urbanMSP

Today I took a walk around the Upper Harbor Terminal site. For now it's a big and empty space, but the roads leading into the site are paved and you can tell where the street will be along the river connecting Dowling and 33rd. An old grain elevator (I think that's what it is anyway) still stands, d...

^ Hey, thank you! I fell in love with the U of M the first time I went to the East Bank a number of years ago, it has such great urban form. I have a couple more confessions: 1. I live well within biking distance of my school, but I choose to use a car to get there on days I have extracurriculars (...

Gold Line is on the verge of being officially delayed. There was substantial trouble getting some utilities moved (I think) and that delayed a large part of the work for a while. The project committee had to sign off on reordering the project's construction schedule and authorize more winter work t...

Last weekend I checked out construction between Woodlane Drive and Mounds Boulevard. Here's a brief summary of what I saw at each station site: Woodlane Drive Station-Dirt has been moved, but nothing besides that from what I could see. Queens Drive Station-No construction yet. Tamarack Road Station...

Also annoying when people take the estimated cost of a project and divide it by the route length and they assume that's the cost per mile of road or rail. There's so many things that go into infrastructure projects (utilities, equipment, labor, etc.) so it's not that simple.

Speaking of the Opus area, around 10 years ago I remember a reverse commute route between Opus and downtown. It was either an express or limited-stop service, and there was only one trip per weekday. An oddball route to me, but maybe an employer contracted with Metro Transit to provide it. I know it...

While checking out the light rail construction in the Opus area I drove by a sign that I'm guessing was used by bus drivers for navigating (wouldn't be surprised considering how much of a confusing mess the road system is in that area). There wasn't a good and safe spot for me to take a picture so ...

While checking out the light rail construction in the Opus area I drove by a sign that I'm guessing was used by bus drivers for navigating (wouldn't be surprised considering how much of a confusing mess the road system is in that area). There wasn't a good and safe spot for me to take a picture so h...

For those of you in the Blue Line Extension thread talking about connecting West Lake and Lake Street-Midtown, the latter was already built with a Midtown Rail connection in mind. My source being the Hiawatha Line design blueprints that I found while interning at Metro Transit a few years ago. From ...

For everyone who laments the mistaken alignment of SW light rail (2c was far superior - should have gone thru uptown - would have saved money (no tunnel) and improved ridership), I would urge you to NOT support a street car. Why can't this be light rail? Either build light rail, or go with ABRT. Do...

For everyone who laments the mistaken alignment of SW light rail (2c was far superior - should have gone thru uptown - would have saved money (no tunnel) and improved ridership), I would urge you to NOT support a street car. Why can't this be light rail? Either build light rail, or go with ABRT. Do...

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 whi...

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 ...

Seems SWLRT and Bottineau have messed with our perception of what good rail transit is and how much it should reasonably cost.

So what's good rail transit to you, and what do you think is a reasonable cost for that?

I looked at the specs for the Siemens S70 streetcar and the New Flyer Xcelsior articulated bus. Here's the links to them: https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:84a2a884b764be46b8410cd8ab45d52bca0deda8/atlanta-s70-data-sheet.pdf https://www.newflyer.com/bus/xcelsior-charge-ng/ Specs ...

Look, I know LRT is best for Riverview, but quite a few of you are making perfect be the enemy of good. I think there should instead be a focus on the options Ramsey County has put on the table and advocating for the best one, which is Streetcar Option 1. It's not LRT, but it's pretty close to it w...

I don't see it as a shame to shut down a route that was part of the much bigger Route 494 failure. To me it's a shame money is being burned on these experiments that are doomed to fail, especially the express routes that pretty much only serve suburban park & rides and light commercial/industria...

Look, I know LRT is best for Riverview, but quite a few of you are making perfect be the enemy of good. I think there should instead be a focus on the options Ramsey County has put on the table and advocating for the best one, which is Streetcar Option 1. It's not LRT, but it's pretty close to it wi...

MVTA service changes March 16th. https://www.mvta.com/news-items/mvta-service-schedules-adjust-on-march-16/ Highlights: 4Fun Bus returns with service operating Thursday-Sunday, and stops added at the Twin Cities Premium Outlet Mall in Eagan and Omry Apartments at Canterbury Park in Shakopee. Route 4...

Streetcar isn't perfect, but it's not doom and gloom like people seem to be implying. Of all the modern streetcar lines in the country I think this would be one of the best. Way better than the short-route streetcars that are only intended to attract development rather than upgrade transit service. ...