Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

[COLSLAW5]

Yea I noticed that too. I also Feel like they should add in a couple of the bigger lakes since they are tourist destinations

[Silophant]

Yeah. You don't want the map to get too busy, but having blue circles for Bde Maka Ska and Lake Harriet would go a long way towards explaining why the E Line is drawn like that.

I might be reading too much into it, but it's interesting that the B, E, Gold, and Gold Extension all say "Opens 2025/2027" but the Green Line Extension just says "Project under construction". Wonder if that means it might open early in 2026, or be delayed to 2028, or if MT isn't sure themselves.

[MinneapBliss]

Fortunately, I can bike to work between Longfellow and Hamline-Midway most days. Occasionally I have to drive. What I observed yesterday around 4:15pm on Marshall Ave/Lake St heading west from Fairview/Prior Aves to well into Minneapolis was pretty astonishing. Took about 5-7 cycles to get from one stoplight to the next on the St. Paul side. Also had southbound W River Rd backed up to the north for several blocks, as right-turners had to rely on drivers waving them through onto East Lake St. Just hundreds of vehicles spending more time on the roads, crawling along, emitting carbon dioxide. No road work or accidents, just seems to be the result of the westbound dedicated bus lanes. I'm hoping there was another road closure that maybe fed this mess, but it wasn't marked as a detour.

Anyways, hopefully this does what transit planners intended, more people take the bus, bike, etc. and I'm happy to give it a few months before getting too judgmental about it. But it was a stark enough anecdote for me to post here to see what others' opinions are.

Also, I am judgy about the bus lane fully painted in red -- I see buses skid on it regularly when they're rolling into stops, even when it's not wet. I guess I'm just not a fan of paint as an answer for transit (and bike) infrastructure.

[daveybabymsp]

Fortunately, I can bike to work between Longfellow and Hamline-Midway most days. Occasionally I have to drive. What I observed yesterday around 4:15pm on Marshall Ave/Lake St heading west from Fairview/Prior Aves to well into Minneapolis was pretty astonishing. Took about 5-7 cycles to get from one stoplight to the next on the St. Paul side. Also had southbound W River Rd backed up to the north for several blocks, as right-turners had to rely on drivers waving them through onto East Lake St. Just hundreds of vehicles spending more time on the roads, crawling along, emitting carbon dioxide. No road work or accidents, just seems to be the result of the westbound dedicated bus lanes. I'm hoping there was another road closure that maybe fed this mess, but it wasn't marked as a detour.

Anyways, hopefully this does what transit planners intended, more people take the bus, bike, etc. and I'm happy to give it a few months before getting too judgmental about it. But it was a stark enough anecdote for me to post here to see what others' opinions are.

Also, I am judgy about the bus lane fully painted in red -- I see buses skid on it regularly when they're rolling into stops, even when it's not wet. I guess I'm just not a fan of paint as an answer for transit (and bike) infrastructure.

This was probably in part due to 94 being down to 2 lanes in that area, with people trying to avoid the traffic by taking Marshall/lake instead. I had to drive from Saint Paul to the west suburbs last evening and it was bumper to bumper for most of the stretch between 280 and 35w, moving very slowly. Rain probably also didn’t help. I would withhold judgment on bus lanes at least until after the B line is running as well.

[Silophant]

Almost sounds like the parkways shouldn't be used as commuter bypass routes. Perhaps one day we'll manage to elect a park board that prioritizes park users over driver convenience.

[Bakken2016]

https://www.metrotransit.org/changes-wi ... ng-in-2025

Beginning Jan 1, 2025, fare decreases are happening!

• Removal of local peak (rush hour) fares, reducing the fare from $2.50 to $2.00 and peak reduced
fares from $2.50 to $1.00 for all regional transit providers participating in the regional fare structure
and adjust the following fare products:
o All Day Pass from $5.00 to $4.00
o Reduced Fare All Day Pass from $5.00 to $2.00
o 10 Ride Pass Full Fare from $20.50 to $20.00
o Seven Day Pass from $24 - $20
o Eliminate $90.00 (31 Day) local peak and the $5.00 visitor pass
• Modify the Metro Mobility peak fare, from $4.50 to $4.00
• Modify Metro Mobility peak fare hours to 6:30AM-9:30AM and 2:00PM to 5:30PM
• Expand Transit Assistance Program (TAP) eligibility from one to two years, to be implemented
in 2025, once the fare technology is available.
• Approve a 6-month deeply discounted fare pilot for Metro Mobility customers to ride on regional
fixed routes for $.01, effective 1/1/2025 – 6/30/2025.
• Provide a new fare of $1.00 for Transit Link Circulator Service.

[DanPatchToget]

Fortunately, I can bike to work between Longfellow and Hamline-Midway most days. Occasionally I have to drive. What I observed yesterday around 4:15pm on Marshall Ave/Lake St heading west from Fairview/Prior Aves to well into Minneapolis was pretty astonishing. Took about 5-7 cycles to get from one stoplight to the next on the St. Paul side. Also had southbound W River Rd backed up to the north for several blocks, as right-turners had to rely on drivers waving them through onto East Lake St. Just hundreds of vehicles spending more time on the roads, crawling along, emitting carbon dioxide. No road work or accidents, just seems to be the result of the westbound dedicated bus lanes. I'm hoping there was another road closure that maybe fed this mess, but it wasn't marked as a detour.

