St. Louis is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is located near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while its metropolitan area, which extends into Illinois, had an estimated population of over 2.8 million. It is the largest metropolitan area in Missouri and the second-largest in Illinois. The city's combined statistical area is the 20th-largest in the United States.
The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois. It is located on the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing to the north, and the grounds of the Gateway Arch to the south. The bridge is named for its designer and builder, James Buchanan Eads. Work on the bridge began in 1867, and it was completed in 1874. The Eads Bridge was the first bridge across the Mississippi south of the Missouri River. Earlier bridges were located north of the Missouri, where the Mississippi is smaller. None of the earlier bridges survived, which means that the Eads Bridge is also the oldest bridge on the river.
MetroLink is a light rail system that serves the Greater St. Louis area. Operated by Metro Transit in a shared fare system with MetroBus, the two-line, 38-station system runs from St. Louis Lambert International Airport and Shrewsbury in Missouri to Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. Intermediate destinations include downtown Clayton, Forest Park, and downtown St. Louis. It is the only U.S. light rail system to cross state lines.
Laclede's Landing, colloquially "the Landing", is a small urban historic district in St. Louis, Missouri. It marks the northern part of the original settlement founded by the Frenchman Pierre Laclède, whose landing on the riverside the placename commemorates. Originally he tasked his 14-year-old stepson, Auguste Chouteau, with the task of preparing the land that sat 10 miles south of the Mississippi-Missouri area. A stone house was erected and named Laclede's home in the village he named "St. Louis" as a homage to King Louis IX of France. Initially, fur trade and trapping was the economic interest that would spark Pierre's interest in using the landing and making his stepson the richest citizen. The area is now decorated with 19th century warehouses and other period buildings.
The Metro East is an urban area in Southern Illinois, United States that contains the eastern and northern urban, suburban, and exurban areas on the Mississippi River in Greater St Louis. It encompasses eight Illinois counties and constitutes the second-most populous metropolitan area in Illinois.
Metro Transit is an enterprise of the Bi-State Development Agency and operates public transportation services in the St. Louis region. In 2023, the system had an annual ridership of 19,528,200, or about 64,600 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2024.
Union Station is a light rail station on the Red and Blue lines of the St. Louis MetroLink system. This below-grade station is located partially within the former baggage tunnel beneath historic St. Louis Union Station near 18th Street at its intersection with Clark Avenue.
Civic Center station is a light rail station on the Red and Blue lines of the St. Louis MetroLink system. This below-grade station is located near 14th and Spruce streets near Interstate 64. It is also the primary transfer station for MetroBus and serves bus routes operated by Madison County Transit. Additionally, the station adjoins the Gateway Multimodal Transportation Center which has intercity services provided by Amtrak, Greyhound, and others.
Stadium station is a light rail station on the Red and Blue lines of the St. Louis MetroLink system. This below-grade station is located alongside 8th Street between Spruce Street and Clark Avenue.
8th & Pine station is a light rail station on the Red and Blue lines of the St. Louis MetroLink system. This subway station is located beneath the intersection of 8th and Pine streets in St. Louis' Central Business District.
Convention Center station is a light rail station on the Red and Blue lines of the St. Louis MetroLink system. This subway station is located beneath the intersection of 6th Street and Washington Avenue in St. Louis' Central Business District.
East Riverfront is a light rail station on the Red and Blue lines of the St. Louis MetroLink system. This elevated station was built on a reconstructed viaduct east of the historic Eads Bridge near the East St. Louis, Illinois riverfront.
Transportation in Greater St. Louis, Missouri includes road, rail, ship, and air transportation modes connecting the bi-state St. Louis metropolitan area with surrounding communities throughout the Midwest, national transportation networks, and international locations. The Greater St. Louis region also supports a multi-modal transportation network that includes bus, paratransit, and light rail service in addition to shared-use paths, bike lanes and greenways.
Skinker station is a light rail station on the Blue Line of the St. Louis MetroLink system. This subway station is located beneath the intersection of Skinker Boulevard and Forest Park Parkway near the boundary of St. Louis and University City, Missouri.
Forsyth station is a light rail station on the Blue Line of the St. Louis MetroLink system. This below-grade station is located beneath the intersection of Forest Park Parkway and Forsyth Boulevard near the border of University City and Clayton.
The Great Rivers Greenway District is a public agency created in 2000 to develop a regional network of greenways. Great Rivers Greenway engages citizens and community partners to plan, build and care for the greenways. In its first 20 years the agency built more than 128 miles of greenways connecting parks, rivers, schools, neighborhoods, business districts and transit.
The Red Line is the older and longer line of the MetroLink light rail system in Greater St. Louis. It serves 29 stations across three counties and two states.
The Blue Line is the newer and shorter line of the MetroLink light rail service in Greater St. Louis. It serves 25 stations across three counties and two states.
The Bi-State Development Agency is an interstate compact established between Missouri and Illinois in 1949. This compact created an organization that has broad powers in seven county-level jurisdictions. Bi-State operates five enterprises, including the Gateway Arch Riverfront, Metro Transit, the St. Louis Downtown Airport, the St. Louis Regional Freightway and the Bi-State Development Research Institute.
The Downtown Tunnel, sometimes referred to as the St. Louis Freight Tunnel, is a historic railroad tunnel beneath Washington Avenue and Eighth Street in downtown St. Louis. Completed in 1874, it carried freight and passenger trains between the Eads Bridge and the rail yards in the Mill Creek Valley, bypassing busy downtown streets. It fell into disuse after closing in 1974 and sat dormant for nearly two decades before its rehabilitation in 1993 for use by MetroLink, the light rail system in Greater St. Louis.
