ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson's administration said Monday it will pursue more study of north-south transit expansion, including how to pay for light rail but also what alternatives may provide similar service.
Krewson announced that the city, in partnership with Bi-State Development, has issued a request for qualifications for such an analysis, to cost up to $1.5 million and be paid using a sales-tax hike OK'd by voters in 2017 for economic development.
A news release said the city wants ideas for how to close a funding gap that exists to construct and operate a light rail expansion "as currently conceived." A 2018 study said the cost of a north-south light rail expansion, with vehicles running on the street, could be about $950 million, with 50% required in local funding. It also said based on current revenue streams, the city would come up short by $210 million for fulfilling those capital costs. Operating the new route would cost another $24 million annually, it said. That would be just for an 8-mile route within the city, running from Grand Boulevard near Fairground Park to Chippewa Street; a full 17-mile route, running into St. Louis County, would come in a subsequent phase.
But Scott Ogilvie, the city's transportation policy planner, said the gap could be even larger, because the Federal Transit Administration is currently funding light rail projects at less than 50%.
"The FTA is not going to fund light rail projects if they will have a substantial negative fiscal impact to the transit agency's existing service," Ogilvie said, demonstrating the need to identify funding sources.
Click here for the full story.
