urbanMSP

Open house in White Bear Lake

Thursday, January 10 | 4:30 - 7:30 p.m.

In January, Rush Line BRT Project staff will be seeking input on several downtown White Bear Lake station location options in response to public feedback in recent months. Join staff for an open house at White Bear Lake City Hall on Thursday, January 10 to learn more about the Rush Line BRT Project and provide input on the downtown station location options under evaluation. Stop in any time to talk with project staff and enjoy some light refreshments.

Additionally, an online survey will be released in early January to collect input about the station location options in downtown White Bear Lake. The survey will allow community members to provide input whether or not they are able to attend the open house.

An accompanying online survey received 365 responses throughout January – most respondents reported that they live and/or work in downtown White Bear Lake [...] Although many respondents expressed ideas for a location other than those presented, the station located at 7th Street & Washington Avenue (“Option A”) was the most popular proposed site among survey respondents. While the survey received a robust response, the results are reflective of a self-selected group rather than a statistically valid random sample.

Yeah, a little bit of a walk to the actual downtown and you have to cross the highway.

Why are they not going with the original decided location?

We do bad transit.

We do bad transit.

Only because local policy-makers overrule the staff that actually know how to do this right. Every time someone argues for more elected officials (e.g. elected Met Council), just remember that this is what we get when people who are afraid of facing a vocal minority of angry voters make decisions.

On the Rush Line trip to Richmond, VA, a big question came up from a Metro Transit staff person about whether or not an articulated bus can get three doors close enough to the platform to make level boarding functional. It seems that only one of the doors (front or middle) actually needs to be within the minimum gap (~7cm?), but the rear door would likely have a significantly larger gap.

It appeared every driver approached the platform very slowly and carefully, which added a few seconds of travel time. The maintenance supervisor also spoke of a higher incidence of body damage, though this is partly due to poor station design.

I was told level boarding with articulated buses is functioning fine in another North American city, even one that has snow, but I've forgotten what city that is.

Is near-level boarding better than level boarding in practice?

On the Rush Line trip to Richmond, VA, a big question came up from a Metro Transit staff person about whether or not an articulated bus can get three doors close enough to the platform to make level boarding functional. It seems that only one of the doors (front or middle) actually needs to be within the minimum gap (~7cm?), but the rear door would likely have a significantly larger gap.

It appeared every driver approached the platform very slowly and carefully, which added a few seconds of travel time. The maintenance supervisor also spoke of a higher incidence of body damage, though this is partly due to poor station design.

I was told level boarding with articulated buses is functioning fine in another North American city, even one that has snow, but I've forgotten what city that is.

Is near-level boarding better than level boarding in practice?

How is the C line working? They use articulated buses with level entry, right?