Metro Transit (St. Louis)
Metro Transit is the main public transit operator in the Greater St. Louis region, which spans the states of Missouri and Illinois in the Midwestern United States. Its services include bus, light rail, streetcar, microtransit, and paratransit.
Metro Transit's service area includes the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County in Missouri and St. Clair County, Illinois. The agency is an enterprise of the Bi-State Development Agency, an interstate compact established in 1949. In, the system had an annual ridership of, or about per weekday as of.
History
The enterprise now known as Metro Transit was founded in 1963 when the Bi-State Development Agency, using a $22.5 million bond issue, purchased and consolidated 15 privately owned transit operators to sustain efficient and reliable public transportation in the region. These services would operate under the Bi-State name until 2003, when the agency would begin operating as Metro. In 2015, the Bi-State Development name would be resurrected for the parent organization and the public transit enterprise renamed Metro Transit.In the 1960s, after taking over the private operators, Bi-State consolidated bus lines and in 1966 shut down the St. Louis region's last streetcar service, the Hodiamont line. Its right-of-way was paved over and replaced with buses. In 2018, Great Rivers Greenway began soliciting feedback for turning the former transit corridor into a greenway.
In the 1970s, the system became one of the first in the United States to use buses equipped with wheelchair lifts. In June 1973, with a financial crisis approaching, Bi-State threatened to end all bus service at the end of that month. In response, the Missouri General Assembly passed the Transportation Sales Tax Act allowing St. Louis and St. Louis County to levy a half-cent sales tax for public transportation. With the additional funding, Bi-State lowered the bus fare from 40 cents to 25 cents.
In the 1980s, Metro Call-A-Ride began demand-response service to help people whose physical or cognitive disabilities prevented them from independently using regular fixed-route bus service. In 1986, Arts in Transit, Inc. was founded, which is a 501 organization that ensures the integration of local art and design in the transit system. In 1987, the East-West Gateway Council of Governments completed a study that recommended light rail with an integrated bus network as the next step forward for the St. Louis region’s public transit system.Construction on the region's first light rail line began in 1990 by reusing former railroad rights-of-way including downtown subway tunnels and the Eads Bridge. The first segment opened on July 31, 1993, between the North Hanley and 5th & Missouri stations. The remainder of this initial alignment was completed on June 25, 1994, when the extension to Lambert Airport Main opened. Three infill stations have been added to this original alignment. East Riverfront in 1994, Lambert Airport East in 1998, and Cortex in 2018. In 2001, MetroLink doubled in length with a extension to Southwestern Illinois College in St. Clair County. Two years later, a extension brought service to Shiloh, Illinois. In 2006, Metro opened the Cross County extension running from the Forest Park-DeBaliviere station to Shrewsbury, Missouri.After St. Louis County voters defeated Proposition M in 2008, Metro shelved all expansion plans and was forced to cut 24 Missouri bus routes. In 2010, County voters passed Proposition A, a half-cent sales tax increase, to restore service cuts and fund system expansion under the banner of Moving Transit Forward. In 2013, the St. Louis County Council authorized loaning Metro $400 million of surplus Proposition A funds to pay off debt related to the Cross County extension. In 2017, St. Louis City voters passed Proposition 1, a half-cent sales tax increase estimated to generate $12 million per year for MetroLink expansion. In 2019, the State of Illinois provided the St. Clair County Transit District $96 million in funding to extend MetroLink from Shiloh-Scott to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, Illinois. SCCTD began construction on the extension in 2023; Metro is expected to begin operating it in spring 2026.
In 2021, Metro introduced the region's first electric buses: 40-foot and 60-foot articulated models. In February 2022, Bi-State's board voted in favor of Metro taking over operation of the troubled Loop Trolley. Later that year, Metro reopened the trolley and received a $1.26 million grant from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments to operate the service on a seasonal schedule for the next several years. In November 2024, Metro announced the Loop Trolley ended that season within budget and with a 44% increase in ridership.
