ST. LOUIS — Starting Monday, big changes are being made to 25 MetroBus routes across the Bi-state.
According to Metro Transit, the upgrades to the bus routes were part of a quarterly service change and were aimed at improving the experience for riders with expanded coverage to serve new areas, increasing frequency, streamlining routes to decrease transfers and improvements to on-time performance and transit connections.
The changes were possible due to the success of Metro's recruitment efforts over the last year, which have increased the workforce numbers and added dozens of new operators to the MetroBus team, according to Metro Transit.
The following changes take effect on Monday:
Missouri:
- No. 21 Watson - The route expanded to serve the Fenton area, with stops at the Amazon warehouse and Wally's.
- No. 31 Chouteau - The route was expanded to serve the Brentwood Interstate 64 Transit Center and provide additional service to Brentwood Pointe. The bus won't enter the Maplewood-Manchester Transit Center, but it will service stops on Manchester Road immediately adjacent to the transit center.
- No. 35 Rock Road - The route was expanded to serve St. Charles Rock Road west of Interstate 270 and provide all-day service to the Boulder Industrial Area on select trips and St. Charles Rock Road at Pennridge on all trips.
- No. 40 Broadway-Halls Ferry - The new route combines and replaces No. 40 North Broadway and No. 174X Halls Ferry Express and provides riders with a convenient, continuous route between the North County Transit Center, the Riverview Transit Center and downtown St. Louis.
- No. 41 Lee - The route serves Halls Ferry and McLaran near Riverview, which was previously served by No. 174X Halls Ferry Express, with stops at senior living and the public library.
- No. 42 Sarah - The route has been adjusted to operate on Ashland, Bishop P. L. Scott and Labadie.
- No. 47 Hanley has been replaced with No. 79 Ferguson-Clayton.
- No. 49 Lindbergh - The route was expanded to serve Mercy Hospital South via Tesson Ferry Road.
- No. 57 Manchester - Service frequency has been increased from every 60 minutes to every 40 minutes during some weekday and weekend hours. The route no longer connects with the No. 31 Chouteau.
- No. 60 Shepley-Lilac - The route was expanded to serve Christian Hospital Northeast, Hazelwood East High School and the National Records Center. It will also make a stop at the Missouri Veterans Home on select trips.
- No. 61 Chambers - The route was adjusted and no longer serves the Schnucks Distribution Center, which is now under the new No. 76 North Hanley Shuttle route.
- No. 64 Lucas Hunt - Weekday service frequency was increased from every 60 minutes to every 40 minutes.
- No. 73 Carondelet has undergone a schedule adjustment, with an early-morning weekday trip added to connect with No. 4 Natural Bridge.
- No. 74 Florissant - Minor schedule adjustments have been made to improve on-time performance and connections with other buses and MetroLink.
- No. 76 McDonnell-Waterford was been replaced.
- No. 76 North Hanley Shuttle now serves areas previously covered by the No. 76 McDonnell-Waterford, No. 78 Bellefontaine and No. 100 Hazelwood routes. It will now operate between Old Town Florissant and the North Hanley Transit Center, with service to the Schnucks Distribution Center, PepsiCo Distribution Center, Northwest Medical Center and the St. Francois Social Security Office. There will also be select weekday trips to the Hazelwood Logistics Center.
- No. 77 Village Square has been expanded to serve areas previously served by No. 76 McDonnell Waterford. It now serves the Lighthouse for the Blind and Pershall Road, but it does not serve Dunn Road to PepsiCo, which are now under the No. 76 North Hanley Shuttle.
- No. 78 Bellefontaine - The route has been expanded west to serve Parker Road, Waterford Road, McCluer High School, James Eagan Center, Grandview Plaza and areas previously served by No. 76 McDonnell-Waterford. Service on New Halls Ferry Road is now provided by No. 77 Village Square.
- No. 79 Ferguson-Clayton combines and replaces the No. 47 Hanley and No. 49 Ferguson routes to provide one continuous route between the North County Transit Center, the City of Ferguson, the North Hanley Transit Center and the Clayton Transit Center.
- No. 100 Hazelwood has been modified from a loop route to a two-way route serving Boeing, Valley Industries, Amazon, Hazelwood Trade Port as well as parts of Hanley Road and McDonnell Boulevard previously served by No. 76 McDonnell-Waterford. Boulder Industrial and St. Charles Rock Road are now served by No. 35 Rock Road.
- No. 174X Halls Ferry Express has been replaced.
Illinois:
- No. 6 Rosemont - An early-morning weekday trip has been added to connect with the MetroLink at the Fairview Heights Transit Center.
- No. 12 O'Fallon-Fairview Heights has been streamlined to reduce trip times and provide faster service. It provides services between the Fairview Heights Transit Center, Regency Park and St. Elizabeth Hospital on every trip and continues to Highway 50, Highway 158 and the Shiloh-Scott Transit Center on every other trip. The route does not serve Cambridge, 1st Street or Smiley.
- No. 14 Memorial Hospital has been modified to a loop route on its western end via Highway 15.
- No. 15 Belleville-Shiloh has been extended to serve Green Mount Crossing and now operates between the Belleville Transit Center, Memorial Hospital, Shiloh Veterans Clinic, Frank Scott Parkway, Green Mount Crossing and Central Parkway. Service to 2nd Street and Lincoln will be provided by No. 12 O'Fallon-Fairview Heights.
- No. 16 St. Clair Square operates between the Belleville Transit Center, the Swansea Transit Center, St. Clair Square and Madison County Transit in Collinsville to provide better service to popular destinations.
- No. 23 Belleville-College is a new route that provides service between the Belleville and College transit centers and areas previously served by the No. 16 St. Clair Square, including new service along Sherman Street and Lebanon Road. All MetroBus service along West Boulevard will remain in place. Old Collinsville Road at Lebanon is served by No. 15 Belleville-Shiloh.
Click here to view the updated MetroBus maps and schedules.
If you have any questions about the new schedules and routes, contact Transit Information at 314-231-2345 (call) or 314-207-9786 (text) on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Due to the service changes, Transit Information will operate during extended hours, from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m., Dec. 2-6 to help assist riders.