Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

[jebr]

I think this is the same app developer that a lot of other transit agencies use. Honestly, I'm not sure why it would take so long/cost so much if the app isn't tightly integrating with any other systems at this point.

I still think launching it is a very good idea. I don't think the $4.50 minimum is a huge sticking point when that's the cost of the day pass and tickets can be purchased for later use if needed. I could see it very useful for friends and family visiting the area and not wanting to hassle with getting a Go-To card or paying for the fare at a TVM. It's definitely more geared towards the tourist/occasional visitor market than the frequent rider market, but I think that's okay and a huge improvement in accessibility to our system. This is especially true for local buses, where cash up to this point was still required unless you have a Go-To card. The app solves this problem for most visitors.

[intercomnut]

Maybe the fare structure is a way to keep it simple for out-of-towners/new riders.

They don't have to worry about when rush hour is. If they're purchasing ahead of time, they don't need to worry about "should I buy a rush-hour ticket or a non-rush hour ticket?" Especially since they're buying ahead of time, they may not know exactly what time they'll be on the bus. They just need to know if it's a weekday or weekend.

Though I see two problems with this: 1) What if they need to hop an express bus? That's not an option in the app. 2) This is supposed to benefit people who can't afford to pre-load a Go-To card. The extra cost would add up more quickly for them.

[MSPtoMKE]

I will probably continue to use my Go-To card, but this does seem pretty good for visitors and occasional users. Perhaps I might use it for a day pass some time. I bought a 3 day pass using the Muni-mobile app when I was in San Fransisco this spring, and it was convenient. Everything there is proof-of-payment, I don't think my fare was ever checked.

Logging in was still a little screwy, I wasn't able to change my password on the app itself, I just got another error message, but I could in a browser and then it all worked.

[FISHMANPET]

Is our transit system big enough that people visiting would use it the same way visitors to places like Chicago or San Francisco or Washington DC (maybe lol) or New York City would use those city's transit systems?

Normal buses are very difficult to use in unfamiliar cities, liming visitors, I would think, to using simple well branded parts of the system like the Blue/Green/Red lines, A-Line, and maaaaybe for the adventurous, the simpler parts of the Hi-Frequency network. Partly depends on why a person is visiting here, but I wonder how useful that network would be for a visitor.

[intercomnut]

Is our transit system big enough that people visiting would use it the same way visitors to places like Chicago or San Francisco or Washington DC (maybe lol) or New York City would use those city's transit systems?

Normal buses are very difficult to use in unfamiliar cities, liming visitors, I would think, to using simple well branded parts of the system like the Blue/Green/Red lines, A-Line, and maaaaybe for the adventurous, the simpler parts of the Hi-Frequency network. Partly depends on why a person is visiting here, but I wonder how useful that network would be for a visitor.

Very fair point. Another reason why we need to build out rapid bus as quickly as possible!

But I also think this is meant to serve people taking light rail to special events. After all, this is closely following the roll-out of the all day pass (which Metro Transit experimented with selling online), which seems like it's meant for those people.

Gotta say, it does seem like this has a disproportionate focus on suburbanites and tourists.

[SkyScraperKid]

Maybe the fare structure is a way to keep it simple for out-of-towners/new riders.

They don't have to worry about when rush hour is. If they're purchasing ahead of time, they don't need to worry about "should I buy a rush-hour ticket or a non-rush hour ticket?" Especially since they're buying ahead of time, they may not know exactly what time they'll be on the bus. They just need to know if it's a weekday or weekend.

Though I see two problems with this: 1) What if they need to hop an express bus? That's not an option in the app. 2) This is supposed to benefit people who can't afford to pre-load a Go-To card. The extra cost would add up more quickly for them.

Some really good points. It should have been set up more like a Uber type of service. You link a credit card and payment is subtracted at least once a month. If you take less than 2 rides than you will have stored value for your next ride.

I think it would have been a much better user experience you just travel as you would regularly and just keep scanning your phone and your payment is taken care of automatically. No need think about if this bus fare is $1.75, $2.25, or $3.00. Just swipe and enjoy the ride! Be a better way at increasing revenue from people who may have more disposable income.

Not that 2Go cards are that much different but completely getting ride of making the user have to sign in online and restore balance would eliminate a disincentive. It's much like the Netflix effect, you set it up and hopefully forget about it!

[jebr]

Is our transit system big enough that people visiting would use it the same way visitors to places like Chicago or San Francisco or Washington DC (maybe lol) or New York City would use those city's transit systems?

Normal buses are very difficult to use in unfamiliar cities, liming visitors, I would think, to using simple well branded parts of the system like the Blue/Green/Red lines, A-Line, and maaaaybe for the adventurous, the simpler parts of the Hi-Frequency network. Partly depends on why a person is visiting here, but I wonder how useful that network would be for a visitor.

