Search found 178 matches

by jebr
November 12th, 2022, 6:28 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 701686

Re: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

Hopefully with the pay raise this is the rock bottom in regards to the driver shortage. Half hour frequency for plenty of core local routes is unacceptable. I'd take half hourly over the hourly service the 65, 67, 83, and 87 are getting. Perhaps not fully "core" routes, but still critical...
by jebr
July 21st, 2022, 8:23 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: MSP Airport / Metropolitan Airports Commission
Replies: 1359
Views: 346229

Re: MSP Airport

People always freak out when they hear about those short flights, but clearly they're not intended for someone to go from Eau Claire to Minneapolis for the weekend. I've flown into places like Eugene, Oregon (via Portland) and Colorado Springs (via Denver), which are roughly the equivalent of the E...
by jebr
September 9th, 2021, 8:52 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Intercity Bus Services
Replies: 14
Views: 3242

Re: Intercity Bus Services

Flixbus has launched a route out of Minneapolis - going to Chicago with stops in Hudson, Eau Claire, Madison (both UW and Dutch Mill P&R,) and Janesville. Trips operate Thursday - Monday to Chicago, and Friday - Tuesday back to Minneapolis. Contracted operator is listed as Voigt's, though I'm no...
by jebr
January 8th, 2021, 8:50 pm
Forum: Local Politics and Governance
Topic: Minnesota Governor Election 2022
Replies: 39
Views: 13344

Re: Minnesota Governor Election 2022

I think basically any Republican is going to have a hard time beating Walz. Not impossible, but quite difficult. While there are many to the left of Walz that have issues with how he's handled some issues, those will almost certainly be fought out in the DFL primary and endorsement process, not the ...
by jebr
December 5th, 2020, 6:10 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Arterial Bus Rapid Transit Corridors
Replies: 434
Views: 92708

Re: Arterial Bus Rapid Transit Corridors

Surprised at Como-Maryland making short-term! But Central Ave has to be the F Line imho. Not only that, but it was the highest-scoring one too. As someone who recently moved to the East Side, I'd love to see that line come to fruition soon - it'd make it much easier to commute to my job in Rosevill...
by jebr
November 28th, 2020, 12:26 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Red Line (Cedar Avenue BRT)
Replies: 538
Views: 223434

Re: Red Line (Cedar Avenue BRT)

When the opt-outs pull stunts like this it makes me more supportive of consolidating all the transit operations in the region to Metro Transit. The problem is that Metro Transit isn't particularly great at serving the outer suburbs with local service. The turf wars are dumb, and most of the opt-out...
by jebr
June 12th, 2020, 12:17 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Road Geek Topics
Replies: 295
Views: 143666

Re: Road Geek Topics

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/d4/newsrels/20/05/28-hwy54.html Minnesota and Grant County swap highways. Grant County takes over MN 54 in it's entirety, while MnDOT takes over Grant County 10 (to be numbered as an extension of MN 78. MN 54 is notable as a 1920 constitutional route that still has it's o...
by jebr
August 8th, 2019, 1:50 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Bus Destination Signage
Replies: 11
Views: 2290

Re: Bus Destination Signage

And that’s pretty much the point of aBRT, right? Pick an arterial, and provide high frequency service mainly along that arterial, with no deviations. This is important, but not gospel. It is a rule that can/should be broken when it makes overwhelming sense to do so (i.e. higher ridership). The main...
by jebr
April 4th, 2019, 8:12 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 701686

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

It looks like it's the 3A that offers the Rice-Maryland route, not the 3B. Of course, using two routes to get to that frequency means that it's not always obvious that the frequency exist (you have to look at two timetables, and know that both of those routes and branches go where you're wanting to ...
by jebr
March 1st, 2019, 12:58 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Northstar Commuter Rail
Replies: 952
Views: 221966

Re: Northstar Commuter Rail

What was up with that ridiculous extend-to-Camp-Ripley concept? Based on what I was reading, it sounded like the proposal was basically to see if any additional federal funding sources come up if it connects to some sort of military base. The rationale is a bit wonky, but if it costs less to serve ...
by jebr
February 17th, 2019, 7:50 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Northstar Commuter Rail
Replies: 952
Views: 221966

