Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

[HuskyGrad]

Couldn’t they do some of these repairs during the overnight hours? I thought this was one of the benefits to only running 18 hours a day.

Usually to repair rail brakes you’ll need more than a few hours for the elastomeric grout to set up.

[UrbanMPLS]

Couldn’t they do some of these repairs during the overnight hours? I thought this was one of the benefits to only running 18 hours a day.

Usually to repair rail brakes you’ll need more than a few hours for the elastomeric grout to set up.

Makes sense. Appreciate the explanation.

[kdo5581]

This year with the temperature swings has caused the most rail breaks in one season apparently. The plan is to fix the west half up to Raymond excluding DT MPLS over the last weekend in May and the East half into STP in Mid July.

Rail shut downs are coordinated half a year or more in advance normally to stack repairs and projects and miss any major events. So its hard but they try to minimize disruptions

That's helpful - thanks for the explanation.

Are you just hearing about these plans informally? I know the agency is probably a little reluctant to post anything specific in case things change, but I feel like with the amount of slow zones, it would be beneficial to at least acknowledge the problem in a more official capacity.

[daveybabymsp]

Anyone know how close Metro Transit is to bringing back 10 minute frequency for light rail? I was hoping we would have that by now, especially with the additional transit funding.

[thespeedmccool]

Anyone know how close Metro Transit is to bringing back 10 minute frequency for light rail? I was hoping we would have that by now, especially with the additional transit funding.

Well, considering a large chunk of that extra funding is on the chopping block, 10-minute frequencies may be a thing small cities like Minneapolis never get to have again.

[daveybabymsp]

Anyone know how close Metro Transit is to bringing back 10 minute frequency for light rail? I was hoping we would have that by now, especially with the additional transit funding.

Well, considering a large chunk of that extra funding is on the chopping block, 10-minute frequencies may be a thing small cities like Minneapolis never get to have again.

I’m not happy about threats to cut funding but we certainly can have 10 minute frequencies on our two light rail lines with or without it


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[Bakken2016]

Network Now which has been approved has 10 min frequencies for both the Blue and Green lines. It’s not an issue of funding, it’s an issue of staffing of operators and maintenance staff.


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[angrysuburbanite]

June service changes aren’t out yet, but can be seen on the Pantograph app. I might have missed some of them, but Network Now implementation is in full swing now. Here are the changes I could find:
- Metro B Line opens, replacing now eliminated route 21 (RIP) and running every 10-15 minutes all day every day
- Route 27 introduced with an hourly schedule each day of the week from Uptown Transit Center to Lake - Midtown
- Route 38 combines routes 23 and 612; the 612 portion sees service upgrade to a clean half hourly schedule on weekends
- Route 46 now operates every half hour rather than the current alternating 30-60 intervals on weekends
- Route 70 eliminated; replaced by route 72 which is the same but extends along Selby Avenue to Snelling/University
- Route 94 sees its service span widen on weekdays and now runs every half hour on weekends
- Route 515 returns to every 15 minutes all days of the week
- Route 542 operates every half hour all day on weekdays rather than during only peak hours
- Route 860 introduced from Coon Rapids / Riverdale station to St. Paul. Two round trips per day during peak periods.

[Wezle]

Thanks for always putting together the route and ridership changes here!

[angrysuburbanite]

June service changes aren’t out yet, but can be seen on the Pantograph app. I might have missed some of them, but Network Now implementation is in full swing now. Here are the changes I could find:

OK, I missed quite a few! After this round of service changes bus service will be at 97% of pre-COVID levels! This is up from 94% operating right now. 23% of network now will be implemented by this June. I'd expect service changes for the next few years to be major like this one until Network Now has been completed.
- CORRECTION: 515 runs every 20 minutes on Sundays
- A Line and Route 10 now run every 10 minutes on weekends
- Route 2 runs every 10 minutes on weekdays
- All trips on Route 11 extend to Columbia Heights
- Route 54 runs every 15 minutes on W 7th and every 30 minutes to maplewood on Sundays
- 2 trips on Route 764 added to expand service span
- Route 824 now has two round trips per day
https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetin ... nfo-3.aspx

[Silophant]

Wow. Huge improvement to have 15-minute service on the 11 all the way to Columbia Heights, at least for this guy who works on St. Anthony Parkway and has thus far had to roll the dice about whether the next bus would actually go that far north.

Also really good to see the 94 continuing to be improved in preparation for the Gold Line Extension.

