urbanMSP

Just wishing for Bright Line or another private company to run HSR doesn't mean it would make financial sense for a route between MSP and Chicago. The City Geek video showed that the corridors that are being pursued now Miami/ Orlando, Houston/ DFW, San Francisco/ Los Angeles, and Los Angeles/ Las V...

City Geek on Youtube ran an analysis of the 10 U.S. rail corridors most ready for high speed rail awhile back. The MSP to Chicago didn't make the list due to lack of density and the significant distance of 400 miles. So, I doubt Bright Line or Amtrak will consider it, and the fact that a Rochester r...

It's 1980's thinking to devote two major north south streets (Marquette & 2nd Avenue) to serve suburban transit that only operates at peak times and whose ridership has cratered. Metro Transit's highest ridership routes need to move off painfully slow Nicollet Mall. Plus, Minneapolis shouldn't h...

I'm thrilled that they are finally pursuing this, but geez... Minneapolis citizens have asked for this for generations. Nicollet Mall is painfully slow for buses and major routes like the 18 and 17 deserve faster service. I suggest moving local buses over to Marquette and suburban transit providers ...

The Metropolitan Council released their 2022 population estimates this week for cities in the region: https://metrocouncil.org/Data-and-Maps/Research-and-Data/Annual-Population-Estimates.aspx#content Unlike the estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Met Council shows healthy growth in Minneapoli...

Totally agree! The Route #23 is still at one bus an hour off peak and weekends. In June weekday frequency is being increased to every 30 minutes, but remains one bus per hour in the evening and on weekends. Abysmal bus service!!!

Hooray! I love this project and am so excited that it will move forward. Question: Does anyone know who is funding the portion of the track upgrades and new station in Superior, WI? It seems odd that MN would provide funds for that part of the project. However, all the articles I read about WI passe...

The US. Census Bureau released 2022 population estimates for cities this week. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html#uscb-nav-skip-local They estimate that Minneapolis grew slightly in 2022 from a big drop in 2021. 2020: 430,6684 2021: 424,635 2...

That ridership info is fascinating as it demonstrates the huge hit in boardings caused by the pandemic. It seems that the Blue Line's ridership is recovering much faster than the Green Line, which has only slightly higher ridership than the Blue Line now. Pre-COVID the Green Line was in the high 40,...

Meh. I hope the region will stop building these expensive BRT routes after this project is done and ridership falls well below projections. The Red and Orange BRT lines have proven that serving car-oriented sprawl with more car-oriented sprawl doesn't draw people to use transit. Maybe they can spend...

For those who are advocating for the streetcar option, what makes it superior to ABRT/ BRT? It seems that speed, reliability and capacity are limited by the decisions already made like mixed right-of-way service, lack of signal priority and the choice of two car trains. Beyond "rail bias" ...

The Minneapolis City Council Public Works & Infrastructure Committee is scheduled to approve an agreement between MNDOT and Greyhound during their meeting on Thursday. Apparently, Greyhound will move their operations over to Ramp B utilizing the lobby as a waiting room. MNDOT owns Ramp B and Min...

Hennepin County has begun planning for the reconstruction of Franklin Avenue (Street?) between Lyndale and Chicago Avenues. This presentation prepared for the Minneapolis Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committees gives more details: https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/download/Agenda/4542/Franklin_BACan...

The small format Target Stores are frustrating because they often charge more for goods than their larger counterparts. I've learned to avoid them based on that experience. However, it's a big loss for the neighborhood, particularly for people who don't drive.

It is pretty frustrating that this project has gone so far over budget and behind schedule. The region is sorely in need of faster and reliable transit that serves the most people possible. The extreme cost relative to the ridiculous route through a park is pretty outrageous. If only the line served...

The link above about the Fornebu tunnel in Oslo also mentions the construction of a second subway tunnel through central Oslo to serve their expanding heavy rail system. I seems, however, that the possibility of constructing a tunnel under downtown Minneapolis, or anywhere else in the City, has been...

My bus driver on the route #23 said Metro Transit is hoping to restore service frequency along the route with the June 2023 schedule changes. This depends upon whether they can hire enough drivers, however. By the way a bus once an hour is abysmal frequency and I'm so frustrated every time I need to...

Would it be possible to extend the Northstar service from St. Cloud to Brainerd? It's a relatively large region that continues to grow. In particular, I imagine folks taking the train during the summer and meeting up with family or friends that drove avoiding the weekend traffic congestion. IMO it s...

One more thing... The downtown subway tunnel described in the document takes a route I've never heard of previously. There would be 5 underground stations in/ near downtown Minneapolis largely following Marquette Ave. This includes a Central Library, Warehouse District station, 7th & Marquette/ ...

I couldn't seem to read the second journal article for some reason. The first one entitled "Underground Station Design Issues for Light Rail Transit in the Twin Cities Geography" was pretty interesting. It was written in 1992 and describes challenges with constructing LRT tunnels in three ...