St. Louis Public Transportation; A Call To Action

St. Louis loves to fight over its public transportation. After losing an vote in the county, Metro is cutting back service dramatically, leaving around 12,000 people without the transportation they have relied on to get to work.

The St. Louis Activist Hub, State Senator Joan Bray issued a call to action. Read on for the juicy details and my letter to Governor Nixon.

At a Metro public forum Friday, State Senator Joan Bray called for a HUGE mobilization in the next WEEK or two to push for urgent state funding to reverse the drastic Metro cuts taking effect Monday, which will leave 12,000 people with no access to transportation whatsoever, and the rest of us with a 43% reduction in service. Metro gets less than 1% of its funding from the state of Missouri - just $1.3 million out of a $221 million budget - while other states (Illinois included) get 1/2 their public transit funding from the state.

We need to contact Governor Nixon & our statewide elected officials and urge him to devote state funding to rescue Missouri's public transportation. Public transit helps our economy, puts people to work, gets people to their jobs, and creates a vibrant, healthy community. Tell the governor what you think...
Governor Jay Nixon
(573) 751-3222
http://governor.mo.gov/contact/
http://transform.mo.gov/share/
and contact your state legislators here: http://www.senate.mo.gov/llookup/leg_lookup.aspx
and toll-free here: 1-800-826-8855

Governor Nixon,

Please consider the following: St. Louis Metro gets less than 1% of its funding from the state of Missouri and is making dramatic service cuts that will leave over 12,000 people without transportation (which they need for work) as well as a 43% reduction in service for the rest of us.

The most prosperous cities in this nation have functional public transportation. Other states (Illinois included) get 1/2 their public transit funding from the state.

Public transportation represents an investment beyond simple infrastructure and immediate jobs. It represents a shift towards a more efficient urban core and a move towards capacity building.

Given that St. Louis is the regional economic engine, that public transportation is an important facet of that economic growth, and that Missouri has traditionally dramatically underfunded this important piece of infrastructure, I respectfully urge you to provide additional funds to the St. Louis public transportation system.

More info on the St. Louis Activist Hub here.