From intern to Programs Director, Taylor March left a lasting impact on Trailnet and the St. Louis region. Now, he is taking his talents to the state level, advocating for better walking and biking across Missouri as the new Executive Director of Missourians for Responsible Transportation.
For eight years, Taylor was the smiling face of Trailnet. It’s only right that we reflect on the legacy he leaves behind—a legacy of kindness, knowledge, professionalism and passion.
Taylor’s Journey
Taylor first joined Trailnet as an intern in the winter of 2010, while he was studying environmental engineering at Murray State University. He had worked as a bike mechanic since high school and was an avid environmentalist.
Though he didn’t know it then, Taylor’s passion for Trailnet’s mission (and his handiness with an Allen wrench) would serve the organization for years down the line.
Five years after his internship, having worked for several years as a solar engineer in between, Taylor returned to Trailnet on February 24, 2015 as our Youth Programs Specialist.
In his first full-time role, he led Trailnet’s bike education programs and designed our curriculum for smart cycling. He also worked on a number of Safe Routes to School projects, including one with Froebel Literacy Academy in south city. Taylor worked with Froebel through eight years and a handful of title changes at Trailnet.
“Working with Froebel and seeing that relationship develop and change throughout the years was so satisfying,” said Taylor. “From the walking school bus, to the installation of speed humps on Nebraska Ave., to the Calm Street now under construction on nearby Louisiana Ave… It was really cool to see the community buy in.”
Advocating for Change
Midway through his tenure with Trailnet, Taylor shifted his focus to the advocacy and policy spaces. As a long-time bike commuter, he was a natural advocate for safe, alternative transportation. As a leading expert in bike/ped best practices, he influenced change-makers across the state. And as an exemplary colleague, he fostered relationships that would blossom into our strongest partnerships today. To name a few…
Taylor co-created the annual Juneteenth Community Ride with our partners at 4theVille and grew the ride into a collaboration between the Missouri History Museum, Northside Community Housing and other aligned partners. The event draws over 200 riders each June and celebrates Black music, art, culture and history.
Taylor was part of the team that developed Trailnet’s Connecting St. Louis Plan in 2019, which is now 50% funded for construction by partners like GRG and the City of St. Louis.
Taylor spearheaded our state-wide advocacy efforts. In collaboration with BikeWalkKC, Local Motion in Columbia, and Ozark Greenways, he helped create Missourians for Responsible Transportation and Hands-Free Missouri.
The Work Continues
Now, Taylor is off to lead the statewide partnership that he once helped to create. Trailnet looks forward to many more years of collaboration with Taylor and his team at MRT.
“Trailnet will miss him and his careful and precise explanations of the transportation system we are trying to change, his help changing a flat, and his ability to always find time to listen,” said Trailnet CEO Cindy Mense.
For your years of dedication—Thank you, Taylor! Let’s continue to work together to make Missouri better for people outside of cars.
Trailnet says: Funding Process for Infrastructure Improvements in St. Louis City Needs to Change
The next time you buy something in the City of St. Louis, take note of the sales tax at the bottom of the receipt. A portion of that tax has been the city’s primary means of funding infrastructure improvements since 1993. Thirty years later, the process for allocating that tax funding, called “Ward Capital,” is being reconsidered. Here’s why that number on your receipt matters, how the funding is currently being used and why the funding process needs to change.
The City of St. Louis currently has a ½-cent sales tax in place. This tax collects, on average, $8 million per year for capital improvements in the city. That sum is currently the City’s primary means of funding infrastructure improvements in all 28 wards.
At the beginning of each fiscal year, the $8 million total is split into 28 equal parts and distributed evenly to each ward. That’s about $300,000 per year, per ward, to be spent on capital improvement projects—filling potholes, replacing streetlights, street trees, improving sidewalks, etc.
If an alderperson chooses to spend their Ward Capital, they must first submit a project proposal. Once the project is approved, the alderperson takes the necessary funding from their pot of accrued Ward Capital and gives it right back to a city department. Ninety-eight percent of the Ward Capital from all 28 wards ends up in the hands of the Streets Department.
The current system is convoluted. It also further divides our city.
Our streets do not stop and start at ward boundaries, nor do each of these wards have the same needs. This system allocates funding equally, not equitably, and results in fractured, short-term solutions applied at the whims of 28 politicians.
A convoluted system
Roundabout at Nebraska Avenue and Sidney Street
Let’s revisit the $300,000 per ward. That sounds like a lot of money, but according to St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Megan Green, recent traffic calming projects around Tower Grove Park cost over $1 million. Her ward received a grant for that work, but had Green relied solely on ward capital, she would have had to sit on her yearly allocation for at least four years to save enough money for those few improvements, and no other projects in her ward, such as street lighting or dumpster replacement, would have been funded in that timeframe.
