Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri

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Like most American cities, the main method of transportation is the automobile. Use of the automobile is supported by the existence of many limited-access interstate highways (I-70, I-55, I-44, I-64, I-255, I-170, and I-270), as well as numerous state and county highways.

Lambert-St. Louis International Airport is located in northwest St. Louis County, but is owned and operated by the city of St. Louis. American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have the greatest number of flights serving the airport. MidAmerica St. Louis Airport is located well east of the city in Illinois adjacent to Scott Air Force Base. Constructed as a reliever airport to Lambert, it has failed to attract any major airlines, primarily due to its distance from downtown and low population in its immediate vicinity.

Mass transit is provided in two forms, both of which are controlled by Metro St. Louis (formerly known as the Bi-State Development Agency): the city bus system and Metrolink, a light-rail train system that connects the airport to downtown and, recently, parts of the Metro East (extending as far east as Scott Air Force Base near Shiloh, Illinois). MetroLink is currently being expanded to Clayton, the county seat for St. Louis County, and to south St. Louis County.

Passenger train service is also available through a new Amtrak station that opened in December, 2004 (http://www.texaseagle.com/stlouis.htm and http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=am2/am2Popup&code=STL). This station is a precursor of the upcoming Multi-Modal (transportation) Station, the ground-breaking for which is scheduled for March 30, 2006 (see http://www.cmt-stl.org/NEW/new.html#multimodal and http://www.mayorslay.com/news/display.asp?prID=304). Other permanent train stations exist in the suburb of Kirkwood, Missouri and nearby Alton, Illinois.

St. Louis once had a moderately extensive streetcar system, but service began to erode in the 1950s and ended in 1966. The Metrolink expansion mirrors the original pathways. A movement is afoot to reinstate limited trolley service.[1]

St. Louis was also the largest city between Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California on the famous U.S. Route 66.


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