Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

[mattaudio]

Is it odd for a light rail system to require this much reconstruction after less than 25 years?

[angrysuburbanite]

I wonder if the April-June 2027 Blue Line closure more or less confirms that the Green Line extension will not open before June. Metro Transit has never given more specificity than "2027" but that hasn't stopped us from wondering if it could open in March (or earlier) given that testing started last fall and that typically takes a year. Probably bad optics to open a long-awaited $3 Billion line without a rail connection to the airport.

Unfortunately, I think you are correct. Especially because the closure also means no access to downtown. It's a bummer that the system will be effectively useless for the next two summers. Most special event riders will probably be lost to driving because the bus is so incredibly slow, though there is the benefit of a "rejuvenated light rail system" opening in 2027 with a refurbished Blue Line and extended Green Line. That's an opportunity to have a hard reset for the system and hopefully improve its public optics and recover ridership.

[rhettcarlson]

2026 Light Rail closures due to the Blue Line reconstruction (https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetin ... pdate.aspx) will be as follows:
Blue Line
- May 9-10th and 30th-31st between Target Field and Fort Snelling (2 days each, weekends)
- June 29th-August 19th between Target Field and Mall of America (52 days)
Green Line
- April 25th-26th and May 2nd-3rd (marked on calendar but not mentioned in the table?)
- June 29th-26th and August 16-19th between Target Field and West Bank (32 days)

Man, those midsummer closures are tough. Transit ridership usually peaks in summer, thinking about all the choice Twins riders the system won't have the chance to win back. Why aren't April and October on the table for big capital projects requiring essentially full month-long shutdowns?

[Silophant]

So they're pouring ADA pads to allow northbound buses to just stay on Hiawatha instead of turning left onto 46th, 38th, and Lake (and whatever round the block maneuver was required to get back onto Hiawatha after Lake), but it's still going to take three minutes longer for the northbound run from the airport to downtown? What's the point?

[blo442]

So they're pouring ADA pads to allow northbound buses to just stay on Hiawatha instead of turning left onto 46th, 38th, and Lake (and whatever round the block maneuver was required to get back onto Hiawatha after Lake), but it's still going to take three minutes longer for the northbound run from the airport to downtown? What's the point?

I believe MnDOT's intersection rebuilds at 26th/Hiawatha and 46th/Hiawatha will both be happening this year. (Come to think of it, MnDOT probably timed it this way to take advantage of the Blue Line shutdown to do work around the rail crossings). That means lane closures on Hiawatha all summer, probably horrendous traffic, and I suspect that is why the replacement buses are scheduled more conservatively this year.

[Rube Dali]

I wonder if the April-June 2027 Blue Line closure more or less confirms that the Green Line extension will not open before June. Metro Transit has never given more specificity than "2027" but that hasn't stopped us from wondering if it could open in March (or earlier) given that testing started last fall and that typically takes a year. Probably bad optics to open a long-awaited $3 Billion line without a rail connection to the airport.

Unfortunately, I think you are correct. Especially because the closure also means no access to downtown. It's a bummer that the system will be effectively useless for the next two summers. Most special event riders will probably be lost to driving because the bus is so incredibly slow, though there is the benefit of a "rejuvenated light rail system" opening in 2027 with a refurbished Blue Line and extended Green Line. That's an opportunity to have a hard reset for the system and hopefully improve its public optics and recover ridership.

I'm thinking the extension won't open until December '27 at the earliest.

[angrysuburbanite]

https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetin ... nfo-1.aspx
It appears Network Now has stalled for the time being. The June service changes are minimal and the Blue Line bus bridge seems to be the culprit due to the sheer amount of bus operators required to run it. Most of these are housekeeping changes (schedule adjustments, contracting, etc.) though there are a few larger modifications.

North Metro restructuring:
- Route 827 is truncated to end at Northtown; everything north is replaced by Route 802, which will run 7 days a week for the first time. Service is increased to every 30 minutes on weekday afternoons on the 802 segment. Interestingly, route 827 won't run on Sundays even though both the 802 and 805 will.
- Many route 25 trips are extended to Foley P&R to compensate for Route 827 truncation.
- Route 850 will no longer travel north of Foley P&R.
- Route 805 is increased to every 30 minutes on weekdays and hourly Sunday service is added.
- With these changes, the Northstar corridor bus replacement is now fully completed.
Other changes:
- Schedule adjustments will address reliability issues on the B and E lines as well as route 27.
- Routes 46 and 71 will no longer be directly operated by Metro Transit, likely due to low ridership and high costs. I'm guessing Network Now's planned 15-min frequency for route 46 during rush hour isn't happening then?
- Route 14 will see stop consolidation, but will not see any schedule improvements nor route simplification. These changes will occur with the August changes instead.
- The Renew the Blue project will have both the Blue and Green Line closures covered by a single bus route; schedule data shows a special shuttle between the airport terminals operating as well. Frequency will only be every 15 minutes (!); the Green Line will operate downtown between July 27th and August 15th.
- It's also not mentioned here but the B Line will be detoured off of Selby Avenue in St. Paul for most of the summer, which is unfortunate.
Southwest Transit
- First commuter express changes since 2021!
- Route 698 is rebalanced for more consistent peak headways. A strange Wednesdays-only local variant in Eden Prairie is being added between Central Middle School and the SouthWest station for one 698U trip in each direction during rush hour.
- Route 695 loses one round trip a day in favor of the rebalanced Route 698 schedule
MVTA
- Route 472 is being suspended and replaced by an extension of Route 470. Route 477 will have a new branch to a re-opened 157th St Station just east of Apple Valley Transit Station and Palomino Hills P&R (formerly served by the 472)
- Route 484 will be suspended; all commuter express service to St. Paul in the MVTA region will be covered by route 480 instead. Route 489 is also being discontinued.
- Routes 460, 465, 470, 475, 477, 480, 490, and 493 will see many trips suspended on Fridays due to low ridership.
- Minor routing and timing changes on local routes

[BikesOnFilm]

At the risk of providing the same sort of anecdotal update as the "I watched a light rail train go by and it's empty, that means nobody rides it" folks...