In a recent interview with KSDK, Alderpersons Joe Vaccaro (Ward 23) and Sharon Tyus (Ward 1) also decried the system. Vaccaro, who consistently spends nearly all of his Ward Capital, is suspicious of his colleagues who sit on their funding. “’You can tell when you leave my ward,’ he said, pointing across the bridge into the 24th Ward. ‘This side’s paved. That side’s not.’”
Meanwhile, Tyus, who chairs the City’s Streets, Traffic, and Refuse Committee, has saved up nearly $2 million in Ward Capital over the years. Tyus has previously claimed obstacles to spending the money on her desired projects.
“‘They won’t spend it,’ she said at a board meeting in December. ‘They haven’t. I’ve been requesting. I can show you the letter.’”
Currently, alderpersons have $8 million in accumulated ward capital money that could be in use to repair our infrastructure.
Divisive and fractured
Whether they’re saving money for one big project or spending it on immediate needs, it’s clear that the current system leaves alders with no choice but to apply a patchwork of fixes to a city-wide network.
In her Riverfront Times Op-Ed, Mayor Jones hinted at a bigger-picture need, for which Trailnet has been desperately advocating—the need for a comprehensive plan in the City of St. Louis.
Ward-by-ward “piecemeal solutions” prevent the city from effectively planning for a safer, more accessible transportation network. If the Streets Department doesn’t know what projects lie ahead—if city departments are paralyzed by the inaction of individual leaders—they are not afforded the time or resources to plan for long-term fixes, staffing needs, or equipment purchases.
If the city continues to react only to the small-scale symptoms (potholes, crumbling curbs, etc.) of a large-scale, decades-old problem, our streets will never be safe for people outside of cars.
Inequitably distributed
Zoomed out map of Trailnet’s Complete Sidewalk Assessment of The Ville/Greater Ville
Whatever the new comprehensive system is, it needs to take into account the areas of greatest need.
Trailnet recently completed a full sidewalk assessment of The Ville and Greater Ville neighborhoods—the first complete study of its kind in the St. Louis area. Trailnet’s Community Planner walked over 30 miles of sidewalk, marking sections that were ADA-non-compliant, inaccessible or nonexistent. Forty-seven percent of the 61 miles of sidewalk assessed in The Ville and Greater Ville were in need of significant repair.
This study is emblematic of the largest issue with the current system—different wards have different needs. Trailnet’s annual Crash Reports identify the highest crash corridors across the city. Our analysis of crash data consistently reveals a glaring truth: Black and minority communities suffer from a disproportionate amount of traffic violence. The state of the streets, sidewalks and intersections on the Northside is one of the reasons why that disparity exists.
As a result of decades of disinvestment, Northside streets and sidewalks need far more attention and funding. It is unacceptable that all of these areas currently receive proportionate funding to address disproportionate realities.
The northside wards are the areas of highest need—the areas where it’s unsafe to walk, bike or catch a bus. These are the areas that must be identified as the highest priorities in the city’s comprehensive plan. These are the areas that must receive the largest investment from the ½-cent sales tax.
Our recommendations
A number of systems might work more effectively than the current one. What matters most is that the current system be replaced by something better, something equitable, something that makes sense.
Trailnet’s recommendation is that the city do away with the ward-based capital improvement system. Instead, centralize the funding structure under one city department, and ensure that the money is being invested based on the infrastructure needs identified by a future comprehensive street study, as well as demographics such as poverty levels and car ownership. Treat the whole body, not its disparate parts, in pursuit of a safe system for everyone.
If you agree, contact the President of the Board’s office and your alderperson to voice your opinion. As the city moves from 28 to 14 wards this year, there will be many changes. A new and improved system for funding infrastructure improvements must be one of those changes, so that when you pay that sales tax, you know your money is being used to make our whole city better.
Trailnet will continue to advocate for a new system that better serves the people moving around our city. To stay informed on our advocacy work in the City, subscribe to our newsletters here.
Board Bill 120: What is it, and why should you care?
The infrastructure bill that could reshape our most dangerous streets
A bill was recently sent to committee by the City of St. Louis Board of Aldermen that could finally address some of the issues plaguing our streets. Here’s what you need to know about Board Bill 120:
In 2021, The City of St. Louis received nearly $500 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding, to be spent by 2026.