On July 26, 2022, a flash flood shut down MetroLink for nearly 72 hours and caused roughly $40 million in damage. The flood damaged nearly of track bed, two elevators, two communications rooms, three signal houses and destroyed two MetroLink vehicles and a Call-A-Ride van. By that September, normal Red Line service had resumed while restricted service continued on the Blue Line. On July 31, 2023, Metro received $27.7 million in federal emergency disaster relief funding to help cover the cost of restoration. In March 2024, Blue Line platform and speed restrictions were lifted after repairs on the last signal house were completed.
In May 2023, Metro received a $196.2 million federal grant to purchase new light rail vehicles to replace the remaining SD-400 cars. Six months later, Bi-State's board approved a contract with Siemens Mobility worth up to $390.4 million for as many as 55 battery-hybrid S200 light rail vehicles with delivery expected to begin in early 2027. In September 2024, turnstiles began initial operation at four Illinois stations as part of Metro's Secure Platform Plan. Seven Missouri stations are slated for completion by early 2025 with the remaining stations and an upgraded fare collection system expected to be in place by early 2026.
Services
MetroBus
Since 1963, Metro Transit has continuously provided bus service in the Greater St. Louis region. Metro currently operates 44 fixed bus routes in Missouri and 14 fixed bus routes in Illinois. In September 2019, Metro launched Metro Reimagined, a restructuring of Missouri bus routes that increased frequency on busy routes and discontinued six low-ridership routes. That same year, Metro also removed or relocated more than 360 of the system's 5,400 bus stops. In June 2021, Metro introduced the region's first electric buses including 40-foot and 60-foot articulated models. The 60-foot articulated buses are used exclusively on the #70 Grand bus line, the region's busiest.In 2020, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp decline in MetroBus ridership and initiated a labor shortage that had reduced Metro's ability to offer comprehensive service to passengers. In an effort to recruit more drivers, Bi-State's board signed a contract in August 2023 with Amalgamated Transit Union Local 788, which approved salary increases and a signing bonus. By the end of 2024, MetroBus had increased its operator ranks from 556 to 673 allowing it to increase frequency or add service on 35 Missouri and 7 Illinois routes, including the addition of four new routes.
MetroLink
Since 1993, Metro Transit has operated light rail service in the Greater St. Louis region. Today, the system consists of the Red and Blue lines, with 38 stations and of track. The Red Line runs from St. Louis Lambert International Airport in northwest St. Louis County to Shiloh, Illinois, near Scott Air Force Base in southeast St. Clair County. The Blue Line, opened in 2006, connects Shrewsbury, Missouri, to the Red Line at Forest Park-DeBaliviere. A extension of the Red Line from Shiloh-Scott to MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah broke ground in 2023 and is expected to be operational by 2026.While officially light rail, MetroLink features many characteristics of a light metro or rapid transit service, including a completely independent right of way, a higher top speed, and level boarding at all platforms.
Metro Call-A-Ride
Since 1987, Metro Transit's Call-A-Ride demand response service has provided alternative transportation to residents who have limited access to MetroBus or MetroLink and/or disabled residents who are unable to use those services. In April 2023, in response to operator shortages, Metro announced that it would reduce its service area for Call-A-Ride, primarily in southwest and far north St. Louis County, a move that drew criticism.Via Metro STL
Via Metro STL is an app-based, on-demand microtransit service provided by Via Transportation with Metro Transit. The service launched in June 2020 to serve exurban areas of St. Louis County with few bus stops and limited MetroLink service. It provides rides in three service zones; North, South and West. In 2024, the service completed 277,623 rides.Loop Trolley
The Loop Trolley is a heritage streetcar line that runs from City Hall in University City to the Missouri History Museum and Forest Park in St. Louis. The 10-station line travels along Delmar Boulevard through the Delmar Loop and DeBaliviere Avenue between Delmar and Forest Park. Connections can be made to MetroLink at both the Delmar Loop and Forest Park–DeBaliviere stations.On February 18, 2022, Bi-State's board voted in favor of Metro Transit taking over operations after several financial setbacks and closures. In August 2022, Metro reopened the trolley and received a $1.26 million grant from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments to operate the service on a seasonal schedule for the next several years. In November 2024, Metro announced the Loop Trolley ended that season within budget and with a 44% increase in ridership. Additionally, at its current service level further funding requests would not be necessary.