SierraScape December 2006 - January 2007
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by Melanie Harvey

Using public transit, particularly riding the bus in St. Louis, is the mark of a social outcast. Those who depend on it are poor, elderly, and/or disabled, and are apt to have dark skin or speak English as a second language. Higher status, plus individual "freedom", are symbolized by a personal motorized vehicle, even if the price paid is a contribution to global warming and traffic congestion. A bicycle is an environmentally responsible option, but not everyone is capable of riding one or is willing to risk sharing the road with cars, so public transit becomes the next-best thing.

Public transit is a great way to explore an urban environment, once you get beyond public disapproval. (If you're already somewhat "Green" you're already going against the mainstream, so why not take it a little farther? ) Transit provides opportunities to see the neighborhoods that highways pass by, the places built before cars were invented, and to talk with people you would otherwise not meet. You have access to unique urban parks, among the largest and most beautiful in the USA. You supplement transit with walking, which gives you exercise and saves you money. Whether commuting or taking an urban hike you enhance the environment by participating in it.

The St Louis bi-state region is fortunate to contain a skeletal public transit system in Metro, a light-rail and bus network (www.metrostlouis.org). Bus routes are arranged to connect with trains as much as possible. Trains run to the minute and even buses have an impressive on-time record. Bicycles and wheelchairs are accommodated in either mode. Plans are underway to extend light-rail beyond the central corridor (www.northsouthstudy.org). Metro deserves support because it offers conservation of resources, infrastructure for transit-oriented development as an antidote to suburban sprawl, and protection of the urban environment. Other cities considering light rail - lively hip places such as Seattle and Austin - actually envy our accomplishments so far.

A good urban environment is more than clean air and some patches of green space. Humans are social animals, interdependent in their search for goods and services, a livelihood, education. Our souls may find fulfillment in pure Nature but our daily needs are met by interrelated activities. A city provides a complex framework for satisfying these needs but it is an environment that needs protection. Relying on an automobile not only contributes to pollution, it imposes a vehicle-oriented scale to the streetscape. Parking lots become more important than parks, architecture is sacrificed for highways, and people lose opportunities for daily interaction. Cities can die - ours almost did.

Electronic communication has modified our patterns of interaction and eroded some of the functions of cities. Being plugged in seems to be enough to obtain material things and to pass along messages - but many people who could be plugged in at home choose to plug in at a neighborhood coffee-house where other people are coming and going, talking and laughing, doing business. It seems people still need people, even if they have to drive a couple of blocks or a few miles to share actual space.

With so many good reasons to take advantage of transit, why are so many St Louisans reluctant to participate? There are many excuses. True, Metro doesn't yet go far enough fast enough to accommodate more than a half-century of unchecked urban sprawl. (The State of Missouri, where the Interstate highway system began, contributes virtually nothing to Metro.) Buses are not very fuel-efficient in themselves, although one of them replaces up to fifty individual automobiles. Unless you live right next to a station you may think transit takes too much time - but how much time do you spend in highway gridlock, or looking for a parking space? Public transit is perceived as "unsafe" perhaps because so many of those Other people are using it, but how safe are our highways where several accidents are reported every rush-hour?

Many people don't examine their attitude about transportation until the cost of gas affects their budget. The personal cost of a car is more than gas - don't forget repairs, insurance, parking, and the initial price tag, plus taxes. A monthly Metro Pass, good for unlimited use throughout the bi-state system on both trains and buses, is only $60, less than most people spend on gas alone. Metro's on-line TripFinder offers various options to reach your destination, with walking/bicycle mileage included.

Using public transit requires a shift in attitude - from the self-serving notion of "freedom of the road" to the community-conserving notion of a sustainable environment, from lip service to the virtues of "diversity" to a willingness to sometimes be the "diversity". Public transportation reminds us that we're all in this together: we all need clean air, and we all need to get around in the social environment we live in day by day. We can do this with enjoyment, pride, and consideration for others - or, not. The Earth we save, and the city we save, may be our own.

Melanie Harvey
DaytripperMO@aol.com
314-367-3098

The author is a volunteer tour guide on Metro for Citizens for Modern Transit (www.cmt-stl.org), an advocacy organization for improving transit in the bi-state region.