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The St. Louis region's antuquated public transportation infrastructure received a major facelift during 1993. The first leg of a light rail system opened for public use, running from Lambert-International Airport to Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. The original light rail route from Lambert to Scott ran solo until 2003, when the regional transportation authority constructed a second route to take commuters from the inner suburb of Shrewsbury, Missouri to Fairview Heights, Illinois. The second route ran millions over budget due to incessant delays and, some insist, improper financial management by the transportation authority. The second route became a financial albatross that sunk the transportation authority deep into the red.

Nonetheless, both light rail routes survived budget cuts enacted in March of 2009. Each route reaches peak frequency during the morning and evening rush hours, with trains running ten minutes apart. The airport to Scott Air Force Base leg runs through deeply impoverished areas, before settling into the central corridor where cultural amenities such as the world famous zoo and theater district await commuters. The Shrewsbury to Fairview Heights leg takes commuters into the county hub of Clayton, before it also settles into the central corridor.

The airport leg is referred to as the red line, while the Shrewsbury leg is called the blue line. Both light rail routes merge at the Forest Park station. This is the point where blue line commuters must get off and catch the red line to the airport, and where red line commuters switch trains for the blue line to take them into Clayton. Train conductors gently remind commuters about the importance of the Forest Park stop.

Both lines head east from Forest Park towards downtown. Union Station is the first stop within the downtown corridor. From there, tourists can navigate downtown by exclusively using the light rail system. The light rail stations within the downtown corridor from Union station are (in sequence) the Civic Center (Home of the St. Louis Blues), Busch Stadium, Eight and Pine (the heart of Downtown), Convention Center, and the highly popular entertainment district called Laclede's Landing.

Complementing the light rail system is an extensive bus grid. Some of the routes slashed due to budget cuts habe been restored as of August, 2009. This means buses once again run outside of Interstate 270. The circular interstate is comparable to the "beltway" that circumnavigates Washington DC.

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