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Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

Connected2045 proposes spending about $31 billion in the region through 2045, with approximately 87 percent of that amount being used for road and bridge rehabilitation or reconstruction, transit vehicle and facility replacement and rehabilitation, state highway and regional transit system operations, and safety projects.
by East-West Gateway May 18 at 6:02 PM

If the plan outlines building bicycle infrastructure, why did EWG recently choose not to implement a bike share program in STL?
by Jack Bowe May 18 at 6:09 PM

Funding for local projects is based on competitive process. In the case of the CMAQ (congestion mitigation/air quality) the evaluation is based on emission reductions and costs. The bike share project did not compete well enough to receive funding from this program at this time.

You might be interested in Trailnet's report on bike share.

http://images.scribblelive.com/2015/5/18/846a1891-da88-4f90-8db3-620a6d1...

Link: 

Share your thoughts on long-range transportation for St. Louis. Join Monday's live chat

MoBikeFed comment: It is unfortunate that East-West Gateway seems to be leading the effort to keep Bike Share out of St. Louis instead of leading the charge to bring it to the area.

BikeShare does indeed have the problems outlined in the reported linked above, but: EVERY SINGLE ONE of the federal programs that East-West Gateway administers HAS THOSE VERY SAME PROBLEMS.

The only difference being, the existing EWGW programs have a price tag of a few *billion* dollars per year whereas Bike Share would have a price tag of a few million per year at most.

Usually when a certain good program has certain issues that need to be addressed, you move forward to address the issues and make it a better program. You don't simply use those issues as an excuse for not moving forward on the program.

It would be quite different if EWGW's other programs startlingly efficient in removing emissions and working for a cleaner, greener St Louis area. But in reality the STL is one of the most sprawled and auto-dependent in the entire U.S. and EWGW policies are a big part of the reason for that.

At some point we need a paradigm shift in our thinking about transportation; comments like those by EWGW above are a good indication we are along way from it.