Gold Line BRT - Woodbury to St. Paul (3/22/2025) and Minneapolis (2027)

[Bakken2016]

As far as I'm aware, the FFGA from the FTA specifies that the Gold Line will run 10 mins most of the day, so Metro Transit has to abide by that or the FTA will ask for their funding back.

[daveybabymsp]

Curious what the risk is of the Mpls extension being successful, but the entire service getting lower frequencies due to low ridership. IMO this is why it might not hurt to have an overlay branding for the downtown to downtown segment. That way a future Purple Line or even an ABRT line could pick up that overlay branding to ensure higher frequencies between the downtowns.

I know that the current trend seems to be simplifying routes and removing branches, but I think it would be cool to have a gold line branch from DT Minneapolis to Woodbury and a Gold line branch on 394 to DT Saint Paul. If both ran on 15 minute frequencies then the segment between downtowns would have better than 10 minute frequency.


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[Bakken2016]

It might be fun to take bets on what Gold Line ridership will be.

Well the Orange Line did 1600 to 2000 daily average rides on weekdays in 2024. I'm going to take a guess of 1750 weekday average rides.

[DanPatchToget]

For the first few months of operations I’ll guess 1,500 average weekday rides. When the extension to Minneapolis opens then add whatever Route 94 currently has for average weekday rides plus another 300 (most of that addition being people traveling on the Minneapolis-St. Paul segment, but a tiny amount of additional riders east of downtown St. Paul).

[daveybabymsp]

I will chime in with my own baseless prediction: gold line will struggle to break 1000 daily riders in 2025. Downtown Saint Paul has much less pull than Minneapolis, and the orange line will probably start to break 2000 for the first time this summer.

I am optimistic that it will outperform the orange line once the extension opens, maybe 3000-4000 riders or even more if transit rebounds more by 2027

[J. Mc]

I'm guessing Gold will at minimum gain some ridership from folks going between DTSP <-> Sunray/Sunray TC

Checking midday weekday scheduled travel time between Rice Park Station or 5th/7th and Sunray:
- Gold 17 minutes (10 min freq)
- 63 26 minutes (15 min freq)
- 70S 22 minutes (60 min freq)
- 74S 30 minutes (20-40 min freq)

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned already, but I do hope in the future, as Sunray Plaza inevitably gets some redevelopment, they can relocate the Sunray TC a bit closer to the Gold Line station with a nicer facility for easier connections. The current setup isn't bad, at the most one is walking about 650', about the same distance as walking the perimeter aisles of the Cub. But for folks with mobility challenges or just regular able-bodied during poor weather it is a bit of a stroll and not the most convenient transfer setup at what may be a notable connection point.

[StandishGuy]

Let's hope this thing gets decent ridership since it cost more than $500 million... However, I predict 800 riders average per day. I hope the result will be an end to constructing these highway BRT lines to unwalkable, car-oriented places that demonstrate over and over that their land uses are hostile to making transit work.

[Bakken2016]

https://www.metrotransit.org/Data/Sites ... ldline.pdf

Gold Line Pocket Schedule with timetables' now available.

[angrysuburbanite]

https://www.metrotransit.org/GoldLine
Gold Line countdown and opening events now up on the website.

Free rides on opening day!

[Nick]

https://www.startribune.com/will-the-ne ... /601232770

Reading this article feels like taking a time machine back to 2015, which now that I think about it, I would like to do, so good for them.

[wingedmolotov]

https://www.metrotransit.org/GoldLine
Gold Line countdown and opening events now up on the website.

Free rides on opening day!

Any idea when the first eastbound bus is?

[angrysuburbanite]

https://www.metrotransit.org/GoldLine
Gold Line countdown and opening events now up on the website.

Free rides on opening day!

Any idea when the first eastbound bus is?

6:10 AM from the Smith Ramp according to the schedule

[wingedmolotov]

On opening day?

[angrysuburbanite]

That’s what it says over on Pantograph.

[Bakken2016]

https://www.metrotransit.org/GoldLine
Gold Line countdown and opening events now up on the website.

Free rides on opening day!

Any idea when the first eastbound bus is?

6:10 AM from the Smith Ramp according to the schedule

This is incorrect.

According to the schedule on metrotransit.org

First from Woodlane is at 4:54am, first from Smith & 5th is 5:11am.

[angrysuburbanite]

According to the schedule on metrotransit.org

First from Woodlane is at 4:54am, first from Smith & 5th is 5:11am.

Appreciate the correction, I swear it said 6:10 on Pantograph when I checked it but it matches what you said now. Sorry for any confusion!

[seanrichardryan]

Bigger buses and a new route: Metro Transit drivers are getting ready for Gold Line’s debut
The new line running from downtown St. Paul to Woodbury is “tricky” but it will be great, said one driver.

https://www.startribune.com/bigger-buse ... ource=gift

[angrysuburbanite]

At Woodlane right now, super busy. So exciting!

[angrysuburbanite]

Pictures!

[angrysuburbanite]

So, first day impressions, at least for me, were very positive. The infrastructure was really smooth running and pretty quick (the 35 minute runtime goes fast). Those flyovers were really impressive to ride over. I especially liked the stations. Nice, roomy shelters with good visibility to prevent too much loitering, lots of benches, and good lighting and trail connections. I much prefer these stations over the ones from the Orange Line, which feel more utilitarian. The Woodlane park & ride was pretty nice, though I think some better signage to the elevators is needed. The TSP was pretty spotty earlier in the day, but my return trip in the early afternoon was pretty smooth sailing. We only got caught at one light, and not for very long. There was some confusion at the Sun Ray station since the island platform requires the bus to crossover to the opposite side. Quite a few people got on the opposite direction they were intending.

The stations are actually better than many of us have given them credit for, location-wise. Most are near pockets of suburban density, commercial nodes, and of course the 3M campus. With Network Now the bus connections will be very strong, and Helmo Station will eventually be a decent urban node. The sound barriers along I-94 make the waiting environments quite quiet too, unlike the Orange Line. I expect most riders to be getting on at Woodlane and Sun Ray though.

But the biggest thing that impressed me was the ridership. Every bus I got on (and saw) was packed. And not just transit enthusiasts. Lots of regular people came out today to try it! I already saw some using it for game day transportation, and plenty of others realizing that maybe taking the bus is a feasible option for them now. Most of the ridership seemed to be coming from the Woodbury area, so this is a pretty big deal for them. A lot of drivers definitely noticed the buses, and looked pretty surprised to see packed articulated buses out in the suburbs.

As a conclusion, I would say that I underestimated the Gold Line. I think it’s going to be pretty well used. The opening events really left positive impressions on people. With all of the intense hate and disdain for others in our current political environment, I really liked seeing so many people coming together to enjoy some sweet new infrastructure. It gave me some hope.