City of St. Louis and Bi-State Development Begin Exploration of Bus Rapid Transit in Green Line Transit Corridor

This morning, at the request of Mayor Cara Spencer, the Bi-State Development Board of Commissioners voted to approve a contract with the planning and engineering firm HNTB to begin a detailed exploration of potential Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in the Green Line Transit Corridor.

After years of study and engineering for Green Line light rail, estimated project costs remained stubbornly high, and the possibility of securing federal funding, necessary for the construction of a light rail project, remains low given the current priorities of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

"High-quality and high-capacity public transit is necessary for all cities," said Mayor Spencer. "It's imperative we have a project that meets our objectives and qualifies for federal funding, which is necessary to make the project viable. Unfortunately, the Green Line, as proposed, has a $1.1 billion price tag for just 10 stations and less than 6 miles, making this project out of reach for our current funding stream and uncompetitive for federal funding. I'm excited to explore what bus rapid transit, along with a multi-modal component, can offer our citizens, visitors and the competitive federal grant administrators."

In 2017, City of St. Louis voters approved a local sales tax increase for a variety of purposes, including the expansion of transit within the City. Since that time, the project concept has been refined twice, first in a study led by East-West Gateway completed in 2018, and then through a partnership between Metro Transit and the City of St. Louis, which began in 2021. Significant engineering work for the Green Line Corridor alignment has now been completed, and much has been learned through the process. Despite investigating potentially substantial cost-saving measures, the project continues to have an estimated cost that exceeds the financial capacity of the city to fund construction, even if external funding were provided by the FTA. Furthermore, recent planning and engineering work continue to show a route that will likely struggle to achieve a substantial funding award from the FTA.

But new opportunities have also emerged. Many high-quality BRT routes have opened in the United States in the last decade, and still more are planned around the country. Given what has been learned locally and nationally about BRT in the last decade, a top-tier BRT corridor could be constructed in St. Louis, offering the same predictable, station-based service as light rail. Moreover, BRT can be built at a much lower cost and in less time, bringing the promise of high-quality transit expansion to reality much sooner, with far fewer construction impacts, and with the potential of making additional investments to improve walkability and bikeability along the corridor.

"Many cities around the country have found great success with BRT projects, "said Catherine Hamacher, a resident who lives near the corridor. "I'm excited to see St. Louis taking a real look at the potential in our city."

The St. Louis region is not alone in taking more seriously the potential for BRT to expand a core high-capacity transit network. Peer cities like Kansas City and the Minneapolis/St. Paul region have similarly adapted corridors originally envisioned as future light rail into BRT projects.

Using all relevant information gained over recent years in corridor study and engineering, a partnership between the City of St. Louis, Metro Transit and HNTB will immediately begin to assess adapting the general area of the Green Line corridor for an optimal BRT service. It is expected that a new Locally Preferred Alignment (LPA) specific to BRT will be established in the next 12-15 months, based on public engagement and conceptual design.