Thus, BB#120 was born. The initial version of the bill, sponsored by Ward 3 Alderman Brandon Bosley, allocates $74 million of ARPA funding to invest in infrastructure.
$40 million will go to the Board of Public Service for traffic calming, roadway and ADA improvements on corridors with the highest need.
$9.58 million will go to the Streets Department for sidewalk improvements and a mobility and transportation master plan.
Trailnet hopes, as this bill makes its way through the legislative process, the city considers adding a few details:
A provision for drivers education, which is not currently required in the state of Missouri,
A provision for equitably implemented enforcement, such as automated enforcement, which would reduce traffic violence and dangerous driving behaviors without adding to current racially biased enforcement strategies,
A line item that explicitly names the city’s commitment to Vision Zero, and the creation of a position to oversee and follow-through on said commitment to a Vision Zero plan.
This amount of money, if used correctly, could be seriously transformative—the first draft of the bill proposes over 4x the average yearly annual budget that goes toward street maintenance in the city.
This is a massive step in the right direction. Trailnet is proud of the part we have played in advocating for these changes. Now we look forward to helping the City make these improvements as quickly and effectively as possible, so that sometime in the near future, our Streets can truly be forAll.
St. Louis, MO – The Board of Directors of Trailnet support the following statement:
The Trailnet Board commends Mayor Tishaura Jones for proposing that the City commit $40 million to a comprehensive, city-wide street plan. We recommend the Board of Estimate and Apportionment and the Board of Aldermen pass this much-needed legislation with the provision that a portion of those funds be spent on a Vision Zero Action Plan and a media campaign to encourage responsible driving.
We also call on other organizations and individuals to get behind both initiatives and send letters and emails to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment and the Board of Aldermen. Together, we may make our streets safer for all.
Learn everything you need to know to be a part of Trailnet’s Street Team at our first virtual training on September 7 @ 6 pm!
The Trailnet Street Team is a group of volunteers who are helping to expand Trailnet’s presence in the community through tabling and visibility. If you’re passionate about biking, walking and transit in STL, consider joining our team!
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) lays out several steps for states, Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), and cities to take to better support the needs of people who walk, roll, bike, and use public transit.
In this joint letter, MRT, its leadership, and leaders from the health and accessibility sectors across the Show-Me State asked for details on how MoDOT plans to support these vulnerable road users through their implementation of the BIL. You can read the full letter below:
Former Director of The City of St. Louis Civil Rights Enforcement Agency joins our growing team!
As Policy Catalyst, Charles will lead Trailnet’s strategic policy and advocacy agenda through coalition-building, community outreach and government relations.
Charles began his career in non-profits, working in services for the unhoused in Baltimore, Maryland. After two years with Catholic Charities in Baltimore, he moved to work with the Illinois Department of Public Aid, where he oversaw federal and state grants for services for the unhoused. Eventually, he moved back to his home state of Missouri, where he worked for the Missouri Housing Development Commission as a proponent for low-income housing tax credit development for six years.
When Mayor Francis Slay was elected in 2001, he called on Charles to work as an advisor in his administration, where he was responsible for developing and implementing the overall neighborhood, ethnic and religious outreach plan for the City. During his time in City Hall, Charles worked with three mayors—as special advisor, Director of Public Safety, and for the last eight years, as the Director of the Civil Rights Enforcement Agency (CREA), enforcing federal, state and local fair housing, equal employment opportunity and public accommodation laws, rules and regulations, “a job I truly loved,” said Charles.
Charles will start with Trailnet in late June. As our new Policy Catalyst, he has one overarching goal:
“Listen. Listen to what the community is saying. Look at how our policies, procedures and practices can impact the needs of those various communities. Whether it’s black folks feeling underserved by public transit; Whether it’s the LGBTQIA+ community feeling afraid to walk in certain areas at night; Whether signage in our region adequately serves folks who speak English as a second language. The one thing I want to be able to accomplish is to listen to folks and address their needs.”
Charles currently lives downtown, a short walk from the Trailnet offices.
“I live downtown, in part, because I wanted access to public transit. Public transportation is a big deal for me, so I’m excited to see how my passion for transit can factor into this work.”
He also enjoys hiking, and he says he’s getting into biking.
“I’m in walking shape—I walk about 6.7 miles every couple of days through Forest Park—but that doesn’t mean I’m in biking shape. So I’m working on that,” he said with a smile.
We’re excited to have someone with Charles’s passion and experience join our team. Welcome!
Advocacy Action: Help update U.S. road standards for safer streets
An 800+ page federal document that has cemented unsafe road designs in our communities is being updated.
