urbanMSP

Something else that feels weird: the 61 bus not running at all on Sundays, but the 71 Bus does. I wish the 61 got more love and attention from metro transit!

The 71 is functionally an old streetcar route, while the 61 was created in 2001 as part of the North East Restructure. When it was first created it turned around at Arcade and didn't go to downtown St. Paul. Given some of the other recent expansions (30-Broadway, 83-Lexington), better service on the 61 is long overdue.

Ridership on the 61 has been very middling at best. It was briefly scoped in Network Next for an ABRT route, but it fell to the wayside very quickly. I imagine good service on Como-Maryland will go further toward reducing some of the crosstown demand on the 61.

Ridership on the 61 has been very middling at best. It was briefly scoped in Network Next for an ABRT route, but it fell to the wayside very quickly. I imagine good service on Como-Maryland will go further toward reducing some of the crosstown demand on the 61.

That's true that the 61 has mediocre ridership generally, but I think that Metro Transit should have span and frequency standards. Most of the urban bus lines already follow an informal standard of 30 mins or better from 5-6 am to 12-1 am.

Metro Transit will be reducing service in December to better match operator availability. Currently, it looks like there's a laundry list of cancellations every day, so this should help make service more reliable.

From Monday's Transportation Committee meeting: https://metrocouncil.org/getdoc/8028927 ... sItem.aspx


Also on Monday, Plymouth Metrolink cut service back on some of their express routes from every 30 minutes to every 40 minutes:
https://www.plymouthmn.gov/Home/Compone ... s/7407/246

Looks like MVTA is expanding their Connect service into Eagan, definitely a good option for connecting from Red Line to destinations in Eagan.

Small reductions in MVTA service effective October 18th. https://www.mvta.com/news/trip-reductio ... f23cmfqOZA

Lots of service changes coming on Dec 4th:

https://www.metrotransit.org/quarterly- ... rday-dec-4

Orange Line changes:
- Orange Line every 15 mins weekdays and 30 mins weekends
- 7 extended to VA Hospital during peak hours
- New 501 with PM service to Cargo Rd
- 515 simplified to operate all trips on Bloomington
- 534 serving Lyndale and Penn every 60 mins
- 539 rerouted to 98th St to Normandale on weekdays. Every 30 mins weekdays and 30-60 mins weekends.
- 540 simplified in the Edina Industrial Park and improved to 30-60 mins weekends
- 542 restored with peak hour service and an extension to the Bloomington/Eden Prairie border.
- New 546 replacing 539 west of 35W. Every 30 mins weekdays and 30-60 mins weekends.
- New 547 replacing 597 to SW Bloomington during peak hours.

Improvements:
- Added service on 62 to West St. Paul
- Rt. 5 trips that end at 38th extended to 56th
- Added 612 service to cover Rt. 12
- Added 94 stops at Snelling
- 87 extension to 7th St replacing Rt. 84
- Northtown area reroutes

Route suspensions:
- 12, 16, 19, 84, 134, 223, 553, 579, 604, 652, 664, 670, 756, 765, Maple Grove 785 suspended.
- 18 on Grand Ave suspended
- 46 on weekends suspended
- 70 on St. Clair and to the correctional facility suspended

Frequency reductions:
- Blue & Green Lines to every 12 mins (began in Oct)
- A Line to every 12 mins
- Red Line to every 30 mins weekdays
- trip/frequency reductions on 2, 5, 10, 14, 17, 18, 21, 22, 25, 70, 74, 87, 219, 250, 270, 755, 768, 850

More route suspensions than even that. The full list of changes can be found here: https://www.metrotransit.org/quarterly- ... rday-dec-4

Some real devastating cuts in here. Routes that were just brought back in August are being cut. Gotta find more drivers soon or these service reductions are gonna spiral endlessly.

It's a tough situation. I am concerned about the erosion of the ten minute baseline for METRO services (except the Red Line, we don't talk about the Red Line) and the debut of the Orange Line at fifteen minute headways. I know Metro Transit has little choice, but it is not an encouraging concession.

The current worker-favored labor market is not in their favor (although it has benefits for many other people!), but Metro Transit has been battling through an operator shortage for years now and it is frustrating that it seems to be getting worse, or else the pandemic set back what gains they had made previously. These are really good union jobs, and hopefully they will find people to take them sooner rather than later.

