urbanMSP

Metro Transit has bike lockers at some stations and park and rides.

https://www.metrotransit.org/bike-lockers

No point in charging for park and ride space when they're all empty now. Agree on changing the fare structure. No need for peak/off-peak (as it's an uncommon practice). Getting rid of the express fare zone isn't a bad idea either, given that express service is a small proportion of all service. A co...

IIRC they are braiding the 35W to 494 flyover ramp with the Penn Ave ramp, which would require a larger ROW. I believe they've value engineered the plans though, so that may no longer be the case.

MVTA already put the 447 in along the corridor that functions similar to how the CR 42 BRT concept would. It started with a 30 minute frequency, was dropped to 60 mins, and now 120 mins. They've also extended the 425/Orange Link during weekdays, and the 442 and 444 overlap to an extent. CR 42 BRT it...

Chicago has a network of wide freeways infrequently spaced and it just creates overburdened arterials that are awful places for doing anything including driving.

Proposed entertainment complex (including golf and pickleball) proposed for a former landfill near the NE corner of 35W and Cliff Rd in Burnsville.

https://burnsville.civicweb.net/documen ... 4310DBE957

IIRC, co-ops are less about building equity and more about long-term housing solutions. They're extremely uncommon outside of New York, and really only make sense as an alternative to traditional ownership models if there's a significant cost difference.

This table from the FHWA has freeway miles and freeway-lane miles. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policyinformation/statistics/2022/hm72.cfm Note that this table uses Federal-Aid Urbanized Areas, which are different definitions than CBSAs. It's incredibly interesting to look at how different metros stack ...

Google Earth is now showing 3/9/2024 imagery for Ramsey County, most of Dakota County, and most of Hennepin County north of Lake St and east of CR 101.

Uber and Lyft took off in Chicago because you could get one in minutes compared to a cab which you can only hail in downtown and on the north lakefront and a few other areas. When the costs were lower it was competitive to transit (especially when traveling as a group) and significantly faster. Of c...

Metro Transit has a survey out for the Purple Line, as well as engineering drawings for the segment between Maryland Ave and Maplewood Mall.

There are also several meetings later this month.

https://www.metrotransit.org/purple-lin ... engagement

Agreed. It makes no sense to not at a minimum move the benches and take down the old signs. MVTA had a bus stop signing program about 15 years ago but it seems like they never completed it.

Shakopee Transit put these stops in for the 496 local route back in the late 2000s, maybe around 2008. They actually put the city seal over the T logo when they installed the signs.

MVTA took over Shakopee Transit in 2015 and split the route into the 497 and 499.

The Mpls. 70 was separated into the 665 and the 670 in the early 2000s (2001 if I recall correctly). The branch that became the 665 served Hopkins and OPUS, while the branch that became the 670 served Hwy 7, Excelsior, and Orono. At some point in the 2010s the 665 was reorganized into the 664, while...

In the latest committee meeting, the project team discussed that they want to get the total cost under $400 million so that they can go through the Small Starts program instead of the New Starts program. That is going to require some scope reduction, and they basically said going past Maplewood Mall...

The difference between the streetcar and the bus is minimal. The bus actually has one more seat than the streetcar. The difference is the streetcar has a lot more room for standees, but at 8-11k riders/day it's unlikely that there will be many crush load situations. Compare to the three-car LRT whic...

The problem with Riverview is that it is a solution in search of a problem. It is a transit line that doesn't increase capacity or speed. It's basically a streetscaping project to increase land values and development. All the largest cost drivers are to tie it into the Blue Line so that it isn't a c...

The Horizon cars are more comfortable than the new Venture cars IMO, so I'm glad about that.

Macy's closing 150 stores. I'd imagine Burnsville, Southdale, and Maplewood would be the most at risk of closing.

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/02/27/inve ... index.html

That $507 million would be incremental real estate value. It's hard to say what the actual property tax generated would be but they are typically about 2% of value - so roughly $10 million per year.