A Line - Arterial Rapid Bus

[Snelbian]

Especially when the spots on the NE corner of Grand are underutilized all day, every day.

[twincitizen]

That would be nice if Met Council's transportation committee could read between the lines of the staff report and instead recommend the original far-side platforms, instead of capitulating to a business owner's demands for a few spaces of "free" car storage in front of their shop. That's what a real progressive body serious about improving transit would do.

[David Greene]

That would be nice if Met Council's transportation committee could read between the lines of the staff report and instead recommend the original far-side platforms, instead of capitulating to a business owner's demands for a few spaces of "free" car storage in front of their shop. That's what a real progressive body serious about improving transit would do.

Write to them! They actually do seem to want to do the right thing in general.

[kellonathan]

A Line BRT moves forward. Below is a copy of the press release today.

July 9, 2014
Plans for the region’s first arterial Bus Rapid Transit Line, the A Line, won approval from the Metropolitan Council on Wednesday.

The approved plan includes 20 enhanced stations, faster and more frequent bus service and specialized vehicles with train-like features that make boarding more efficient. The BRT service will run on Snelling Avenue and Ford Parkway between the Rosedale Transit Center in Roseville and the METRO Blue Line’s 46th Street Station in Minneapolis. A Line passengers will be able to transfer to the METRO Green Line at Snelling Avenue Station.

Funding for the $25 million project comes from the state, Met Council and federal grants.

Approval of the recommended plan allows the project to enter the final design and construction phase. Construction will begin later this year and service will start in late-2015.

The A Line is one of 12 arterial BRT corridors that have been identified as regional priorities. The B Line is due to open on St. Paul's West 7th Street in late-2016 and the C Line is due to open on Penn Avenue in Minneapolis as early as 2017. An evaluation of a potential future extension of the A Line to Arden Hills is also ongoing.

[Minneapolisite]

It would be nice if in the year before it debuts that a limited service bus would pick up the slack (and attract ridership for the line preemptively).

[EOst]

Are the aBRT lines going to have METRO branding (/map prominence) or are they going to be under their own brand? It seems like it would be strange to have them anywhere else, but maybe that's the plan.

[acs]

Are the aBRT lines going to have METRO branding (/map prominence) or are they going to be under their own brand? It seems like it would be strange to have them anywhere else, but maybe that's the plan.

Nah they will get the name Rapid Bus or something and be labeled A, B, C ect. They don't have dedicated lanes like the METRO and we'd run out of colors pretty fast. How bad would "A Chartreuse line bus is approaching" sound?

[David Greene]

How bad would "A Chartreuse line bus is approaching" sound?

It would sound great!

Damn hard to read on a map, though.

[grant1simons2]

This is looking pretty good, reading more about the project it sounds like it will be pleasing to most. Does annoy me that they will not have a priority lane. Found on the project timeline for the line "Push-button heating" at stations, mmmmmm. AND REAL-TIME DEPARTURE INFO!!

[Snelbian]

One issue for me with this line (which I love) is that it seems really unlikely now that Snelling south of Como will see a (badly needed for pedestrian safety) road diet anytime soon.

[EOst]

Are the aBRT lines going to have METRO branding (/map prominence) or are they going to be under their own brand? It seems like it would be strange to have them anywhere else, but maybe that's the plan.

Nah they will get the name Rapid Bus or something and be labeled A, B, C ect. They don't have dedicated lanes like the METRO and we'd run out of colors pretty fast. How bad would "A Chartreuse line bus is approaching" sound?

Is "dedicated lanes" what METRO means, though? Seems more like "high-amenity" or "relatively fast" to me. Do agree that the color problem would crop up pretty quickly. "Transfer from the METRO Green Line to the METRO A Line" doesn't sound that bad, though.

I don't know. The METRO brand seems like it needs all the visibility it can get, and having a few of these rapid buses in the system would definitely at least help to create the appearance of a unified and comprehensive urban transit system (even if those of us on here can gripe about what it isn't).

[IllogicalJake]

Are the aBRT lines going to have METRO branding (/map prominence) or are they going to be under their own brand? It seems like it would be strange to have them anywhere else, but maybe that's the plan.

