RAISE Transit

Metro has now released additional details about the Single-Car MetroLink Pilot beginning October 3.

We encourage riders to read Metro’s announcement and the information it has provided about the pilot.

We also want to clarify an important point.

RAISE Transit’s opposition to routine single-car MetroLink service is not simply because riders remember previous single-car trials and have concerns about trying it again.

Our concern is with the policy itself.

We believe MetroLink should maintain a minimum two-car consist for regular passenger service, with single-car operation reserved for extraordinary operational circumstances.

There is also already substantial community feedback on this proposal.

Citizens for Modern Transit recently shared that its survey has received more than 250 responses, with 77% of respondents opposed to one-car trains and 23% in favor.

Separately, the RAISE Transit sign-on letter has now reached 84 signatures, including seven organizations and businesses. The letter remains open through September 25.

These are separate community feedback efforts and should not be treated as a scientific poll of all MetroLink riders. But they are important feedback, particularly now that Metro says customer feedback will help inform its long-term decision.

Our concerns are about what routine single-car operation means going forward.

The second car provides usable capacity for riders using wheelchairs and other mobility devices, service animals, bicycles, strollers, luggage, families and groups. It provides riders additional choice within the train, capacity for events and room to grow ridership. Shortening the train also changes where riders must position themselves on the platform, raising additional accessibility concerns.

Metro’s announcement also provides important new information. Metro now estimates potential annual maintenance savings of $800,000 to $4.8 million and says the pilot will begin with one single-car train operating on the Red and Blue Lines before developing in phases through Spring 2027.

We want to understand how those savings were calculated, how accessibility and customer experience will be measured, how rider feedback will be incorporated into the evaluation, and what results would cause Metro to conclude that routine single-car operation should not continue.

Metro has said it will seek rider feedback once the pilot begins. We encourage riders to participate in that process, just as we encourage riders to continue sharing their views now.

RAISE Transit’s position remains unchanged.

MORE RIDERS. NOT FEWER CARS.

KEEP METROLINK TWO CARS.

Learn more and share your feedback:

Metro Transit Single-Car Pilot information:
http://www.metrostlouis.org/metrolink-single-car-pilot/?fbclid=IwVERDUAUanQFwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHmuWQdr0fC03eblsehfr4W8DHvaQzNew60gvINUDRv27aL7LLZjw4WR1NDmg_aem_beIP6zYrXpotf9CdKmz6Kg

Citizens for Modern Transit survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WNV3YRC

RAISE Transit sign-on letter, open through September 25:
https://forms.gle/AVmH6mQWi9VSokTdA

🚆 A new MetroLink pilot is coming this fall.

Beginning October 3, Metro Transit will launch a Single-Car Pilot Program to explore how operating single-car MetroLink trains could improve efficiency and reduce operating costs.

Throughout the pilot, we’ll study operational performance, ridership ratios, and customer feedback to help inform future decisions.

Learn more about the pilot and what to expect at metrostlouis.org/metrolink-single-car-pilot

Staff from East-West Gateway's Transportation Planning department recently participated in the RAISE Transit All Ways STL: Connected Mobility Festival at Cortex Commons. The team shared information on next year's update of the region's Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and the Coordinated Human Services Transportation Plan (CHSTP). Transportation professionals engaged directly with guests to learn about their transit needs and experiences and opportunities for improvement. The event also featured accessibility and mobility demonstrations, transportation safety information, and opportunities to connect with organizations and stakeholders across the region.

For more information on the festival, LRTP, and CHSTP visit www.ewgateway.org/transportation-planning

WHAT IF YOU FEEL UNSAFE? 🚆

Metro has pointed to security as one reason for considering single car MetroLink operations. The idea is that fewer cars may be easier for security personnel to monitor.

But security isn't only about how easily a train can be monitored.

It's also about the choices riders have when something doesn't feel right.

RAISE Transit has heard from riders, including people traveling with their families, who have moved from one MetroLink car to the other because another passenger or situation made them feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

With two cars, a rider can create distance while staying on the train and continuing their trip.

With one car, that option disappears.

A rider would instead have to remain in the same car, get off the train, or wait for another train.

