urbanMSP

Depends on what your destination is on the other end. If your workplace is only a couple blocks from the LRT station, it's way more convenient to just leave your bike at the initial station rather than drag it on the train and find somewhere to lock it near your office.

Yup, park & rides aren't just for the suburbs!!

Now we just need bike lanes on 38th Street so people can get there!

Metro Transit is building a bike storage facility at 38th St. Station. It will provide secure storage for 53 bikes. Cool!

This is huge. It would be really nice if they upped the ante and went for more. I could see this being used 100% at the time it opens.

Yeah, hopefully it's being built with expansion in mind.

Can someone give me a rundown of how this is supposed to be used? Like, what's the point when you can bring your bike on the train?

There is a nice overview here: http://humantransit.org/2010/04/can-we- ... -mile.html of different options for combining bicycles with transit. Basically, there isn't room to accommodate more bicycles on trains & buses without sacrificing passenger capacity so the best way to grow the bicycle-transit connection is through bike parking/sharing at station.

Can someone give me a rundown of how this is supposed to be used? Like, what's the point when you can bring your bike on the train?

Personally, if I lived in the general area and worked downtown I'd much rather store my bike at the station rather than bring it with me to the office and store it there.

Also as a general statement, the fewer bikes brought on the train during rush hour, the better. Providing secure, covered bike parking at the stations is probably the most obvious way to accomplish that.

I hope they consider more of these in other places as well. The Mall of America, somewhere along a downtown Minneapolis station, any number of stations along the Green Line to name a few.

I don't know how I missed this thread when I posted the link in **two separate threads** Sorry, folks.

I have to say I'm at least a little surprised at the price of this. It comes to $3,300 per bike parking space. Obviously, cost isn't the only concern, since at 420 sqft it has way less opportunity cost. And it keeps bikes off trains, which is good. I wouldn't be shocked if we see this have a monthly fee in the future to prevent crowding. MT's bike lockers cost $48/year, it would be odd for this to be free while those still charge.

Suburb to suburb route cancelled due to low ridership with little hope of it increasing any time soon.

http://m.swnewsmedia.com/shakopee_valle ... l?mode=jqm

Suburb to suburb route cancelled due to low ridership with little hope of it increasing any time soon.

http://m.swnewsmedia.com/shakopee_valle ... l?mode=jqm

The StarTribune article sounded a little more hopeful about the line being reintroduced in coming months. What I noticed from comments online is that people didn't even know the line existed until now...

According to meeting minutes from the W Broadway TAC, Route 30 in North/NE Minneapolis will be getting weekend service in the next pick (starting June 11).

Metro Transit hoping to add 5 electric buses according to unlocked Finance-Commerce article. Apparently the lower operating and maintenance costs don't make up for the increased initial cost at least at the moment but would be quieter. Be curious how much lower the O & M costs are compared to diesels though.

http://finance-commerce.com/2016/04/des ... ric-buses/

What tech are they using for in-route charging, that a station is half a million dollars before installation? Inductive?

It seems the chargers have an overhead arm that connects to the roof of the bus at least from this presentation.

http://www.metrocouncil.org/Council-Mee ... pdate.aspx

Here's a presentation about improvements to the High Frequency network over the next two years, as well as general service improvements.

http://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meeting ... -Freq.aspx

New additions planned seem to be the the 2, 54 extension, and 62, although it looks like the only change in June will be the A Line. The route 54 extension is only showing up on the maps as a weekend addition, although I assume that is an oversight. It also shows new weekend service on route 30 (mentioned earlier, I believe) and what looks like parts of the western portion of route 9 shifted to a new all day route 643. Also, could we be seeing full night-owl service coming to routes 10 and 18? The other late-night service improvements are almost certainly just additional trips.

Kind of hard to believe that the 18 didn't already have full night owl service, right?

I was trying to think what would put that "all-day" 643 into high priority since it is going to run down Cedar Lake Road mostly with the largest SFH lots in Saint Louis Park lots with nearly zero sidewalks. But the far end is a pretty significant (relatively for Minnetonka) cluster of apartment around the Hopkins High School. The route's N-S bend is the West End area filling in with apartments and offices in both SLP and Golden Valley. Okay, I buy it.

The 643 reorganization is to simplify the 9, easily one of the most complex routes in the system.

Back in the day, the 8 was the Cedar Lake Road bus and the 9 was the Glenwood bus.

As for HFN, they could really easily add the 4 and the 17. It would maybe require a couple new trips.

Most owl service was cut in the early 2000s. A 54 that short turns at the airport and a Blue Line shuttle that also ends at the airport would be welcome additions to the owl network. There are quite a few jobs that start at 3-4 am.

Why would the A line not be made into a night-owl route? It seems a bit silly to have an enhanced services route but not make it all night (especially when a few other routes are getting it.)