Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

[Bakken2016]

Metro Transit's service changes beginning June 11th:
https://www.metrotransit.org/quarterly- ... ay-june-11

Not very many changes this quarter. I was wondering if we'd see express bus frequency increases.

Still not enough operators.

[Silophant]

It's a relief that there weren't more service cuts, at least.

[Hero]

I wonder how hard it would be to automate the trains. I would think a self driving train would be easier to accomplish than a self driving car. Not much steering going on that I can think of.

[HuskyGrad]

I wonder how hard it would be to automate the trains. I would think a self driving train would be easier to accomplish than a self driving car. Not much steering going on that I can think of.

It's relatively easy in fully dedicated right-of-way. The technology for mixed-environments is relatively new at this stage. Siemens showed off a autonomous tram demonstrator in Potsdam for the 2018 InnoTrans.

https://www.mobility.siemens.com/global ... -tram.html

[DanPatchToget]

https://www.mvta.com/news/

Summer service changes for MVTA include:
-seasonal Route 410 "4Fun Bus" is coming back and will have an additional stop at Marschall Road Transit Station
-Route 436 will operate all day
-Route 446 will now have weekend service
-Route 446's stop at Dodd Road & Plaza Drive is being eliminated due to low ridership and "operational safety concerns." If the location on Google Maps is correct then the southbound bus stop has no sidewalk or even a concrete pad, so it's not too surprising that stop has low ridership.
-157th Street Station will reopen and Route 479 service will be restored to pre-pandemic schedule (2 roundtrips per weekday)
-Route 480B restored with service to Burnsville Transit Station. Pre-pandemic service levels on Route 480A will be restored.
-Routes 497 and 499 (local Shakopee routes) will use regular 40-foot buses.

[SurlyLHT]

Metro Transit Bus Shot at.
https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2022/05/ ... -shooting/

[DanPatchToget]

https://www.startribune.com/metro-trans ... 600175164/

Q1 2022 ridership is just over half of what it was in 2019. Here's the ridership increase of each mode between January and March:
Metro Mobility-3%
Transit Link-11%
Vanpool-6%
Local bus-21%
BRT-23%
Express bus-70%
LRT-20%
Northstar-113%

[Trademark]

https://www.startribune.com/metro-trans ... 600175164/

Q1 2022 ridership is just over half of what it was in 2019. Here's the ridership increase of each mode between January and March:
Metro Mobility-3%
Transit Link-11%
Vanpool-6%
Local bus-21%
BRT-23%
Express bus-70%
LRT-20%
Northstar-113%

I know that express and Northstar are starting from a lower baseline but those percentage increases are very encouraging. Do they have year to year numbers as I'm guessing that there is usually more ridership in the warmer weather.

[thespeedmccool]

I think express bus and Northstar were down 90% during the pandemic. Now, they've gotta be at, what, 70% below prepandemic levels?

Encouraging growth, but still really subpar.

[blo442]

A presentation with the actual Q1 data is linked in the article. Metro Transit is also providing a lot of data to the public at metrotransit.org/performance. Some highlights (or lowlights):

Total system ridership looks to be about 45% of the equivalent months in 2019. Reading off the graph because they never actually give this number and focus on the positive-sounding YoY growth.

Northstar ridership in Q1 was 15,000. Total. Over 3 months/roughly 60 weekdays. That's around 250/day, or less than a tenth of pre-pandemic ridership.

Downtown Minneapolis bus ridership (express + local) and ABC ramp occupancy are both at 25-30% of pre-pandemic levels. Compare that to the Downtown Council's estimate of 56.2% building occupancy, and it would appear that under hybrid models, about half of the workforce is actually commuting into the reopened offices on any given day. Which would suggest the ceiling for express bus/Northstar ridership under current economic conditions is somewhere around 50% of pre-pandemic ridership.

