Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

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FISHMANPET
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby FISHMANPET » January 25th, 2016, 4:56 pm

Someone somewhere did digging into the API and at time points it's accurate but between time points the system just kind of guesses, so a bus could be arriving for multiple minutes or be minutes away and suddenly appear at a time point.

David Greene
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby David Greene » January 25th, 2016, 5:02 pm

Yep, that's been exactly my experience with TransitApp. Times just suddenly randomly change for what seems like no reason. Sometimes they have been really off, where i guess the bus already left a stop but TransitApp reports it's like 5 minutes away. Then all of a sudden it disappears from the list. :(

trigonalmayhem

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby trigonalmayhem » January 27th, 2016, 3:03 pm

I think the detours and fact that schedules haven't been updated for those detours is responsible for some of the data mess around downtown.

acs
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby acs » February 2nd, 2016, 5:40 pm

Reports are that vehicles are hitting pedestrians on Hennepin ave. Metro Transit has detoured Hennepin buses to 1st street between 7th and 9th due to a "non-transit related incident" More to come. Also, expect about a 15 min delay on 53% of bus routes.

mamundsen
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby mamundsen » February 2nd, 2016, 5:55 pm

Kinda scary actually. I was headed that way to catch my bus. There were 5+ cops taping off the whole block. I saw one report that said:

Minneapolis - 7th-8th and Hennepin - Several pedestrians hit - Officers responding for traffic control - At least one very serious if not fatal.

Woah!

Silophant
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Silophant » February 2nd, 2016, 6:09 pm

Joey Senkyr
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xandrex
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby xandrex » February 15th, 2016, 2:19 am

Route 494 is killing it: http://m.startribune.com/route-494-subu ... 368792891/

(By it, I mean any chance of other suburban express bus routes any time in the near future)

Tcmetro
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Tcmetro » February 15th, 2016, 3:08 am

Unfortunately the suburban market is going to only be successful with downtown commuters (who are avoiding traffic and parking fees), and the transit-dependent (who are more likely to need local all-day service for more than just work commuting).

Route 494 fails because it is a long route that doesn't serve the job centers well. There are a couple office buildings within the walkshed of the 394/73 stop and the a few more at the OPUS and Optum stops (which are on an hourly branch). Any other worksite requires a transfer to another bus, whose schedules were not calibrated for the new 494 service. Additionally, the service hours don't let one return at the midday if necessary, which I'd imagine is a deal breaker for many.

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Sacrelicio
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Sacrelicio » February 15th, 2016, 9:32 am

Clearly going too fast.

mattaudio
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby mattaudio » February 16th, 2016, 1:56 pm


MSPtoMKE
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby MSPtoMKE » February 26th, 2016, 12:35 am

Metro Transit route changes for March 19th have been posted:
http://www.metrotransit.org/plan-ahead- ... n-march-19 (most of the schedule links go to the current schedule as I post this, instead of the future schedule, so details are currently vague)

The biggest change is route 11 joining the "Hi-Frequency" Network. It currently runs every 30 minutes off-peak. Nice to see, although there are other routes that I think are more in need of the upgrade. The 11 runs right between 2 of the most frequent routes in the system, the 5 and 18. I think the last route to be added to the Hi-Frequency Network (other than the Green Line replacing the 16) was the 19, so it has been a long time since it has been expanded.

Routes 3 and 4 are getting (as of yet undisclosed) improvements to evening service

Routes 64 and 74 will begin service earlier

Some of the increased service on routes 65 and 67 for the Green Line opening is getting cut back slightly

Local routes 721 and 724 in the northwest suburbs will see improvements
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby EOst » February 26th, 2016, 7:22 am

Route 11 may be sandwiched between two hi-frequency routes in South, but in the NE it's one of the main bus routes and, according to my friends who live in Bottineau, desperately unreliable. That's huge news for them.

