Event Represents Overall “Win” for the Region
While it was Team West that took home the win in CMT’s Great Race 2016: Linking the Last Mile, the event was a victory for the entire region. Featuring a number of organizational partnerships and participation from numerous local media personalities, the event was successful in its goal of building awareness and community wide advocacy for multi-modal options in St. Louis. Members of both Team East and West all experienced the ease of the regional transit system’s accessibility first -hand, the seamless connection commuters can make for multi-modal travel and the critical need for available goods and services surrounding MetroBus and MetroLink stations.
CMT’s Great Race 2016: Linking the Last Mile placed Team East against Team West as they traveled during the evening work commute using a variety of different transportation options to get from their respective starting points to the final destination at the Cortex Commons, which is adjacent to the future site of the Boyle Street MetroLink Station in Midtown St. Louis. Team East biked along the MetroBikeLink to the Memorial Hospital MetroLink Station where they met up with additional team members and took the train to the Grand MetroLink Station. From there, using Enterprise CarShare vehicles, they drove, in rush-hour traffic, to Cortex Commons, parked their vehicles and walked to the finish line. Team West took the MetroBus from Hampton @ Clayton Ave to the Forest Park MetroLink Station. There, they met up with bikers who rode from UMSL and, together, took the MetroLink to the Central West End Station and walked to the finish line at Cortex Commons.
“One of our goals of this event was to showcase that workday commuters have options on both sides of the river that extend beyond sitting in traffic, alongside others who are also driving solo in their own personal vehicles,” commented Kim Cella, executive director of Citizens for Modern Transit. “We were able to achieve this goal, while also touting the many benefits associated with the utilization of these modes, like improved air quality and health, and economic benefits. Furthermore, we hosted a Metro Market highlighting the fact that transit users’ final destinations are within one mile of the transit station they utilize and what it ‘could’ look like if the region invested in transit-oriented development.”
This event was made possible thanks to a variety of local partners including the Clean Air Partnership, Enterprise Carshare, Metro, Great Rivers Greenway, Central States Bus Sales, Cortex Innovation Community, Musick Construction Company, the St. Louis Regional Chamber, AECOM, BJC Healthcare, Washington University, AARP in St. Louis and HNTB.
To learn more about Citizens for Modern Transit, call (314) 231-7272, visit www.cmt-stl.org, find the event page on Facebook by searching CMT Great Race 2016 or follow the organization on Twitter @cmt_stl.
Citizens for Modern Transit is a not-for-profit organization in St. Louis whose mission is to expand the light rail system in order to build more sustainable, accessible communities in the region.
For more information, contact:
Kelly Harris
The Hauser Group
314.436.9090
OR
Kim Cella
Citizens for Modern Transit
314.231.7272