Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

[Nick]

Why would anyone take the bus to Arbor Lales

[DanPatchToget]

Lots of shops and restaurants so there is a reason to go there, plus plenty of jobs and numerous apartments have gone up in recent years.

[grant1simons2]

Or.. Now hear me out here.. We go support our Minneapolis small businesses instead.

I see what you're saying, but there really isn't a large enough demand for it.

[Tcmetro]

The idea of having a bus to Maple Grove would primarily be for low-income people to work and shop. Also, Maple Grove is planning to redevelop the quarries into medium and high density housing. People in Minneapolis might want to shop locally, but I don't think many people who live in Brooklyn Center are interested in traveling to Downtown or Uptown to go shopping.

The other reason for adding service in the area is that ridership has increased significantly since the 2007 restructure. Metro Transit took over the 721/722/723 routes and upgraded them to 40' buses. It isn't uncommon for the articulated buses to run on the 724, and now all midday trips go to Downtown Minneapolis. The 721 and 723 routes have been upgraded to 30 minute frequencies and have better hours. The 722 is proposed for expansion to more areas of Brooklyn Park. I think all the potential investments should be considered in a new restructuring study, and include things like owl service (724 already runs 3:54 am - 2:03 am), grid route network, frequent LRT/BRT connectors, etc.

The SIP also acknowledges the following potential improvements in the area:
704 - New NHCC-Robbinsdale bus.
705 - Increase service to 30 min, add 30 min weekend service, extend to Osseo
712 - New 30 min route along 36th Av N from Robbinsdale to Plymouth
716 - Extend hours to 1 am, extend all trips to Starlite, peak service 30 min, Sunday 60 min
717 - Improve weekday to 30 min, add weekend 60 min
720 - Reintroduce Starlite-Maple Grove route, weekdays 60 min
721 - Improve weekend service to 30 min
722 - Extend all trips to Brookdale/Zane
723 - Improve weekend service to 30 min
724 - Improve peak to 15 min
725 - New "north crosstown" from 93/Central to 81/West River Rd, 30 min service
766 - Add 60 min weekend service and extend to 9pm
801 - Improve to 30 min, add weekend 60 min, extend to 9 pm

[mattaudio]

Also, Maple Grove is planning to redevelop the quarries into medium and high density housing.

I'm so thankful we're running Bottineau LRT up a walk-hostile road, rather than arcing it through this new development on its way to walkable Osseo.

[cooperrez]

Why would anyone take the bus to Arbor Lales

I can think of one reason, http://www.rodiziogrill.com
Say you received a gift card to Rodizio and you want to go there by bus, ala this guy and his trip to Cabela's in Woodbury, http://stubblemag.com/2016/06/29/bus-tr ... -woodbury/
Maybe you're even a vegetarian who just wants to enjoy their unlimited gourmet salads.

[David Greene]

Also, Maple Grove is planning to redevelop the quarries into medium and high density housing.

I'm so thankful we're running Bottineau LRT up a walk-hostile road, rather than arcing it through this new development on its way to walkable Osseo.

Blame Maple Grove. They rejected it.

That said, there are currently many more environmental justice communities along the proposed route than the MG route. That counts for something.

[DanPatchToget]

Also, Maple Grove is planning to redevelop the quarries into medium and high density housing.

I'm so thankful we're running Bottineau LRT up a walk-hostile road, rather than arcing it through this new development on its way to walkable Osseo.

Maple Grove didn't want the Blue Line extension so it was an easy choice to go with the Target Campus route.

Really unfortunate as that would be a much better way to go to Arbor Lakes than dealing with traffic (and it seems no matter what time of day its busy there).

[mattaudio]

environmental justice communities

That counts for something.

What does that even mean.

[David Greene]

"Environmental justice communities" - Poor and other disadvantaged people; It's a term of the art.

"That counts for something" - A popular idiom expressing benefit

[mattaudio]

I thought you meant there were intentional communities dedicated to environmental justice that were somehow all placed along Brooklyn Park Broadway...

[David Greene]

Understandable. The term is confusing that way but it is actually the official EPA term. When I'm in meetings and someone else uses that term I usually try to interject a quick explanation. I guess I just assumed most people here know what it means. Apologies for the confusion.

[MNdible]

Transit service to the West End and the Louisiana Transit Center to get re-jiggered.

The West End and Route 9 Transit Study calls for eliminating four of the six segments of Route 9 with low ridership west of downtown Minneapolis and restructuring three other routes to improve service to the West End, a fast-growing high-density job and residential development near I-394 and Hwy. 100 in St. Louis Park

[MSPtoMKE]

All the events on Sept. 1st lead to record ridership levels, with 117,053 rides on light rail, more than 16,000 higher than the previous record. 369,626 people took transit in total that day. Here's the news release:

https://www.metrotransit.org/big-events ... -ridership

[intercomnut]

Transit App just rebranded itself as Transit, and added a ton of new features. I'm really excited!

My summary:

• GO is their trip "guide." Tells you when you need to leave, tracking your walking speed and the location of the bus to tell you if you need to hurry up or not. When you're on the bus, it notifies you of the bus deviates from the normal route and notifies you a few minutes before you arrive. It also adjusts for delays and missed transfers.
• The trip planner FINALLY has realtime arrival data integrated.
• The trip planner groups repeating trips and tells you how frequent they are.

More info near the bottom: https://medium.com/transit-app/transit- ... .oamrtijc6

[Tiller]

Sounds like a lifesaver #HypeTrain

[twincitizen]

Holy crap there are a ton of eastbound Route 46 buses thumping down my street in the afternoon (presumably for the high school service). I was pretty confident buying a house on 34th Ave (between 42nd and 46th) because the traffic isn't too bad and the 46 only runs every 30 minutes (and every 60 minutes in the late evening). But I got off work early yesterday, and holy crap that was annoying. 5 buses between 3:30 and 3:50.

So how's that school service thing going anyways? I would assume it's all working out pretty well now in it's 3rd year for MPS.

[billhelm]

I sometimes ride one of the WB 46 buses headed for Washburn during the school window in the morning. It's heavily used by the high school students.

[mattaudio]

And my personal mission is to add more buses to your street.

[mattaudio]

Speaking of the 46... A few ideas:
- Try to rationalize the east end. Right now, there are three common transfer points for 46 riders to DT SP... 46th Street Blue Line Station to 74, Highland Park to 74, and West 7th/St. Paul Ave to 54. At a minimum, there should be a simple timed transfer for all 46s to a fast bus to DT St. Paul. Best case would be combining with 74, 68, or a new Highland Park branch of the 54 to get South Minneapolis riders to DT St. Paul.

- 20 minute headways rather than 30 minute. I could see this happening when the Orange Line opens.

- Combine the "Washburn Jump" with the regular route... Could this turn south on Grand Ave from 46th to 50th? Only the 4800 block of Grand on that route would be a block without bus service today, and one side of that block is a park. Otherwise, just use Nicollet from 46th to 50th rather than Bryant.

- Extend to SWLRT. This could either be Vernon Ave to Opus via the one-bus-a-day D branch to Opportunity Partners, or it could jump north on Hwy 100 to Wooddale (by way of a BRT-style stop at Excelsior?)