Orange Line ridership started at 600 weekday/200 Sat/Sun and by April increased to 1100 weekday/350 weekend. Getting better, but closer to Red Line numbers (400) than Blue/Green (15,000/20,000).

LRT and BRT showing the most robust ridership of all modes, as usual. All METRO lines (excepting Orange/Red due to lack of pre-pandemic data) have reached around 50% of 2019 ridership.

[DanPatchToget]

Anyone know what Route 535's weekday ridership was pre-pandemic? I thought it was something like 1,500 on an average weekday, which would mean the Orange Line is already close to that number, but I might be remembering wrong.

Northstar's ridership during the pandemic has typically been 100 per weekday, but during the reduced fare promotion last year it was bumped up temporarily to 300. Interesting to see Northstar's ridership almost reaching that number again and without the reduced fare.

[COLSLAW5]

New transit garage in the north loop will be named North Loop Garage and 28th st station in Bloomington will be renamed 30th St Station

[HuskyGrad]

New transit garage in the north loop will be named North Loop Garage and 28th st station in Bloomington will be renamed 30th St Station

Do you mean 30th Ave Station?

[COLSLAW5]

Whoops yea 30th Ave Station

[Bakken2016]

SW Prime is expanding to Edina! Which is great, because connecting from local service like the 6 or 515 to EP will make some crucial connections for people!


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[Tcmetro]

The dial-a-ride expansions that the suburban providers have done are very encouraging. Weekend and evening service as well as the ability to book a ride through an app are huge advantages over the regional Transit Link system.

[DanPatchToget]

Metro Transit will be experimenting with only running 2-car trains on the light rail system to make it easier for police and Community Service officers to patrol and reduce cleaning costs.

https://www.metrotransit.org/test-will- ... OiRmF-Uytk

The article also mentions average weekday ridership on the light rail system in May was 35,100, which is an increase of 4,900 from the average weekday ridership in the first quarter of this year.

[alexschief]

May 2022

Blue Line = 15,632
Green Line = 19,554

Total LRT = 35,186
% of May 19 = 45.36%
% of May 20 = 260.46%
% of May 21 = 126.28%

Ridership is improving and Metro Transit is painting a positive picture, but I think the number is a bit more discouraging. Especially in May, which saw much less ridership growth than the trajectory that was set earlier in the year and what you might expect given gas prices. Could still see a big boost in June though, and as always, September/October will be the critical months for the agency when students return.

I don't have a huge problem with two car trains for the moment, with ridership is where it is. Will probably save a small amount of money on maintenance as well. That said, I'm really wary though about changes to service that are billed as temporary but may ultimately become permanent, so I hope to see some three car trains back in the fall.

[daveybabymsp]

Metro Transit will be experimenting with only running 2-car trains on the light rail system to make it easier for police and Community Service officers to patrol and reduce cleaning costs.

https://www.metrotransit.org/test-will- ... OiRmF-Uytk

The article also mentions average weekday ridership on the light rail system in May was 35,100, which is an increase of 4,900 from the average weekday ridership in the first quarter of this year.

I think having fewer cars could make it feel safer crime wise since there would be more people on each car. But less safe Covid wise since you would be in close proximity with more people. I suppose at this point in the pandemic, most people don’t care as much about Covid as they used to


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[Trademark]

Metro Transit will be experimenting with only running 2-car trains on the light rail system to make it easier for police and Community Service officers to patrol and reduce cleaning costs.

https://www.metrotransit.org/test-will- ... OiRmF-Uytk

The article also mentions average weekday ridership on the light rail system in May was 35,100, which is an increase of 4,900 from the average weekday ridership in the first quarter of this year.

I think having fewer cars could make it feel safer crime wise since there would be more people on each car. But less safe Covid wise since you would be in close proximity with more people. I suppose at this point in the pandemic, most people don’t care as much about Covid as they used to


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I hope they are still planning on running 3 car trains during twins games as those trains can get pretty packed.