The only way this gets fixed might be intervention from a DFL-controlled state legislature or a recession. We're still a while away from either tho.

The suspension of the 16 is certainly notable. I wouldn't be surprised if it never returns. I can only imagine the ridership was near-zero, especially since the route length was curtailed a few times since the Green Line began service 7.5 years ago.

Suspension of the 84 and 19 are also notable. The southerly portion of the 84 (St. Paul Ave down to Shepard/Davern) that was unique to the local service will be served by extending the Route 87. I could see that being a permanent change. Suspension of the 19 leaves Thomas Avenue unserved, meaning riders will have to walk further to the C Line on Penn on that portion of the route.

The suspension of the 16 is certainly notable. I wouldn't be surprised if it never returns. I can only imagine the ridership was near-zero, especially since the route length was curtailed a few times since the Green Line began service 7.5 years ago.

Suspension of the 84 and 19 are also notable. The southerly portion of the 84 (St. Paul Ave down to Shepard/Davern) that was unique to the local service will be served by extending the Route 87. I could see that being a permanent change. Suspension of the 19 leaves Thomas Avenue unserved, meaning riders will have to walk further to the C Line on Penn on that portion of the route.

I don't think underserving Thomas is a huge deal. People manage in between Fremont and Penn without needing a bus route in the middle of it. If we have to make cuts. This is a good cut

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I don't think underserving Thomas is a huge deal. People manage in between Fremont and Penn without needing a bus route in the middle of it. If we have to make cuts. This is a good cut

There is a world of difference between those two examples, most notably because there is no north/south service west of Penn (the 717 doesn't count). Riders between Fremont and Penn have to walk a quarter mile to reach one of those; riders on Victory Pkwy will be walking a full half mile, and everything west of the parkway won't be served at all.

While not a great loss, I've taken the 16 more often than the Green Line in the last year. Due to its very low ridership, it was effectively faster than the train.

Governor Walz has released his $2.7 billion bonding proposal which includes $60 million for "design, environmental work, acquisition of right-of-way, engineering, and construction along regional busway corridors," $1 million for the Greater Minnesota Transit Capital Program, $6.5 million total for two pedestrian infrastructure programs, $16.1 million for railroad corridor improvements between Minneapolis and Duluth for "potential future passenger rail," and $725 thousand for a public plaza at the Opus Station.

Of course, this proposal includes significantly more money for highways and car infrastructure, but it could be worse. I assume that the $60 million in busway money will go toward the H Line, but maybe it's intended to help cover any Met Council Gold or Purple Line commitments, but I don't think those are substantial if extant at all.

Lots of other local and outstate goodies. Here's the link for your viewing pleasure: https://mn.gov/mmb-stat/documents/budge ... roject.pdf

Pretty sure the $60 million in busway funding is to fill the gap on F Line and fully fund H Line. Gold and Purple are funded by Ramsey County, Washington County, and the FTA.

I used to have a condo near Excelsior Boulevard at Quentin Avenue and relied on the #12 bus to get to work in Uptown. Is it accurate that the entire route is suspended? I sold it 10 years ago, but at that time it had pretty decent ridership. I know lots of people in Hopkins and SLP rely on that bus.

I used to have a condo near Excelsior Boulevard at Quentin Avenue and relied on the #12 bus to get to work in Uptown. Is it accurate that the entire route is suspended? I sold it 10 years ago, but at that time it had pretty decent ridership. I know lots of people in Hopkins and SLP rely on that bus.

The 612 runs the same route, the 12 just also ran to downtown. If someone needs to continue to downtown they can transfer to 6 or 17.


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After a certain amount of time has passed would Metro Transit remove bus stop signs on a route that's been suspended since the pandemic began? I often see bus stop signs for the 589 that are covered up with a sticker saying something like "no route currently serves this stop", and the 589 among several other routes have been suspended for almost 2 years and counting. The 589 wasn't the greatest in terms of ridership before the pandemic, so I can't imagine it being resumed in the next few years if ever.

Pretty sure the $60 million in busway funding is to fill the gap on F Line and fully fund H Line. Gold and Purple are funded by Ramsey County, Washington County, and the FTA.

The G Line would come before the H Line, right? Or did they find funding for that somewhere else?