News

MetroBus Vehicles to Roll Out Early Monday to Launch Final Phase of Restoration 2010

WHAT:

In what will look like a bus parade, long lines of MetroBus vehicles will hit the streets, leaving from Metro’s DeBaliviere and Brentwood bus garages early Monday, August 30, 2010, to begin picking up customers on routes that are being restructured and expanded as part of the final phase of Restoration 2010.

News media are invited to photograph and videotape the buses as part of their coverage of the final phase of Restoration 2010. Garage locations are below.

Metro officials will be available for media interviews Monday at the Shrewsbury I-44 MetroLink Station – Lansdowne Avenue, St. Louis, 63119, from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. (A Metro spokesperson can be made available earlier if desired.)

Media also may choose to ride along on a bus Monday morning as operators begin covering the restructured or expanded routes. Routes suggested include the #56 Kirkwood-Webster that services Meramec Community College and Webster University; the #34 Earth City that is now a direct route to Earth City; and the #35 Rock Road that services DePaul Hospital and the Macy’s Call Center. Call Dianne Williams at the numbers above to arrange a ride-along.

WHEN:

Monday, August 30, 2010, 4:30 a.m., for the bus rollouts at DeBaliviere and Brentwood
Monday, August 30, 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. for interviews at Shrewsbury
Times TBD for bus ride-alongs.

WHERE:

Brentwood Bus Garage, 3000 South Brentwood, St. Louis, 63144
DeBaliviere Bus Garage, 565 DeBaliviere, St. Louis, 63112
Shrewsbury I-44 MetroLink Station, 7201 Lansdowne Avenue, St. Louis, 63119

SIGNIFICANCE:

Watching dozens of buses roaring out of a garage in a line gives your viewers an entirely new perspective on the level of bus service that Metro delivers to the St. Louis region. Few people have ever seen that early-morning event, and those lines will be even longer Monday when Metro launches the final phase of its service restoration program, Restoration 2010.

Rebuilding the regional service after the reductions of March 2009 has been Metro’s top priority since the passage of a half-cent sales tax increase in Proposition A in St. Louis County in April. This final phase includes 41 redesigned or restructured bus routes and another 12 routes with new time schedules. The first phase on June 28 delivered changes to 20 bus routes and increased MetroLink train frequency to 12 minutes from 15 minutes.

More details on service restoration are available online at www.metrostlouis.org.