every route in a strictly linear faction.
Yes indeed the Grand Bus is a unique line, its frequency and direct north/south service from one end of the city to the other make it ideal for many riders and adding articulated buses will not change that. What articulated buses will also not do is provide any sort of load balancing which our transit network greatly needs.
A healthy transit system is a complete network functioning together with many paths of travel throughout its coverage area. To put certain areas or routes of the network on a pedestal puts an unhealthy load on that route and unbalances the entire network. A transit network which forces people to travel in unnecessary directions or make unneeded transfers for whatever reason is a network not living up to its potential.
The #70 Grand Line is not out of balance with the majority of the Metro St. Louis network, the majority of the Metro St. Louis network is out of balance with the #70 Grand Line. People are crowding aboard the Grand Bus because it’s convenient, simple and quicker than any other north/south options in order to lessen overcrowding load balancing needs to take place.
In other words, people are riding the Grand Line because it’s one of the few north/south travel options available. In order to lessen over crowding we need additional cross city north/south options.
