Bi-State takes control of troubled Loop Trolley, must restart operations by June

With a federal deadline to jump-start the Loop Trolley less than two weeks away, a regional agency has stepped up to take control of the project.

Commissioners of the Bi-State Development Agency, which operates the Metrolink and bus systems in the St. Louis region, voted Friday to manage the Loop Trolley through June 2025.

Under a newly revised agreement with the Loop Trolley Transportation Development District, the agency will oversee the trolley and ensure it operates four days a week — but will not be financially responsible for the project. The move aims to help the St. Louis region avoid jeopardizing federal funding for future transit projects, after the Federal Transportation Administration warned that local officials would be required to pay back tens of millions of dollars in grant funding unless the trolley resumed operations.

Bi-State Development declined to take control of the 2.2-mile trolley line two years ago, citing the financial burden it would have placed on the agency.

https://news.stlpublicradio.org/economy-business/2022-02-18/bi-state-takes-control-of-troubled-loop-trolley-must-restart-operations-by-june