Interestingly, it'll be the only hi-frequency route not studied for an aBRT upgrade.

intercomnut
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby intercomnut » February 26th, 2016, 8:19 am

Warning for those of you using the page: a lot of the schedules they linked to are old schedules, not the new ones.

But in general, exciting schedule changes. Between this and the last change, where they added Sunday service to the 32, MT is making some major adjustments. It's sad that they have to come at the expense of other routes, like the 67 and 65, but that's the reality until there's more funding.
Interestingly, it'll be the only hi-frequency route not studied for an aBRT upgrade.
That and the 515.

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Sacrelicio
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Sacrelicio » February 26th, 2016, 9:23 am

Route 11 may be sandwiched between two hi-frequency routes in South, but in the NE it's one of the main bus routes and, according to my friends who live in Bottineau, desperately unreliable. That's huge news for them.

Interestingly, it'll be the only hi-frequency route not studied for an aBRT upgrade.
I live in South, it stops one block from me, is always reliable in my neighborhood. One night I tried to take it from my work (North Washington) over to Grumpy's in NE. It picks up over on 2nd Ave NE so I figured I'd just walk over the river to 2nd and start walking along the route until it arrived. I ended up walking the entire way to Grumpy's. I took an Uber home.

Tcmetro
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Tcmetro » February 26th, 2016, 9:45 am

Notably a lot of the service improvements come out of the SIP: Route 3, 11,19, and 721 changes are all highly ranked for the 2015-17 time period.

The pruning of the schedules for Express routes 252, 263/270, 558, 579, 768, and 854 seem to be performance based, focusing on individual trips.

I'm interested as to the reasoning of the elimination of the 568. The focus was to provide a connection from Downtown Minneapolis and Nicollet Ave to the Opportunity Partners job site in Minnetonka. While I'd imagine that the service isn't a great performer, it was beneficial for the disabled community. I suppose the 12 can generally fill in the role of this bus, however.

twincitizen
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby twincitizen » February 26th, 2016, 11:11 am

I keep wondering how the 16 is doing. I know it doesn't run that frequently, but I have to imagine there are so few people riding it that it could be run even less frequently. Then again, running the 16 every 20 minutes or whatever during rush hour (and 30 mins all day) is a pretty good insurance policy against any LRT breakdowns, delays, etc (east of the U of M anyways). Obviously MT will scramble replacement buses for any lengthy LRT stoppages, but the 16 provides at least a little "first line of defense"

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mister.shoes
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby mister.shoes » February 26th, 2016, 12:38 pm

I think it would be neat if an occasional 11 would come down to 50th and head west instead of turning at 46th every time (and vice versa, of course). I've whined before (upthread, probably) that the area bounded by 46th, DLR, Chicago, Nicollet is a transit desert. The 11 is the best way to remedy that.
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LakeCharles
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby LakeCharles » February 26th, 2016, 2:34 pm

I think it would be neat if an occasional 11 would come down to 50th and head west instead of turning at 46th every time (and vice versa, of course). I've whined before (upthread, probably) that the area bounded by 46th, DLR, Chicago, Nicollet is a transit desert. The 11 is the best way to remedy that.
You could even have one of the 11D's go down 4th to 50th, then over to Washburn, as the D is going south of 46 anyway.

mattaudio
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby mattaudio » February 26th, 2016, 2:39 pm

Yes, do something different with the 11! The darn layover spots for the 11 and the 18G are fouling plans to enhance the Nicollet/46th Street intersection.

mattaudio
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby mattaudio » February 29th, 2016, 10:05 am

Here's a fascinating look at rural transit's operations, successes, and struggles in rural MN.
https://www.minnpost.com/rural-dispatch ... and-evolve

I wish land use was addressed as part of this. I think sprawl has hurt rural MN much more than the metro... While people here hopefully have the choice to move towards less auto-dependent live and work situations over time, those often don't exist in rural MN. Even a generation ago, we had many more institutions and necessities in our walkable towns (even small towns of a few thousand people). Everything has moved out into the countryside - hospitals, grocery stores, factories and other large employers, etc.


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