Twin Cities Future Transit Map

[Visualizer]

Fixed! I've re-checked everything one.more.time. *take a long deep breath* should be okay now...

Note: Updated Zazzle store and PDF download links.

[Visualizer]

Transit Maps has posted a review of the Future Twin Cities map. Head over there to check it out:
http://transitmaps.tumblr.com/post/4935 ... ies-future

[mulad]

Argh... Now the 54 is jumping out at me, with its link to the airport that looks like a branch. All of the buses go to the airport, so I would probably make it so the route curves toward the airport from both the south and north ends of the line, and the straight-through bit gets removed. The dashed-line segment (indicating non-stop/express service) on the 54 could probably also be lengthened to reach across the Mississippi to the Highland Park neighborhood. There aren't any stops along the freeway segment of MN-5.

[Visualizer]

Good point, Mulad. Will make a note of it for future updates.

[Visualizer]

If you have recently purchased a print from Zazzle and it looks blurry, then please contact Zazzle's customer support and get an account credit.

There was an issue with their quality, but it has been solved now. Updated design will be made available at the store shortly.

And if you have access to your own large format printer, you may always use the original PDF file to print your own posters!

[helsinki]

These maps are cool and exciting. A recent statistic hit home how much room for improvement remains, however.

In 2012, Metro Transit ridership was 81 million . http://metrotransit.org/metro-transit-2 ... 81-million

In 2012, MVV ridership (the Munich, Germany transit authority) ridership was 663 million . http://www.sueddeutsche.de/m5i38D/13539 ... ekord.html

The Twin Cities metropolitan area has 3.4 million people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minneapolis

The Munich metropolitan area has 2.7 million people. http://www.pv-muenchen.de/leistung/vero ... G_2012.pdf

So, in sum: despite the Twin Cities having 1.26 times more people, Munich has over 8 times as many transit rides!

Everything else being equal, that's crazy. Munich isn't some nutty anti-car liberal fantasyland; it's quite conservative and it's the home of BMW for heavens sake. In my opinion, our best case scenario maps are unambitious.

[kellonathan]

Everything else being equal, that's crazy.

Agreed. But apparently not. Munich has much higher (almost double, I assume. Correct me if I am wrong, please.) population density compared to that of the Twin Cities which means more people and less area to cover to serve the area.

And looking at their extensive rail network just makes me depressed---compared to what we have now and even our ambitious 2030 plan.

http://www.mvv-muenchen.de/fileadmin/me ... glisch.pdf

[helsinki]

Yeah, and that's just the U-Bahn and S-Bahn, it doesn't show the (extensive) tram network or the bus network.

Yes, I think density is the crucial distinction - but in sort of an odd way. The areas around Munich stations are quite dense, even in the furthest suburbs. Between suburban stations, however, there are generally large tracts of farmland.

Given that the Twin Cities take their essential form from the streetcar, I find it eminently plausible that a built-out system with nodal infill development could result in commensurately high transit use. All those little pre-war retail clusters at key intersections (in Minneapolis, at least) have enormous potential to ground such development . . .

[woofner]

Not to negate the density factor, which I agree is the most important, I'd add that urban design and culture are also factors. I've spent time with Germans in sprawling, fairly low density areas who are willing and able to bike, walk or use transit on occasion. They do so for cultural reasons (environmental, health, and safety) and because gas prices are high, but also because there is infrastructure that allows them to do so - this includes bike paths and sidewalks but also traffic calmed local streets and arterials. Few of these cultural reasons and almost none of the infrastructure exists in American sprawl.

Frankly, changing the culture and infrastructure of sprawl here is a huge task that very few people seem interested in, and almost no one with any amount of power. So I don't see the Future Transit Map as unambitious, I'd say it's realistic or even on the ambitious side and appropriate for the level of transit use we're likely to see anytime soon. If somehow people wake up to the environmental consequences of single-occupancy vehicles, we'll probably see more Freeway BRT and hopefully more high-frequency bus service in the suburbs than depicted by 2030, but that would be the only significant addition. Of course this has significant implications for the long-term economic viability of global civilization, but most of us on this forum will probably be dead or dying before that takes a severe form, more severe than say the Great Depression for example.

[twincitizen]

Not to derail you guys (har har) but I really wish we had not put the Gold Line on there, since it seems that an interlined East-West 7th Street BRT is actually just a few years from reality. OR alternatively, indulging in a little fantasy, had made the Gold Line an interlined service between Maplewood Mall (i.e. not White Bear Lake) and Mall of America.

What do you think Visualizer? Care to convert the Route 54 to an extension of the Gold Line (and possibly shorten it to Maplewood Mall Park & Ride, rather than White Bear Lake...this part is less important if it screws everything up)

[Visualizer]

I'm a little busy right now. Do you want to plot the tracks and potential stations on a Google map? I will drop everything into existing map when I get a chance.

[bptenor]

The interlining aBRT on W/E 7th will definitely happen first, but the "Gold" line is also moving forward it looks like. The Ramsey Regional Railroad Authority just reinstated funding for the Rush Line Advanced Alternatives Analysis, so after a number of years hiatus, this may be moving forward again. So, there are a number of lines that will be moving through this corridor, possibly. A streetcar line up E 7th (but not up to Maplewood Mall) could also happen. And the way things seem to be going, aBRT and streetcars could both end up on W 7th as well.

[twincitizen]

Finally got around to ordering one, from the Society6 link on streets.mn: http://society6.com/KyrilNegoda/Future- ... Print#1=45

They're offering $5 off and free shipping right now, not sure how long that will last.

I bought the large.

The artwork/decor at my apartment is quickly becoming city/map centric. Now I just need something historical...

[Visualizer]

Fantastic, thank you! Releasing a new version soon.

[bptenor]

Just an FYI, there is now a stop at Etna on the Gateway Corridor, between Earl and White Bear Ave. The east end of the corridor (Oakdale/Woodbury) is still undecided.

[twincitizen]

Fantastic, thank you! Releasing a new version soon.

I figure I'll only have to buy a frame once, so if we (you) keep updating it as things change (Gateway, aBRT lines, etc), I can afford to spend $20 & change on a new map. I'm sure someone here will gladly take the slightly incorrect one off my hands at the next happy hour. Or I can just crop the east metro out of frame and pretend it doesn't exist

[Visualizer]

I'm 90% certain the dimensions will change. Might wanna hold off buying the frame for the time being.

[illman00]

I just joined and haven't read the whole thread but why not have a light rail down midtown greenway? Seems like there is talk and I personally think it would be route used a lot especially if it went from the southwest corridor to the central corridor lines.

[talindsay]

The city is planning to build one, linking Southwest's West Lake station to Hiawatha's Lake Street station. They're calling it "streetcar" for a variety of reasons, but what they're describing would run LRVs at light-rail-like frequencies with light-rail-like efficiency, on mostly two-track, light-rail-spec infrastructure.

For the moment nobody's discussing extending it on to Central, though that's an idea we've all been discussing around here for a good long time. Check out the Midtown Corridor thread for more information about it. My personal hope is that eventually, the "streetcar" will dive under a short tunnel under the Minnehaha-Lake node, reemerge in the median of East Lake at about 29th (by the library), cross the River and then jog up perhaps Pelham or Cretin or Cleveland to connect in with the Central tracks at the Raymond or Fairview stations. That's certainly not going to happen any time soon though.

[David Greene]

The city is planning to build one, linking Southwest's West Lake station to Hiawatha's Lake Street station.

Small correction: Metro Transit is running that project, not the city. They haven't used the term "streetcar" for quite some time, preferring to talk about "the rail option."