Nah they will get the name Rapid Bus or something and be labeled A, B, C ect. They don't have dedicated lanes like the METRO and we'd run out of colors pretty fast. How bad would "A Chartreuse line bus is approaching" sound?

Is "dedicated lanes" what METRO means, though? Seems more like "high-amenity" or "relatively fast" to me. Do agree that the color problem would crop up pretty quickly. "Transfer from the METRO Green Line to the METRO A Line" doesn't sound that bad, though.

I don't know. The METRO brand seems like it needs all the visibility it can get, and having a few of these rapid buses in the system would definitely at least help to create the appearance of a unified and comprehensive urban transit system (even if those of us on here can gripe about what it isn't).

It doesn't look like they're branding it METRO, though, in the fact sheet. I agree that "METRO A-Line" would work pretty well.

[mattaudio]

This deserves branding more than the Red Line....

[mullen]

it looks like more pure BRT than the red line, imo. no dedicated lane but i think this is will be a nice amenity for the heavily used city routes. i hope this comes to the 5 and 18 and 6 routes. these routes need some tlc. there are a lot of stops that don't even have basic shelters.

[twincitizen]

Chicago Ave (south half of the "D Line"/Route 5) was in line for 2018 funding, but those funds were shifted over to the Downtown Hopkins P&R structure. All in the name of regional equity or some shit (because "Minneapolis is getting everything"). We don't even know if Southwest will get federal funding and we're already moving funds toward building park & rides for it at the expense of improving the highest ridership bus route in the region.

Now this doesn't mean that the D Line won't still open by Q4 2018, but they'd better find some funding soon to begin the planning & public engagement phase. IIRC, planning for the A Line began back in mid-2012, and that line opens Q4 2015. Granted, a lot of the decisions (esp. branding, station design, bus purchases) won't have to be made all over again, but it probably does take at least 2.5 years between first public engagement and opening a line for service.

Of course, Metro Transit could always move around some service hours and start running a no-frills limited stop service (i.e. Route 54) in ~6 months time. Frankly, I think they should be doing that anyways. It's insane that we don't have limited stop service overlaid on Nicollet (18) and Chicago (5).

[mattaudio]

Out of all places, why does Hopkins need a parking ramp? They're already a streetcar suburb. Why don't they use this money to push land uses that encourage walk-up transit use?

[Southside]

Of course, Metro Transit could always move around some service hours and start running a no-frills limited stop service (i.e. Route 54) in ~6 months time. Frankly, I think they should be doing that anyways. It's insane that we don't have limited stop service overlaid on Nicollet (18) and Chicago (5).

I completely agree about limited service on Chicago & Nicollet. On the southern leg of the 5, I think it would make a lot of sense to convert the 133 to 53-like limited service. If they were sparing with the stops (possibly only every 1/2 mile) it probably wouldn't take much longer than the current routing. Park & Portland do a pretty good job of keeping traffic off Chicago during rush hours and with the coming Lake St. Access project, 35W is going to a mess.

Where did you get your information on the D Line?

[twincitizen]

I'm trying to find the minutes from the TAB (Met Council's Transportation Advisory Board). It was an amendment made pretty recently. Like I said, it doesn't necessarily spell the doom of the D-Line opening in 2018, especially with Metro Transit's recently release "Transit Equity Plan" calling for rapid deployment of these arterial bus lines in Racially Concentrated Areas of Poverty (RCAPs).

On the bright side, B-Line and C-Line look to be full steam ahead. Expect downtown Minneapolis C-Line stops to be an issue though. Getting that part figured out will make things a lot simpler for the D-Line.

[Minneapolisite]

it looks like more pure BRT than the red line, imo. no dedicated lane but i think this is will be a nice amenity for the heavily used city routes. i hope this comes to the 5 and 18 and 6 routes. these routes need some tlc. there are a lot of stops that don't even have basic shelters.

I'd say that's because there are too damn many: nowhere should there be two stops within a block of each other unless extreme circumstances require it. The fact that they have so many stops without being able to build actual shelters instead should have hinted to MT that they went overboard.

[John21]

I wish I didn't have to wait 2 more State Fairs for this line to open!