Green Line LRT

[mulad]

The thought also popped in my head that I/we should look at the existing schedule to see what the expectation is now.

[FISHMANPET]

The "expectation" has always been that an outbound train comes 5 minutes after an inbound (eastbound green line 5 minutes after northbound blue, southbound blue 5 minutes after westbound green) but for the first 3 or 4 months they weren't really making that. Most of this year the timing has been pretty spot on though.

[MinnMonkey]

Aside from a center platform, the simplest option for improving the transfer would be to implement signal priority on the LRT tracks in downtown Minneapolis. If the trains can be more consistently scheduled downtown,

For the most part I never get stopped at signals downtown Minneapolis except for at Chicago. The timing right now seems to be pretty good.

[mulad]

Westbound at least, I usually notice the train making a stop at 5th Ave or 4th Ave between DTE and Government Plaza, and it usually seems to get stuck at 2nd or Marquette between Gov't Plaza and Nicollet Mall. I don't often go beyond that point these days, but trains seem to get stopped going eastbound at Nicollet pretty often too. But that's just anecdotal.

[acs]

Westbound stopping at Marquette has happened to me almost every time I ride, and it's not a short stop either no matter if it's 9 PM. The worst part is that it announces Nicollet Mall Station mid-block as it's slowing down, so those unfamiliar with the system expect to get off when it stops and then are jerked around when the light changes. It's definitely a turn-off for visitors that needs to be fixed.

[Scott Wood]

Likewise, when waiting at a light before pulling into Union Depot station, the train announces that this is the last stop and that everyone should exit, which sometimes confuses people who wonder why the doors won't open. It also displays "Next: Central" when heading toward Union Depot.

[HiawathaGuy]

I'm always amazed at the little "things" that happen on both our lines that no one seems to want to solve. One would think that the computer systems that make announcements could know about light timing, no? I don't know. It's that low hanging fruit that I just don't feel like Metro Transit seems to care about. But they'll make the same announcements over and over and over on the platforms ad nauseam. So many warnings, so many bells, so many clangs, so many beeps.
Minnesota is truly a nanny state, for better or worse.

I still don't understand why downtown Minneapolis lights can't be tweaked better, but we've had 11 years to sort it out - and it's no different than it was in 2004. Same with 34th Ave, south of Terminal 2. Why do the trains ever have to stop for lights before the American Blvd station? There's ZERO pedestrian traffic, and auto traffic is hardly at the levels of the busy St. Paul intersections. It's annoying. </rant>

[VAStationDude]

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... ue-parking

St Paul considers restoring some university avenue parking in the evening.

[HuskyGrad]

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... ue-parking

St Paul considers restoring some university avenue parking in the evening.

With meters?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[LRV Op Dude]

Green Line ridership surges past expectations

[FISHMANPET]

We're quite a ways from perfecting Hari Seldon's psychohistory it seems.

[HiawathaGuy]

I was reading an article yesterday about DART's (Dallas) light rail system yesterday.
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/pos ... il-system/

At 90 miles of track, it's the largest light rail system in the United States. Impressed? Sure, who wouldn't be. But wait...
They're average daily ridership is 96,000! I couldn't believe that. I mean, I know it's Texas - and everyone loves their cars. But it's also incredibly conservative (from a voting perspective). So I'm amazed that with such piddly ridership numbers - they are able to get Federal match on their lines! I mean, the 26 miles of track we have here carry over 70,000 rides/day - over 70% of what their 90 miles of track carry. That blows my mind.

[Snelbian]

We're quite a ways from perfecting Hari Seldon's psychohistory it seems.

Nice.

[twinkess]

We're quite a ways from perfecting Hari Seldon's psychohistory it seems.

Nice.

I understood that reference also

[MNdible]

You're plenty smart, but no grind.

[pwm94]

Anyone know why eastbound trains are crawling across the Washington Ave. Bridge? Over the last couple days, I've taken the train from West Bank to Stadium Village probably 5-6 times, and each time the train has not accelerated to 50mph and then subsequently missed most of the lights down the transit mall. Very frustrating.

[intercomnut]

When I was taking it, the operator made an announcement and I think I made out that there's something going on with some equipment on the bridge. But I can never understand what they're saying so I could be completely wrong.

[Sacrelicio]

I was reading an article yesterday about DART's (Dallas) light rail system yesterday.
http://greatergreaterwashington.org/pos ... il-system/

At 90 miles of track, it's the largest light rail system in the United States. Impressed? Sure, who wouldn't be. But wait...
They're average daily ridership is 96,000! I couldn't believe that. I mean, I know it's Texas - and everyone loves their cars. But it's also incredibly conservative (from a voting perspective). So I'm amazed that with such piddly ridership numbers - they are able to get Federal match on their lines! I mean, the 26 miles of track we have here carry over 70,000 rides/day - over 70% of what their 90 miles of track carry. That blows my mind.

Their cities are growing and changing pretty fast, and Dallas is liberal enough. Texas is red, but it's also large and diverse. Like how California is considered liberal, but it's a huge state and they do conservative things all the time too, so it's not easy to generalize.

[Minneapolitan]

Lines like this should be elevated. I feel like its cheaper to put a line on concrete stilts than to tear up roads. But idk
Also it would have been a huge space saver.
It would save time to have its own path.
It is safer for cars and pedestrians.
It would appreciate the scenery and aesthetic of the city.
All this adds to the value of the line and increases ridership which = $.

If there were any two lines to have their own paths (elevated or exclusive corridors) it was the green and blue lines. They are in the the most dense and busy areas ofthe metro.

Idk why this city insists on cramming these old streets with trains. The only medium of transportation here is roads. We need something else if we want excellence in efficiency. Any more intercity lines should have their own corridors with intersections as a last resort. I would like to see elevated lines. But then again im a dreamer living in a wanna be big city.

[Silophant]

No. It is not cheaper to build a 10 mile long bridge than to build tracks at ground level. The road would have been torn up anyway, to place all the supports and route utilities in, etc.

Would it have been safer and faster (travel time wise) to build the Green Line (and the Blue Line) fully elevated? Of course. But it would have at least doubled the cost, and it just would never have been built at all.