[Rube Dali]

June service changes aren’t out yet, but can be seen on the Pantograph app. I might have missed some of them, but Network Now implementation is in full swing now. Here are the changes I could find:

OK, I missed quite a few! After this round of service changes bus service will be at 97% of pre-COVID levels! This is up from 94% operating right now. 23% of network now will be implemented by this June. I'd expect service changes for the next few years to be major like this one until Network Now has been completed.
- CORRECTION: 515 runs every 20 minutes on Sundays
- A Line and Route 10 now run every 10 minutes on weekends
- Route 2 runs every 10 minutes on weekdays
- All trips on Route 11 extend to Columbia Heights
- Route 54 runs every 15 minutes on W 7th and every 30 minutes to maplewood on Sundays
- 2 trips on Route 764 added to expand service span
- Route 824 now has two round trips per day
https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetin ... nfo-3.aspx

Rest of the changes for June
https://www.metrotransit.org/quarterly- ... ay-june-14

[twincitizen]

Does anyone have any insider info on the decision to cancel the 21 and bring back the 27 instead?

The plan all along had been to run the 21 between Uptown and Minnehaha and that was still the case in the Network Now draft. In the final version of Network Now they pivoted to cancel the 21 and bring back a lengthened 27 (only running hourly?). It's probably the right call for a couple reasons: 1) we don't want a B getting stuck behind a slow 21, and 2) all of the other rump local routes (16, 19, 84) were eliminated pretty soon after limited-stop service was added. Only Route 5 remains in place along a corridor that now has ABRT (or LRT), though the 6 will likely be around long-term due to serving Xerxes while the E Line serves France south of Linden Hills. With the wide stop spacing of the B Line and no 21, it will be interesting to see the public reaction to not having stops at places that previously saw a decent number of boardings (e.g. Dupont, Grand, etc.)

Another late change is the 38 (former 23) will now run on Lyndale to Lake Street to Uptown (and beyond via Excelsior) instead of the 23's routing via 38th>Bryant>36th>Hennepin. Obviously the simplified running sounds better when written out like that, but now the Walker Place senior care facility and 36th & Bryant have no transit service at all. Riders will not only have to walk to Lyndale to catch the 38, they have to cross Lyndale if they're wanting a north(west)bound bus to Uptown. Whereas before they could make that trip by stepping out the door onto Bryant. Interestingly, the Network Now plan showed the 38 still using Bryant from 38th to 36th, then doubling back to Lyndale for the north-south jog to Lake St. Instead, Metro Transit is rolling out the 38 using the streamlined routing proposed in the ABRT update plan. Maybe the 38 is a surprisingly strong candidate for the ABRT upgrade, so they're just ripping off the band-aid now and avoiding those extra turns from day one.

[StandishGuy]

I’m shocked by the decision to reroute the #23 (soon to be #38) to run on Lyndale Avenue between 38th and 36th Streets. The City of Minneapolis recently reconstructed Bryant Avenue specifically to support two-way bus traffic on that stretch, ensuring continued service to Walker. Because of the need to accommodate buses in both directions, there wasn’t space to include street trees and grassy boulevards — a disappointing tradeoff made to prioritize reliable transit service.

Given that, this reroute feels especially puzzling. I’m also curious how the City plans to manage traffic on that stretch of Bryant, which is currently southbound-only for cars but two-way for buses. It’s a strange move after such a significant investment and compromise in the corridor’s design.

[Eoin_Urban]

I’m shocked by the decision to reroute the #23 (soon to be #38) to run on Lyndale Avenue between 38th and 36th Streets. The City of Minneapolis recently reconstructed Bryant Avenue specifically to support two-way bus traffic on that stretch, ensuring continued service to Walker. Because of the need to accommodate buses in both directions, there wasn’t space to include street trees and grassy boulevards — a disappointing tradeoff made to prioritize reliable transit service.

Given that, this reroute feels especially puzzling. I’m also curious how the City plans to manage traffic on that stretch of Bryant, which is currently southbound-only for cars but two-way for buses. It’s a strange move after such a significant investment and compromise in the corridor’s design.