We absolutely support improving security on MetroLink. But making a train easier to monitor does not necessarily mean every rider will feel more secure aboard it.

As Metro continues investing in security, we should be giving passengers more choices when they feel unsafe, not fewer.

That's another reason RAISE Transit opposes the proposed single car MetroLink pilot.

🚆🚆 KEEP METROLINK TWO CARS.

📝 Add your name to the community opposition letter by September 25:

https://forms.gle/Y2KZK6NSBibXVzMK6

If this is something you've experienced while riding MetroLink, we also encourage you to share your perspective.

A safer MetroLink should give riders more options, not take them away.

🚆 TRANSPARENCY UPDATE: METRO HAS REACHED OUT TO RAISE

We believe that if we're asking Metro to be transparent with riders, RAISE should be transparent with you too.

Today, Metro Transit reached out to RAISE regarding the upcoming One-Car Service Observation Pilot.

Metro has invited RAISE to meet with Bi-State Development Board Chairperson Debra Moore, President and CEO Taulby Roach, and Metro Transit Chief Operating Officer Ron Forrest before the pilot begins October 3.

In a follow up, Metro offered Wednesday, September 23 in the morning as a time when all three leaders would be available to meet.

RAISE has not accepted or declined either invitation.

Our members are discussing how we believe RAISE should respond, what meaningful participation in the observation process would look like, and what role riders and other community organizations should have in determining how this pilot is evaluated.

And we want you to be part of that conversation.

If you have feedback about the one-car pilot, Metro's invitation, what should be measured during the pilot, or what you think RAISE should ask Metro, join our regular RAISE Transit meeting this Monday, September 21 at 7 PM.

We want to hear from riders before we determine our next steps.

Our community opposition letter also remains open through September 25. More than 70 people have signed so far, with organizational support from the Missouri Council of the Blind, SMART, and SLU on the Move.

We made a commitment to keep that letter open through September 25, and we intend to honor that commitment.

As this process continues, we intend to keep the community informed about our conversations with Metro, the decisions RAISE makes, and the information we receive about how this pilot will be evaluated.

Engaging in dialogue does not change our position.

MORE RIDERS. NOT FEWER CARS.

🚆🚆 KEEP METROLINK TWO CARS.

PREDICTABILITY IS ACCESSIBILITY. 🦯🚆

For blind and visually impaired MetroLink riders, knowing where the train will be is part of navigating the system independently.

At center platform stations, a rider who knows the layout can currently walk directly across the platform and board the rear vehicle of a two car train. That predictable pattern matters.

Single car operations change that.

Instead of being able to rely on the presence of that second vehicle, a blind or visually impaired rider may have to determine where the single car has stopped and navigate farther along the platform to find it.

That isn't simply an inconvenience.

It creates an additional navigation challenge in an environment where getting too close to the platform edge carries real safety consequences. And unless assistance is consistently available, the burden of adapting to that change falls on the rider.

Accessibility is about more than whether a wheelchair fits through a door or whether a vehicle technically meets an accessibility standard.

Predictability matters. Independence matters. Consistency matters.

MetroLink should be getting easier for people with disabilities to navigate, not harder.

This is another reason RAISE Transit opposes the proposed single car MetroLink pilot.

🚆🚆 KEEP METROLINK TWO CARS.

📝 Add your name to the community opposition letter by September 25:

https://forms.gle/Y2KZK6NSBibXVzMK6

Please sign and share.

WE SEE ROOM TO GROW. 🚆🚆

When RAISE Transit sees empty seats on MetroLink, we don’t see a reason to make the trains smaller.

We see an opportunity to bring more people aboard.

If MetroLink has available capacity, our region should be asking how we fill it. How do we make transit more attractive? How do we improve the rider experience? How do we connect more people with jobs, neighborhoods, attractions, sporting events, concerts and everything St. Louis has to offer?

Reducing MetroLink to one car may match lower ridership today, but we shouldn’t be designing the future of our transit system around lower ridership.

MetroLink should look and feel like a system preparing to grow.

That means improving service, reliability, security, accessibility and connections. It means promoting transit and giving people more reasons to choose it. And it means preserving the capacity to welcome those new riders when they come.

