New Transit Line Can Stitch St. Louis Together. But Can It Beat Parochialism?

Fixating on the issue that a north-south line would likely use a different technology than existing heavy rail MetroLink, Stenger states, “Transportation should not divide us. A light rail decision that would further fragment our region is not in our best interests.” This is a logically torturous, myopic, and simply wrong view of the function of transit...

So what in the hell is Stenger thinking? He’s playing the classic role of political “leader” in our fractured region. He hangs his argument on representing “more than one million citizens” and St. Louis County being the largest local funder of Bi-State [Development, the agency that runs Metro-Link]. In short, it’s ours-ours-ours and who cares about what a transit system is, or how it could affect the region. In that respect, his opposition is somewhat predictable, and yet still absurd.

Leaving other arguments alone, a north-south rail line reaching, and likely extending into, north and south St. Louis County, is by far the wisest transit investment for the county. While central and west county are economically successful, increasing poverty, declining jobs (and so access to jobs) both north and south present massive challenges. Connecting these areas to jobs and education, preventing economic decline, is the challenge of the coming decade.