Re: Northstar Commuter Rail

Yeah, 10 minutes is definitely too tight to reliably turn a train. Metra's done this, but even they're having to change that a bit (I think to 12 minutes?) just to account for the increased time it takes to turn a train under current PTC implementations. I think an every-two-hour service would be th...
by jebr
December 5th, 2018, 9:07 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Green Line Extension - Southwest LRT
Replies: 5265
Views: 1247122

Re: Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension)

I think it much more likely that people will be (possibly irrationally) irritated by frequent stops at stations and will perceive the express bus to be faster simply because it's mostly always moving, albeit sometimes slowly. The corridor isn't really designed for outer-ring-to-downtown service, de...
by jebr
December 3rd, 2018, 9:55 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Amtrak: Empire Builder and Borealis (TCMC)
Replies: 625
Views: 391317

Re: Amtrak Empire Builder and Intercity Rail to Chicago

If the train could do downtown-to-downtown in four hours with airport access and useful suburban stations, it could be a real competitor. Until the infrastructure improvements happen, any added train service is going to prove marginal in utility. I don't think direct O'Hare access is all that criti...
by jebr
November 7th, 2018, 3:29 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 701686

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

The loop to the Lyngblomsten Senior Home on the 84 is interesting. Hopefully that can help ridership; it seems well suited for the local route to make that loop (and for the senior home to be on the local loop) if they have to cut it back to roughly there anyways. I'm not sure how much life is left ...
by jebr
November 5th, 2018, 12:34 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Gold Line BRT (Gateway Corridor)
Replies: 458
Views: 147344

Re: Gold Line BRT (Gateway Corridor)

The biggest problem I see with Union Depot (especially the bus bay area) becoming a true local transportation hub is that it's relatively time-consuming to run buses through Union Depot without starting/ending there. Currently the 54 extension skips Union Depot, and any Gold Line through-traffic wou...
by jebr
November 5th, 2018, 11:59 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Northstar Commuter Rail
Replies: 952
Views: 221966

Re: Northstar Commuter Rail

I'm annoyed that we can do something like this for free (granted, with sponsorships) but daily travel that actually reduces carbon emissions and congestion has to pay standard fare. I get that this is a one-off thing versus daily ridership, but even having the opportunity to build ridership with &qu...
by jebr
October 8th, 2018, 2:03 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)
Replies: 2909
Views: 701686

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

The 84 truncation is especially interesting to me. Midway Parkway seems like a pretty arbitrary ending point (it does serve the Fairgrounds, except southbound during the State Fair when that stop is closed,) but I'm not aware of any year-round bathroom access there for drivers, and there's not any s...
by jebr
July 30th, 2018, 1:44 pm
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Gold Line BRT (Gateway Corridor)
Replies: 458
Views: 147344

Re: Gold Line BRT (Gateway Corridor)

Ideally, I'd like to see the Gold Line extension do all trips during rush hour, and every-other-trip outside of rush, along with inline station stops at Snelling, Huron Ave., and perhaps Dale and somewhere around Cedar/Riverside. Too many stops between the two would remove the express feel of it, bu...
by jebr
July 23rd, 2018, 10:14 am
Forum: Transportation
Topic: Electric Scooters
Replies: 102
Views: 34324

Re: Scooter sharing

Maybe this is an aside, but as a former resident who returns sometimes I find that the GoTo Cards are pretty useless except as monthly passes. There is no benefit to using the GoTo pass (discount wise) as many of the other passes (day pass, weekly pass, weekend pass) are not available, stored value...
by jebr
July 15th, 2018, 7:03 pm
Forum: Anything Goes
Topic: STREETS MN Meet-Up?
Replies: 17
Views: 2404

Re: STREETS MN Meet-Up?

It'll be at Lake Monster Brewing from 2-6 PM on Saturday, July 28. Entrees will be provided, but please bring a side dish to share.

RSVP here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/streetsmn- ... 8090078720