If MetroLink has room for more riders, our response should be to fill that room, not remove it.

That’s why RAISE Transit is opposing the proposed single car MetroLink pilot.

MORE RIDERS. NOT FEWER CARS.

🚆🚆 KEEP METROLINK TWO CARS.

Add your name to the community opposition letter by September 25:

https://forms.gle/Y2KZK6NSBibXVzMK6

Please sign and share.

We’re looking for a few good people to help us bring the Ferguson Foodies Festival to life. 🚂

Volunteers may assist with setup, welcoming guests, supporting vendors and cleanup throughout the day.

📅 Saturday, September 19
⏰ 2–8 PM
📍 Plaza 501 • Downtown Ferguson

If you’re dependable, community-minded and want to be part of something positive happening in Ferguson, we’d love to have you.

Apply here:

https://form.jotform.com/262426268210048

Food. Culture. Community.
Let’s do Ferguson.

KEEP METROLINK TWO CARS. 🚆🚆

RAISE Transit is officially opposing Metro Transit’s proposed single car MetroLink pilot, and we’re asking the St. Louis community to stand with us.

We’ve launched a community sign on letter calling on Metro Transit and Bi State Development to abandon the proposed pilot and reject single car MetroLink operations as a broader solution for our system.

Our concerns are bigger than whether today’s riders can technically fit into one car.

Single car operations mean less space and flexibility for riders with disabilities, mobility devices, guide dogs, bikes, strollers and luggage. They also eliminate the ability for riders and families to move to another car when a situation makes them feel uncomfortable or unsafe.

But there’s an even bigger question:

What kind of MetroLink are we trying to build?

At a time when our region should be working to grow transit ridership and improve public confidence in MetroLink, we don’t believe making trains visibly smaller moves St. Louis in the right direction.

If MetroLink has room for more riders, our response should be to fill that room, not remove it.

Concerns about single car operations are not new. During Metro’s 2023 single car pilot, riders with disabilities publicly raised concerns about crowding, accessibility and safety. We’ve included First Alert 4’s reporting from that pilot as supporting background.

We support MetroLink. We want better security, reliability, accessibility and more people choosing transit.

That is exactly why we oppose single car operations.

📝 Add your name by Friday, September 25:
https://forms.gle/Y2KZK6NSBibXVzMK6

📰 Read the 2023 First Alert 4 report referenced in our letter:
https://www.firstalert4.com/2023/11/22/metrolinks-single-car-pilot-program-failed-experiment-those-with-disabilities/

Organizations and community partners are also invited to sign on.

Share this post and help us KEEP METROLINK TWO CARS.

🚆 This is no longer just a proposal. Metro plans to move forward with one-car Blue Line trains beginning in October and we want to hear from YOU.

Citizens for Modern Transit is surveying the community, and RAISE Transit strongly encourages riders to respond.

RAISE members have opposed previous one-car pilots, and many of the same concerns remain.

♿ One car reduces accessible capacity. Wheelchair and mobility-device users need room to board, maneuver and exit safely. Accessibility isn't simply whether everyone can technically fit.

🦯 It can create navigation challenges. Concentrating riders into one car and changing boarding locations can make independent travel more difficult for blind and low-vision riders and others who rely on predictable, accessible boarding.

🚲 Cyclists lose capacity, too. Bikes, mobility devices, strollers, luggage and passengers will all share substantially less space.

Metro has also suggested one-car operation could improve security because officers have fewer cars to patrol. But easier to patrol does not automatically mean safer for riders, and overcrowded cars have proven to create additional security challenges.

On a two-car train, a rider uncomfortable with a situation or another passenger has the option of moving to another car. One-car operation eliminates that choice. Crowding can also create additional challenges for riders who need space to safely navigate. Some riders also have health conditions that are effected with overcrowding.

Metro is already investing in security officers, cameras and controlled station access. Security should be improved by addressing security n,ot simply by reducing capacity.

And MetroLink should be built for the ridership our region wants to GROW, not just today's ridership.

October is approaching. Now is the time to speak up.

📣 Take CMT's survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WNV3YRC

💬 Then tell us in the comments: What do YOU think about one-car MetroLink trains?

Accessibility is not excess capacity.