Moving Forward in Ferguson with Better Transit

The introduction to the recently released Ferguson Commission report describes it as the "People's Report," an unflinching study of underlying issues that created the climate in which the police killing of Michael Brown and subsequent riots occurred.

"Some of the things we look at may at first seem unrelated to the events in Ferguson. However, our work and the community feedback has shown that these factors have either a direct or indirect connection to the environment in the St. Louis region, and therefore must be considered when discussing any potential changes that might lead to progress."

Among the findings that point to the connections between transportation and racial inequity, the report states that "23.5 percent of Black households do not have access to a car in St. Louis, as compared to 5.2 percent of White households."

The 189 policy recommendations cover a wide range of issues. Among these are two specific calls to action related to enhanced access to transportation. One is to "identify priority transportation projects in the Saint Louis region"; the other is to “develop a state-support funding plan for public transit.”

The St. Louis-based organization Citizens for Modern Transit writes that its recently released Transit Funding study was in the Commission's report, specifically, "when it calls for stakeholders to work together to determine which transit project(s) the region will prioritize. The report notes that such prioritization is necessary in order for the region to focus resources to successfully expand transit, and to get regional 'buy-in' by elevating the importance of key projects for the region and making tangible the need and potential benefits of transit."