I didn't follow this redesign until the second construction year, but I noticed that in front of the Walker Methodist home there is a section labelled for "Handicap Parking". I often see Metro Mobility or other medical transport vans using the bus lanes and stopping in the handicap parking. With the handicap parking being on the east side of the street, the only way to use that parking bay is to use the bus lane.
https://www.minneapolismn.gov/media/-ww ... ,-2023.pdf
Slide 27

[angrysuburbanite]

Quarter 1 of 2025 has come to a close, and it has been a very weak (and somewhat concerning) start of the year when it comes to ridership, which has not seen recovery from the usual winter break dip like it usually does. Interestingly, the majority of the ridership loss has been on METRO services, which collectively saw 10% less riders on weekdays in 2025. The LRT system's ridership as a whole decreased by 17%.
Here's a comparison of how ridership compares to Q1 2024:
- A Line: 7.9% decrease (3,527 -> 3,256)
- C Line: 9.05% decrease (5,447 -> 4,954)
- D Line: 1.79% increase (12,352 -> 12,573)
- Green Line: 17.3% decrease (27,893 -> 23,078)
- Blue Line: 17.7% decrease (17,211 -> 14,172)
- Orange Line: 12.8% increase (1,582 -> 1,784)
- Gold Line: N/A (1,195)
- Northstar: steady (406 -> 405)
- Regular Bus: 5.56% decrease (74,310 -> 70,179)
- Overall System: 8.6% decrease (142,739 -> 130,519)
Any thoughts as to what happened? It is confusing since there haven't been any major service reductions or loss of in-person workers. If anything, return-to-office has kicked in even more since the beginning of 2024.

[daveybabymsp]

Quarter 1 of 2025 has come to a close, and it has been a very weak (and somewhat concerning) start of the year when it comes to ridership, which has not seen recovery from the usual winter break dip like it usually does. Interestingly, the majority of the ridership loss has been on METRO services, which collectively saw 10% less riders on weekdays in 2025. The LRT system's ridership as a whole decreased by 17%.
Here's a comparison of how ridership compares to Q1 2024:
- A Line: 7.9% decrease (3,527 -> 3,256)
- C Line: 9.05% decrease (5,447 -> 4,954)
- D Line: 1.79% increase (12,352 -> 12,573)
- Green Line: 17.3% decrease (27,893 -> 23,078)
- Blue Line: 17.7% decrease (17,211 -> 14,172)
- Orange Line: 12.8% increase (1,582 -> 1,784)
- Gold Line: N/A (1,195)
- Northstar: steady (406 -> 405)
- Regular Bus: 5.56% decrease (74,310 -> 70,179)
- Overall System: 8.6% decrease (142,739 -> 130,519)
Any thoughts as to what happened? It is confusing since there haven't been any major service reductions or loss of in-person workers. If anything, return-to-office has kicked in even more since the beginning of 2024.

Agree that it is concerning, but a lot of this could be attributed to the difference in weather between Q1 2025 and Q1 2024. It was ridiculously warm last year so it is a tough baseline to compare to. If these trends continue in Q2 then I think it is a real cause for concern.

[angrysuburbanite]

I thought the weather might have something to do with it but this decline didn't happen to any of the other Twin Cities agencies (this is cumulative ridership from the National Transit Database, not daily ridership. Not apples-to-apples but the same idea):
U of MN: 17.7% increase (858,459 -> 1,010,444)
Southwest Transit: 9.7% increase (90,256 -> 99,015)
MVTA: 5.21% increase (282,228 -> 296,932)
Plymouth Metrolink: 4.73% decrease (52,724 -> 50,229)

[BikesOnFilm]

It's too early to tell if this is a blip or a trend, we're only going to know with the context of additional data.

I also don't think we can rule out weather yet. There's a marked difference between the experience of waiting in a park and ramp station for a suburban coach bus and catching a bus/train at a station exposed to the elements. Someone being ordered back to the office that's sick of sitting in 169 traffic might make that choice in January, a choice rider in Minneapolis might not.

I think we'll also see some interesting numbers for the next quarter. Blue Line will probably suffer from the three weeks of construction, and the Green Line might see a snap back because of the I-94 construction. I think as people start figuring out that the trains are cleaner, safer, and showing up more frequently this summer, there's a good chance we see a reversal. Lots of factors, not enough data.

Don't be like the demographers who took data from 2020-2021 to predict sweeping changes in American lifestyle as we all fled to the exurbs... only for the trend to reverse as soon as employers started to cut down on remote work that made living out in the hinterlands possible.

[BigIdeasGuy]

I'm not sure the exact timeline but could the decrease be attributed to the ongoing efforts to improve behavior LRT? Basically every piece of anecdotal evidence mentioned is that behavior on both lines are headed in the right direction, still not perfect but better. It seems plausible to me that a couple thousand people, or fewer who ride multiple times a day, who would otherwise ride the train might make a different decision knowing the increased enforcement on both on the station & in the vehicles