My friend who takes the Green Line from Minneapolis to St. Paul for work has reported that the train is busier than he's ever seen it during his commute. He didn't use it prior to the current slump or the pandemic, so the 2024-25 status quo was his baseline.

[angrysuburbanite]

To add on to the anecdotal evidence, I’ve noticed a very sudden and sharp increase of traffic, especially in the mornings, across the metro area around late March/early April. Were there any return to office requirements that kicked in around like late March?

Obviously some of this is just seasonal, but I don’t recall there being lots of traffic during morning rush hours in a very long time. I’d imagine both your and my anecdotes probably stem from the same thing. I really hope things are turning around, but I’ve hoped that many times before and nothing has happened.

[BikesOnFilm]

The main RTO stories I've heard lately were Best Buy and General Mills going to 4 days a week, but I have to imagine traffic is coming from yet another banger year for construction.

Though there easily could have been a few smaller organizations increasing RTO numbers that just didn't make the headlines. My assumption for increased transit ridership would have been the gas prices, personally, but that wouldn't necessarily square with the increased traffic you're seeing.

[angrysuburbanite]

I bet it is a bit of an "all of the above" situation with some more RTO, construction, gas prices (for transit), and warmer weather which seems to positively impact travel patterns.

https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetin ... /info.aspx
Speaking of road construction, this was an interesting presentation from a Met Council meeting awhile ago which analyzed how I-94 construction impacted travel.

[angrysuburbanite]

Good news on transit ridership, April 2026 saw about 4% higher weekday ridership than April 2025, though it is still about 1,000 daily rides below 2024’s peak.
- Green Line is the only major weak point, with ridership declining 17.04% YoY, down almost a third from 2024 at this point. Weekday ridership is 21,408 vs 29,796 in 2024.
- Blue Line sees a gain of about 8.89% YoY to 17,633. This is down from 2024 by 11.25% still.
- Gold Line sees its best month yet, with ridership at 1,760 daily riders, 80% higher than its first month in operation
- Orange Line continues growth, though below last fall still. Sits at around 2,233 daily rides which is up 13.6% from 2025 and 30% from 2024.
- A Line sees a 14.09% increase YoY, which is great for an established service.
- B Line nearly hits 11k! No point of comparison but April was one of its best months so far at 10,984 daily rides
- C Line improves slightly over 2025 (up about 3%) but is down a whole 9.7% from 2024 still.
- D Line is down about 3% from both 2024 and 2025, just below 14,000 daily rides
- After two months with literally identical daily ridership numbers, the E Line soars to nearly 7k at 6,900 daily rides, well above Route 6 post-covid.
- Regular bus is down 10.89%, but last year at this time routes 6 and 21 were still running. With this in mind, all bus services are up about 8% from 2025 and 8.6% from 2024.
- Total rail is down 7% from 2025, but nearly 11% from 2024.
Total system daily ridership was 164,675, just shy of 2024’s 165,387. Without the rail decline the system is actually responding well to increased service now. Let’s keep this momentum going!

[daveybabymsp]

Good news on transit ridership, April 2026 saw about 4% higher weekday ridership than April 2025, though it is still about 1,000 daily rides below 2024’s peak.
- Green Line is the only major weak point, with ridership declining 17.04% YoY, down almost a third from 2024 at this point. Weekday ridership is 21,408 vs 29,796 in 2024.
- Blue Line sees a gain of about 8.89% YoY to 17,633. This is down from 2024 by 11.25% still.
- Gold Line sees its best month yet, with ridership at 1,760 daily riders, 80% higher than its first month in operation
- Orange Line continues growth, though below last fall still. Sits at around 2,233 daily rides which is up 13.6% from 2025 and 30% from 2024.
- A Line sees a 14.09% increase YoY, which is great for an established service.
- B Line nearly hits 11k! No point of comparison but April was one of its best months so far at 10,984 daily rides
- C Line improves slightly over 2025 (up about 3%) but is down a whole 9.7% from 2024 still.
- D Line is down about 3% from both 2024 and 2025, just below 14,000 daily rides
- After two months with literally identical daily ridership numbers, the E Line soars to nearly 7k at 6,900 daily rides, well above Route 6 post-covid.
- Regular bus is down 10.89%, but last year at this time routes 6 and 21 were still running. With this in mind, all bus services are up about 8% from 2025 and 8.6% from 2024.
- Total rail is down 7% from 2025, but nearly 11% from 2024.
Total system daily ridership was 164,675, just shy of 2024’s 165,387. Without the rail decline the system is actually responding well to increased service now. Let’s keep this momentum going!

I wonder how much of the A line increase is due to the smooth transfer to the B line at Snelling/Selby?

Also, light rail needs some intervention bad. It is the most visible part of the system and it has been struggling for years. We need 10 minute frequency, better signal priority, and advertising highlighting the improved frequency and speed.

I still don’t understand how we could be planning to open SWLRT next year and not have the capacity to run the existing light rail system at its intended frequency.