Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

[IllogicalJake]

MetroTransit's API is plugged into a lot of transit apps, yeah. If they're not supplying that real time data yet, they probably will eventually.

[FISHMANPET]

Currently OMGTransit isn't pulling data for light rail stops.

But really I just want the little nextrip list in a form that I can set it up and let it run forever and never have to think about it. I've got enough spare hardware laying around it wouldn't be too difficult.

[mulad]

OMGTransit (on Android) seems to be working for me for light rail. That tends to hold up pretty well for refreshing, though I'm not sure if they have a method for showing everything happening at a broader site (both platforms at a rail station, a bi-directional pair of bus stops or quad set where routes cross, a single transit center with multiple gates, etc.)

But yeah, a relatively robust app running on any hardware you can find (old phone, tablet, or even laptop/PC) could make for a good indoor display -- even "outdoor" if you can place it next to a window (also, some phones/tablets can spit out HDMI video to TVs/monitors, if the built-in display is too small or in poor condition)

[acs]

http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/289173451.html

Southwest Transit wants to eliminate both their local bus routes, 635 and 636, as well as cut the number of trips on route 687 to target north campus. May be effective starting Feb 2. Pretty short-sighted since their express bus service will effectively be killed by SWLRT.

[mattaudio]

No, the express bus service will definitely stay. For traditional commuters headed to/from downtown at peak hours, there's no way LRT can beat an express bus.

[FISHMANPET]

I asked about this many years ago when someone from the Met Council spoke to my Urban Studies class, and the idea is that at the start, the express buses would be faster than the rail, but as time goes on and traffic increases, the buses would get slower, but the train would stay the same, so eventually the train would be faster, at which point SW Transit could just whither away on the vine?

[mattaudio]

Yet we continue to build things like HOT lanes and transit advantages as traffic increases, so I can't see that happening.

[FISHMANPET]

Yeah I don't see the SW being happy with increasing highway travel times.

[acs]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the end to end time for SWLRT supposed to be around 35 minutes? That's roughly 10 minutes longer (possibly less from southwest station only) while still making all the stops. Combined with rail bias/all day frequency and I wouldn't be surprised if this takes a significant chunk out of Southwest Transit's express business right away. Regardless, I think Eden Prairie needs/wants more local service, not less, to feed the light rail and make it a success.

[mattaudio]

Yes, though ride quality on an express bus far surpasses LRT.

[Tcmetro]

With regards to the SW Transit service, post SW LRT there will still be a significant amount of express service. Express service has the demand for sub-5-minute frequencies during the peak of the peak and can travel to Minneapolis faster with the bus shoulders on 169 and the MnPass lanes on 394. SW Transit will also have all of their routes from Carver, Chanhassen, and Chaska. I'm not familiar with the midday ridership, so I'm not sure if they should keep the full service to downtown, or have a transfer at SW Station to the Green Line.

As for local service, I think they are giving up too early and are too unwilling to work with Metro Transit. A much better network for SW Transit service area would be extensions of existing routes. 540 to SW Station via Viking Dr/Prairie Center, 542 to SW Station via 78th and Singletree Ln, branch of 539 to SW Station via Anderson Lakes, 614 from SW Station to Ridgedale via Chanhassen. The costs may be higher, but those routes are already established and are natural extensions. However, read through any of the SWT Board packets and it's easily found that they are adverse to having a good relationship with the Met Council. There's a huge us v.s. them mentality amongst the suburban transit providers.

[ECtransplant]

There's a huge us v.s. them mentality amongst the suburban transit providers.

Seeing as the whole reason suburbs became a thing in the first place is so that the "us" could flee the "them," that's not really surprising.

[acs]

http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/289607381.html

Strib article on a presentation today by New Met Council Chair Duininck and Charlie Zelle. Headline is "$2.8 billion for transit will largely expand bus system". Sounds like highway BRT is a go but when you read the article it shows a slide outlining where that money would be spent:

SWLRT
Bottineau LRT
Red Line Extension
Orange Line
Gold Line
11 aBRT
Red Rock
Riverview
Robert Street
"Additional transitways under development"

Nothing really new, besides a re-commitment to robert street and riverview.

[mattaudio]

So with the exception of 11 aBRT, Riverview, and maybe Robert Street, it doesn't sound like we'd even be getting *good* transit in exchange for massive continuation of sprawl subsidies. What a fail.

[EOst]

Bottineau will be a boon to housing values near Theo Wirth, though. I talked to someone a few months back who was looking at houses near various Bottineau stations (esp. near the Plymouth one, if it's built) because they're so cheap that their value could really only go up.

[Tcmetro]

Would be nice to see Midtown acknowledged. One of the cheapest and highest ridership projects.

[mattaudio]

Maybe that will change when Opat is no longer Hennepin board chair. But it would be nice if the Met Council would champion it too.

[RailBaronYarr]

Would be nice to see Midtown acknowledged. One of the cheapest and highest ridership projects.

It's odd, in Met Council's TPP they specifically call Midtown out in the increased revenue scenario. It would be nice to see here, for sure, as to me it's the single best rail transit project we could do in the region.

Bottineau will be a boon to housing values near Theo Wirth, though. I talked to someone a few months back who was looking at houses near various Bottineau stations (esp. near the Plymouth one, if it's built) because they're so cheap that their value could really only go up.

I guess this is personal preference, but this is a fundamental flaw in how we fund transit systems that the value realized by those homes would go up without property owners paying for the infrastructure that added value. I know it doesn't necessarily seem fair (think of the old lady living near a new transit line who all of a sudden gets slapped with a $10k assessment), but at the same time that very person can now sell their property for a lot of cash.

[acs]

Total transit ridership in the Metro area is up 3.5% over last year.

http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/290080461.html

[twincitizen]

Would be nice to see Midtown acknowledged. One of the cheapest and highest ridership projects.

It's odd, in Met Council's TPP they specifically call Midtown out in the increased revenue scenario. It would be nice to see here, for sure, as to me it's the single best rail transit project we could do in the region.

The problem is this:

Midtown This corridor links the existing METRO Blue Line Lake Street Station with planned
METRO Green Line West Lake Station along the 29th Street Greenway through south
Minneapolis. The corridor was studied through an Alternatives Analysis that concluded with a
recommended locally preferred alternative of rail in the Midtown Greenway combined with the
proposed Arterial BRT on Lake Street. The recommended locally preferred alternative will be
considered through a future amendment to the Transportation Policy Plan.

That hasn't happened. See our ongoing conversation in the Midtown thread, but something is gumming up the wheels here.