You can help make our streets safer by weighing in on the process. Trailnet and national partner organizations are calling on U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg to overhaul the document to prioritize safety for people walking and biking.
This spring the Federal Highway Administration is reviewing an enormous document called the MUTCD (Manual on Traffic Control Devices). This manual provides traffic engineers with regulations and guidance for items like signage, markings, and roadway design for all U.S. roads.
For the first time in 10 years, the MUTCD is up for review. Now is a great opportunity for the public to weigh in and help fix a document that fails to address everyday street safety. Regulations in the MUTCD consistently undermine the safety for people walking and biking while prioritizing convenience for people driving cars.
This failure is evident in how our current road design standards continue to create an environment that is unsafe for people walking and biking. In St. Louis County and St. Louis City, total deaths (walking, biking, and driving) have been steadily rising since 2010, with over 170 deaths in 2020, the highest in that 10-year period.
Priority Areas in need of Immediate Fixing: Trailnet agrees with other likeminded organizations like NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials), America Walks, and The League of American Bicyclists. Together we agree that in order to prioritize safety for people walking and biking, a complete overhaul and rewrite of the MUTCD is desperately needed.
This rewrite must address key priorities like:
The 85th Percentile Rule: The MUTCD advises traffic professionals to use an outdated metric called the 85th percentile rule. This rule sets speed limits at the speed where most people (85% of drivers) drive normally. Meaning that based on the size and type of road and given normal flows of traffic 85% of people drive below that set speed limit. This creates a cycle where each time speed limits are reviewed they are progressively increased. We know from NACTO’s City Limits document that “relying on [this type of] system focused on driver behavior, rather than a defined safety target to set speed limits, significantly limits the ability to reduce traffic deaths.” This “Rule” should no longer exist and should be phased out of the MUTCD.
Pedestrian Signal Requirements: The MUTCD does not require pedestrian-specific crossing signals to be installed at existing or new traffic lights. It instead relies on measures like previous pedestrian deaths and the number of people crossing to warrant new pedestrian signals. Additionally, the MUTCD doesn’t allow other factors such as: expected pedestrian traffic or the number of people who drive to cross busy streets instead of walking to justify adding signals for people walking. Currently, for a signalized pedestrian crossing to be added to a school, the MUTCD requires that there already be 20 children willing to risk their lives at crossing the street in an hour, before a signal can be added to protect them.
Crosswalks Guidelines: The MUTCD severely lack proactive safety regulation covering the installation and use of crosswalks. For a new signalized crosswalk to be installed, a location must have 93 people cross the street per hour or have had 4 or more pedestrians crashes in a 3-year period. The MUTCD also does not allow for colorful crosswalks within the roadway, even though high visibility crosswalks have been proven to enhance pedestrian safety, while also contributing to neighborhood vibrancy.
General Lack of Standards for Pedestrian Safety: Throughout the MUTCD there are several sections that mention pedestrian safety measures. However, a lot of those measures are not a federal regulation, but mere guidance that is not legally required for traffic professionals to adhere to.
Regulations that Deter Important Bike/Ped/Transit Projects: Within the MUTCD there are several regulations that can potentially deter things like bike lanes and bus rapid transit projects. For example, there are specific design requirements for bike lanes that cross driveways and certain intersections. Bus rapid transit projects often require expansive and expensive traffic studies that delay these types of projects, which prohibits cities from making strides to expand their public transit networks.
It should be mentioned that a majority of these comments and areas for improvement are shared among organizations like NACTO, America Walks, Trailnet and other similar biking and walking advocacy organizations. The fact that many national organizations have shared similar criticisms to this document shows the weight in how several regulations and standards impact the safety of people walking and biking on our streets. For more information on other MUTCD comments from those other organizations, we suggest these resources:
Trailnet is also realistic in the fact that a complete overhaul and rewrite of this document will take time to create and approve, and we believe that many of the current proposed amendments, are better than continuing with the 2009 version. As such we have crafted some specific suggestions to these amendments that could be incorporated while a full overhaul of this document is undertaken. You can read our specific immediate suggestions here, with the perspective that a full overhaul is still very much needed.
People’s lives and safety are jeopardized by the current document. While the proposed amendments make things marginally better, FHWA and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg should act with conviction and expediency to overhaul this document. Every minute wasted subjects our most vulnerable road users to the faulty logic within this document that prioritizes the convenience of people driving over the lives of people walking, biking, and trying to cross the street.
Below is a comment template that you can copy, paste, and input into the Federal Register’s comment portal. Feel free to customize this letter with some of the specific advocacy pushes that are important to you.
