ST. LOUIS, Missouri
Population: 317,419
Unemployment: 5.7 percent
Key Transportation Infrastructure: Terminal Railroad Assn. of St. Louis
St. Louis is the nation’s third-largest freight rail hub with service provided on tracks owned by the likes of railroad heavyweights Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern and BNSF. They are among the companies that own the Terminal Railroad Assn (TRRA), a switching and terminal railroad that operates 30 diesel-electric locomotives to move railcars around yards. The Port of St. Louis is the second-largest inland port by trip-ton miles, handling more than 32 million tons of freight annually. n