Anyways, hopefully this does what transit planners intended, more people take the bus, bike, etc. and I'm happy to give it a few months before getting too judgmental about it. But it was a stark enough anecdote for me to post here to see what others' opinions are.

Also, I am judgy about the bus lane fully painted in red -- I see buses skid on it regularly when they're rolling into stops, even when it's not wet. I guess I'm just not a fan of paint as an answer for transit (and bike) infrastructure.

I would think there's ways to make pavement different colors from the standard grey concrete and black asphalt, so there's still a significant visual difference between regular driving lanes and bus lanes/bike lanes without using paint that can be slippery for buses and cyclists. However, I'm guessing if there is they don't want to do that because 1) it's more expensive, and 2) it would be a lot more difficult to remove the bus/bike lanes in case there's a massive uproar from motorists.

[angrysuburbanite]

Yes, the Orange Line stations on I-35W use colored concrete rather than paint. I do prefer when the lanes are red, because it seems the regular asphalt lanes like Marq2 or the ones in downtown Saint Paul experience more violations from drivers since they are less obviously marked. I know in the case of Lake Street parts of the bus lanes double as right turn space but some sort of raised concrete divider for some of it would be a better separation.

[UrbanMPLS]

Agreed that concrete or some other physical barrier would be best, especially since the bus lanes are 24 hours. I do think that the simple fact that they are 24 hours helps keep them open. One thing I would highly recommend is painting the curbs yellow or red. I think that’s one signal drivers know means “no parking anytime.”

Here in Chicago, the city has added rush hour bus lanes to Chicago Ave with disappointing results. There are constantly cars parked when they shouldn’t be, and anytime traffic slows down, drivers just start using the lane. They’re piloting a plan to increase enforcement, but it’s a bit of a cautionary tale that just paint and signs won’t work alone.

[Tcmetro]

Better bus routes improvements coming to the 7, including a reroute from 1st St N/3rd St S/4th St S to Washington Ave in Downtown and North Loop and reroute from 27th Ave S to 26th Ave S through Seward.

https://www.metrotransit.org/route-7

[twincitizen]

That's a good plan. A bit odd though that the just-drafted Network Now plan shows the 7 still running on 1st St through North Loop. Network Now does show the move from 3rd/4th to Washington through downtown, but retains the shift to 1st St at Hennepin. Hopefully the two staff groups at Metro Transit are talking to one another.

Network Now appendix C, page 7: https://www.metrotransit.org/Data/Sites ... -small.pdf

It's very satisfying to see all these changes that I and many others were calling for at least a decade ago finally coming to fruition. Stop consolidation, simpler downtown routings like keeping the 7 on Washington, not having the 21 go off-route to use the Chicago-Lake transit center, even silly little hobbyhorse ideas like renaming the 23 to the 38, etc. I do love to be right, but waiting a decade to see stuff like happen this is (a small) part of why I pursued a career in municipal government instead of staying with Metro Transit after interning there. I could not handle decade+ timelines to see results from my ideas.

[Silophant]

Fantastic. Glad to see the move to Washington Ave through downtown and the North Loop, should really help solidify the case for the bus lanes Hennepin County is apparently thinking about on Washington.

[angrysuburbanite]

Washington Avenue would be perfect for some center-running bus lanes given how obscenely wide it is. Or at least some sort of median to make it feel narrower if that isn't politically feasible.

[MSPtoMKE]

Interestingly this proposal also does not include the questionable Network Now proposal to add a branch of the 7 to serve 2nd St N. It isn’t the worst idea ever, but it goes against simplifying routes and would result in hourly (!) service on the Plymouth and 2nd St. N branches. I’m just now realizing that I didn’t include saying that that doesn’t seem like a worthwhile trade off in my comments I submitted to to Network Now draft plan…

[MNdible]

Doesn't it seem like this route should be extended to the MOA transit station? Weird to be so close to one of the systems largest transfer points and not make that connection.

[angrysuburbanite]

Quarterly update is out tonight:
https://www.metrotransit.org/quarterly- ... rday-dec-7

completely unrelated but I was looking through the service changes again. I must have missed it the first time but route 46 is returning on weekends??

[Bakken2016]

Quarterly update is out tonight:
https://www.metrotransit.org/quarterly- ... rday-dec-7

completely unrelated but I was looking through the service changes again. I must have missed it the first time but route 46 is returning on weekends??

Yes, that was a last minute add based on operator availability.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[will387]

Better bus routes improvements coming to the 7, including a reroute from 1st St N/3rd St S/4th St S to Washington Ave in Downtown and North Loop and reroute from 27th Ave S to 26th Ave S through Seward.

https://www.metrotransit.org/route-7

Nice to see the 7 route getting some love, especially with that reroute through Washington Ave in the North Loop. Should definitely make downtown travel smoother. Hopefully this is just the start of more bus lanes and better links around the city.

[J. Mc]

2024 Third Quarter Ridership presentation for the 12/9 Transportation Committee meeting:
https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetin ... rship.aspx

Highlights,
- Green line and D line ridership account for about half of system ridership growth.
- Overall Q3 ridership is up 9% over 2023
- Interestingly a breakdown by line for 'METRO' performance is included this time;
----- Blue 0%, Green +14%, Red +6%, Orange +32%, A +9%, C +9%, D +21%

[wingedmolotov]

Speaking of the Orange Line, it's getting a frequency boost to every 10 minutes during weekday rush hours and every 15 in the early morning and evening. Weekends will also be 15 minutes all day. Service span is now 4:30 am-midnight. This all went into effect on the 7th.