Leaders of the Loop Trolley Transportation Development District are hoping to resurrect the Loop Trolley after its 13-month run was cut short in December 2019 due to insufficient revenue.

Photo by Curran Neenan

The Loop Trolley connected the Delmar Loop and Forest Park along a 2.2-mile route. After delays in construction, the $52 million project began running in November 2018 on an inconsistent schedule with many mechanical difficulties. It generated about $32,000 from ticket sales but was shut down after failing to reach its estimated fare revenue of about $430,000.

The Trolley was intended to be a clean, public form of transport that could drive investment to overlooked areas of St. Louis, but never became reliable enough to attract consistent riders and become financially viable. However, the leadership behind the project believes that it still has promise.

“Once it operates the way it was designed to operate, people will see the ridership go up and be as it should be, as it was predicted to be,” treasurer and chairman of the Loop Trolley Transportation Development District Joe Edwards said. “People say, ‘Oh, ridership figures were low and income farebox recovery was low.’ Well, gosh, of course. When you can’t operate all the time, that’s reality.”

In fact, Edwards does not even believe that the project has taken off yet.

“This is one of those major projects that needs to be given the chance, because it hasn’t started yet in my mind,” Edwards said. “Really, until you have cars that operate predictably and schedules [that] operate seven days a week, there’s no way it can live up to it.”
However, despite Edwards’ optimism, other St. Louis residents are less sure if the Trolley should be given a second chance.

“I never rode it, and it really seemed useless, and wasted space on the road,” junior James Maguire said.

This sentiment was not uncommon.

“I didn’t really interact with it, other than being stuck behind cars. Personally, I’ve never ridden it before,” fifth-year undergraduate Tyler Polasek said.

This failure to attract ridership undermined one of the Trolley’s major selling points: its potential to draw investment into neighborhoods north of the loop. The Delmar Loop Trolley played a major role in the Delmar Divine project, a $90 million campaign to convert an abandoned hospital into a headquarters housing nonprofits and community organizations.

“I believe that the Trolley would be a great connector for our tenants and guests to visit the Loop and the Park on a more frequent basis. No need to move their cars, if they have one, as all is within a Trolley ride and it is just a short block to hop on the Trolley,” Maxine Clark, CEO of the Clark-Fox Family Foundation wrote in a statement to Student Life.

In addition to making the Loop more accessible, some hoped that the Trolley would help bridge the socioeconomic gap between north and south St. Louis.

“The Loop Trolley was designed to span the infamous ‘Delmar Divide’ bringing jobs and investment north of Delmar into the West End neighborhood,” John Meyer, President of the Loop Trolley Company wrote in a letter to endorse a takeover plan.

If the Trolley is not revived, Edwards said he believes that the investments and projects driven by the trolley would be severely hurt by its absence.

According to Edwards, the Bi-State Development, the interstate compact between Missouri and Illinois, the board behind the Metro Transit, could revive the Trolley with $1.9 million from leftover transit funds.

“It’ll give the Trolley project enough money to operate for four years predictably and under the auspices and leadership and guidance of Bi-State, which makes perfect sense because this is a transit project,” Edwards said.

Connection to the Bi-State Development and their resources could be an attractive option for the Trolley.

“While not (yet) connected by the Trolley, Craft Alliance is moving to Delmar just East of Union—again, traffic moving East will make the Trolley more viable especially if operated by Bi-State,” Clark wrote.

Additionally, Meyer believes that integration into the larger St. Louis metro system could help increase ridership and make the Trolley a more viable option.

“[Bi-State Development CEO Taulby Roach’s] plan calls for integrating the Loop Trolley into Metro with unified ticketing and scheduling, enhancing its value as a public transit asset,” Meyer wrote.

According to Meyer, if connected to Bi-State, the Trolley could become a more convenient option for students. The MetroPass could be used instead of paying the fare, which could make more of Delmar Boulevard accessible.

In addition, he believes that the greater St. Louis community could also benefit from more universal ticketing. The connection between the Loop and Forest Park could serve as a stimulus for business in the area.

However, members of Bi-State are more hesitant about moving forward with Edwards’ proposal.

“There was a motion made at their last meeting to approve it or look into it and it didn’t get a second. So they didn’t vote no, they just didn’t vote on it. I’m happy because that bought some time for leaders to have the time to look into all the reasons why they should or shouldn’t vote for this,” Edwards said.

If the board votes against Edwards’ proposal, the path forward for the Trolley will be unclear.
“The tracks could be required to be taken out and then all the construction would have to take place again and streets dug up and all that. Who does that benefit?” Edwards said.
Due to the poor performance of the Trolley in its first year, many are skeptical of its initial selling points. The future is especially murky because of the existing infrastructure and its cost.

“I never really used it, but it seemed like a good idea. [But] I didn’t find it functional or entertaining for my own use, so I never used it,” junior Isabelle Celentano said.