I could see it being useful for someone coming from a park and ride that has simple service to/from downtown during the weekend in the north and west metro. The only semi-frequent transit in those areas is bus routes, and I could see the possibility of parking at Northtown and taking the bus down from there. It's a long trek, but a few people may still do it, and limiting those to cash/GoTo card only can be limiting. It could also be that maybe your hotel is along a high-frequency bus route, so in the morning you still need to be able to grab a day pass but otherwise would only use the branded parts of our network.

It's probably not a huge market, but paired with the likely demand of people just liking the idea of using an app over a TVM (don't have to worry about losing your transfer and don't have to wait in line, plus it's just "right there") and I think it'll be helpful for a decent portion of infrequent but still valuable riders.

[intercomnut]

Speaking of apps, Transit (formerly Transit App) just added the ability to rent a nice ride directly from the app. Just in time for the end of the season!

[intercomnut]

Just used the app to pay for a ride for the first time. The operator didn't know what it was, but he took my word for it!

[intercomnut]

Second, third and fourth got it, though!

[talindsay]

Is our transit system big enough that people visiting would use it the same way visitors to places like Chicago or San Francisco or Washington DC (maybe lol) or New York City would use those city's transit systems?

Normal buses are very difficult to use in unfamiliar cities, liming visitors, I would think, to using simple well branded parts of the system like the Blue/Green/Red lines, A-Line, and maaaaybe for the adventurous, the simpler parts of the Hi-Frequency network. Partly depends on why a person is visiting here, but I wonder how useful that network would be for a visitor.

My office hosted a conference for 300 people in summer 2015, and about half our attendees were from either northern Europe or Canada. Almost all the rest were from distant parts of the US. Our conference is generally (but not always) in transit-heavy cities, with everybody at the conference using transit.

I don't know of a single attendee who rented a car, and only a couple drove. A few used taxis or Uber to get around, but generally, our attendees used transit. Few used a bus of any sort, so yes, they were limited to where the light rail lines go, but really the light rail lines go almost anywhere a visitor would want to go unless they're going to be here for a very long time, or they came for a very specific destination such as the Minnesota Zoo or one of the events in Shakopee. None of our participants went to those places. Most spent a lot of time downtown, many went over to Saint Paul and the Capitol, a bunch went to Minnehaha Falls, some went to the Como area (I suggested to a few to use the campus shuttle, this was before the A Line), some went to the Mall of America, many went to the Surly brewery, and many just spent their time in Stadium Village, Seward, and Dinkytown.

We did have a few attendees - all Dutch!!! - who used Nice Ride as their primary way to get around, and they were the only ones to really explore deep into Seward, Midtown, and Uptown - places Nice Ride serves well but light rail not so much.

So yes, the transit lines hit the main things, and at least in our case, the tourists largely chose what they saw based on where the light rail went. So essentially our transit spine is good enough that tourists can choose a week's worth of things to do along the lines (especially now that the A Line makes Como actually reachable).

[jebr]

December 3 changes to routes have been released: https://www.metrotransit.org/these-rout ... e-on-dec-3

Not a lot of major changes. Frequency is improving on the A Line in the evenings, and it looks like the 722 is being extended. They're also eliminating the C branch of the 61. Other than that, mainly some timetable changes. I'm not noticing anything drastic outside of that.

[DanPatchToget]

Southwest Transit will be starting a new local route, Route 638, between Southwest Station, Eden Prairie Center, Amazon in Shakopee, and Marshall Road Transit Station.

[intercomnut]

Southwest Transit will be starting a new local route, Route 638, between Southwest Station, Eden Prairie Center, Amazon in Shakopee, and Marshall Road Transit Station.

I wonder how they're gonna run this. There was discussion of having an on-demand component to this service. But this sounds like a formal route.

Hoping they'll run it with the same span and frequency as route 495.

[DanPatchToget]

Route 638 begins next Monday. Service is Monday-Friday, mostly being hourly frequency from 5:30 AM to 6:00 PM. Hope this works out better than their first attempt at local bus service in Eden Prairie.

[jebr]

No weekend service? Ugh.

[intercomnut]

Map and exact schedule is here. It's a very winding route.

[intercomnut]

Washington County will a consultant to look at current transit services and form a long-term plan for transit in the county.

http://www.woodburybulletin.com/news/go ... eeds-study

[Silophant]

Just hopped on a Green Line train and my phone asked me to connect to TransitWi-Fi. Totally forgot that was still rolling out.

[Qhaberl]

Nice! I was surprised that they didn't start rolling it out on the train sooner. Glad to see they are now.


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