RE: Serious concerns about the MUTCD in its current form
Dear Acting Administrator Pollack and Secretary Buttigieg,
As a supporter of Trailnet, and a person who _________, I am commenting to elevate certain concerns about the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Here in St. Louis we have seen an increase in traffic fatalities and crashes over the last 10 years and federal standards and guidelines (like those in the MUTCD) have done little to regulate how roadways should be designed to promote bicycle and pedestrian safety, and in many cases have actively worked against it. These fatality rates are not unique to St. Louis, these trends are being seen across the United States and other like minded advocates like myself welcome an MUTCD that works for all road users, not just those using a motorized vehicle.
Documents like the MUTCD perpetuate out-of-date street design guidance and absurd regulations that prioritize the efficiency of moving traffic over the safety of people walking and biking. I join Trailnet and other transportation advocacy groups like America Walks, NACTO, and the League of American Bicyclists, to ask that the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices be completely rewritten with a focus on enhancing pedestrian and bicyclist safety. Specifically, revisions to the MUTCD need to focus on:
Prioritizing safety over speed. This means relying less on the 85th percentile rule and more on safety for all road users.
Standards that put the safety of people walking first on signalization and markings at intersections. This includes requirements for crosswalks and pedestrian signals at all intersections, relaxing regulations on colored crosswalks, and increasing the time pedestrian signals last, among other things.
Supporting pedestrian, bicycle, and transit projects that improve mobility for those users,in a way that doesn’t delay project timing, incur unnecessary costs, or deter these projects in general.
In conjunction with Trailnet and many others, I formally ask that the Federal Highway Administration rewrite the MUTCD in a way that prioritizes safety for people walking and biking, and allows traffic engineers and professionals to effectively plan and design roadways that encourage people to use core transportation options like walking, biking, and the use of public transportation.
How does St. Louis rank in comparison to other metropolitan areas in terms of pedestrian safety? Where is the most dangerous place for pedestrians in the country? Answers to these questions can be found in the most recent Dangerous by Design report, released in January by Smart Growth America.
The report has been produced for several years and identifies metropolitan areas and states that are most dangerous for people walking. The January report uses pedestrian fatality data from 2005-2014 to rank cities and states by
pedestrian deaths per 100,000 in population
a “pedestrian danger index,” calculated as the share of commuters who walk to work and the most recent data on pedestrian deaths.
Of the 104 metro areas ranked in the report, the two largest cities in Missouri, Kansas City and St. Louis, rank 45th and 52nd respectively. Florida has been the most dangerous state for pedestrians for the past four years, and it now has 8 of the top 10 most dangerous cities for pedestrians. In the past decade, over 46,000 people have been killed by motor vehicles while walking. The poor, the elderly, and people of color – those who are less likely to own cars or drive – make up a disproportionate share of the victims.
The report emphasizes that better street design will play a critical role in improving safety for people walking. Arterial roads, such as Manchester or Kingshighway in St. Louis, are particularly dangerous for pedestrians. These roads were designed for fast moving vehicles, often have sections that lack sidewalks, and have limited safe crossing opportunities for people who are walking. Arterial roads consign people traveling on foot to second-class status.
Trailnet has worked tirelessly for passage and implementation of Complete Streets policies in our region. A Complete Street is one that is designed with all users in mind: motorists, pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, the elderly, and the disabled. Making streets welcoming and safe for all users promotes active lifestyles, and helps to build communities that are vibrant, economically strong, and appealing to residents and employers.
Ask Gubernatorial Candidates About Transportation Funding
Earlier this year the Missouri General Assembly created the $20 million Missouri Moves Fund. It was an historic first because bicycle and pedestrian projects were finally eligible uses for state transportation funds. Last month, however, Governor Nixon moved to withhold Missouri Moves funds after a series of veto overrides by the legislature created budget shortfall implications.
Gov. Nixon stated the Missouri Moves program was not a solution to a long-term issue of funding the state’s growing transportation needs. Missouri needs stable, long-term, user fee-based transportation funding and Missouri Moves only provided a one-time infusion of general funds. A 21st century transportation system requires state funds for multi-modal uses, not just road projects. As MoDOT explained in the Missouri Moves Frequently Asked Questions, multi-modal transportation helps road users by reducing congestion and demand for car travel on roads and bridges.
Governor Nixon is leaving office soon. The two leading candidates running to replace him need to know that Missourians support funding for walking, bicycling, and transit. Trailnet urges you to contact candidates Chris Kosterand Eric Greitens. Tell them:
State funding for walking, biking and transit is important to you.
Road user-based sources are the most appropriate and stable for the state’s long-term transportation funding needs.
