Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

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Tcmetro
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Tcmetro » October 16th, 2018, 12:06 pm

Washington has significantly changed in the past 10-20 years, and is coming to the point where a crosstown line might be necessary.

Also, the 7 used to run on 5th and 6th. When LRT construction started, it was moved to 4th both ways. Now that the reverse lane on 4th will be gone, northbound trips will move to 3rd. It is only 1-2 blocks from Washington to where the 7 will be running.

Lastly, the 7 was dethroned from it's trunk route status when the light rail opened in 2004. The current route has marginal service and ample transfer opportunities and alternatives to reach more central areas of downtown.

mattaudio
Stone Arch Bridge
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby mattaudio » October 16th, 2018, 12:47 pm

We really need more transit on Washington, too.

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jtoemke
Landmark Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby jtoemke » October 17th, 2018, 9:54 am

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/201 ... essibility

nice article referencing the green line

hertzsoloing
Block E
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby hertzsoloing » October 18th, 2018, 11:12 am

A general thread for public transit news and happenings in Minneapolis-St. Paul and greater MN.

First up - Schedule changes for Sept. 8th:

- Increased service on 2, 3, 16, 50, 111, 113, 114, 115, 118, 252, 272, and 579 for U of M. (Eff. 9.4.12)
- Increased service on 5, 6, 10, 11, 14, 18, 19, 21, 22, 32, 46, and 724 for MPS. (Eff. 8.27.12)
- Route 3 improved to every 15 minutes on Saturdays between Downtown Minneapolis and Como & Snelling.
- Route 32 improved to every 30 minutes during the daytime. New school branches operate from various North Side neighborhoods to Edison HS.
- Route 54 improved to every 20 minutes on Sundays.
- Route 515 improved to every 20 minutes on Weekday and Saturday evenings.
- MVTA 465 improved to every 15 minutes in rush hour, and every 30 minutes during midday. Burnsville-Apple Valley segment eliminated. (Eff. 9.4.12)
- MVTA 475 has more trips added, and is extended to Apple Valley. (Eff. 9.4.12)
- Maple Grove 788 rerouted to serve other neighborhoods of SW Maple Grove.

http://www.metrotransit.org/TransitArti ... cleid=1038

SW Transit also changes today (9.4.12). Most changes deal with the closure of the East Creek Station for construction of a ramp, but there are also changes to Route 684, including a new routing to job sites in Chanhassen and Chaska.

http://www.swtransit.org/SCHEDULE_CHANGES_9_4.html
Thanks for the link.

mamundsen
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby mamundsen » October 29th, 2018, 7:14 am

Seems like the Transportation Committee has pulled the December service change presentation from Monday's meeting agenda.

Interestingly, they are voting to proceed with an unsolicited proposal from Metropolitan Transportation Network, Inc (a school bus operator) to operate four Metro Transit routes for three years. The pulled powerpoint identifies the routes to be contracted as #16, #84, #118, and #762.

The route changes from the removed proposal include:

Frequency: 21 (daily), 46 (weekend), 134, 270, 768, 850, 854, 865
Span: 16, 70W (weekday), 67 (weekend), 71 (Sunday), 133, 135, 146, 156, 552, 553, 554, 578, 668, 755, 763
Frequency and Span: 25 (weekday), 67 (weekday), 761, 766
Eliminate: 20, 16 west of Fairview, 84 north of Midway Pkwy

Supposedly these changes will reduce peak requirements by 12 buses, but a lot of the off-peak proposals seem motivated by falling ridership.
I wonder when will the December updates be discussed. I checked the agendas for the meetings since and there is no mention of this update. I’d imagine they need to have it finalized soon.

Tcmetro
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Tcmetro » October 30th, 2018, 8:31 pm

Typically, service changes aren't brought before the council. I'm not sure why they decided to put these potential service changes before the Transportation Committee (as a non-action presentation item) and subsequently remove from agenda.

I believe the only changes that go before the committee and the council are major restructurings that trigger Title VI reviews.

mamundsen
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby mamundsen » October 31st, 2018, 6:11 am

Thanks TC

DanPatchToget
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby DanPatchToget » November 2nd, 2018, 4:05 pm

Well, Normandale College doesn't seem to care about transit users. I biked over to try out the Southwest Flex and was surprised to see the bus stop was moved to the west side of the campus after they rebuilt the front surface lot. No more being dropped off right at the entrance, and waiting inside the temperature controlled lobby waiting for your bus to arrive. But hey, they built a dinky bus shelter. One step forward, five steps back.

The Flex Route is okay, but it seems to be a carbon copy of the service it replaced. By that I mean it doesn't make any local stops between Normandale and Southwest Station unless someone requests it, and I don't know how you request a pickup if you're at for example one of the Normandale office towers. I was considering waiting at 98th Street across from Normandale Village for the bus because on the route map it shows it going on 98th to Normandale Blvd. Good thing I decided to bike to Normandale College instead because the driver took Collegeview Road and Poplar Bridge Road to get to Normandale Blvd instead. With only five passengers when I rode I'm curious how this route is doing.

Tcmetro
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Tcmetro » November 7th, 2018, 8:41 am

Metro Transit has posted the new schedules for Dec. 1, with pretty much everything discussed about before being included.

The previous question about the 263 and 270 shows that it is a light restructure. 263 will be extended to the 61/CR C park and ride and the 270 will no longer stop there (save for some early and late combo 270P trips that serve all three park and rides).

https://www.metrotransit.org/routes-wil ... e-on-dec-1

MVTA is also changing service Nov. 17. The big changes are:
- elimination of the 437, with modified route 445 service to cover
- reduction of 442 to bi-hourly on weekends which allows for new bi-hourly weekend service on the 420 to expand coverage to Rosemount
- reduce 442 peak service to 60 mins due to low ridership
- reduce 440 service due to low ridership
- restructure 490, 492, and 493 service in Shakopee

https://www.mvta.com/route-alerts/upcom ... vember-17/

mamundsen
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby mamundsen » November 7th, 2018, 12:50 pm

Thanks Tcmetro! Moving the 61/CR C P&R from the 270 to the 263 makes sense based on ridership. Glad to see it will slightly improve my timing and speed. I've been holding my breath hoping it was not a major restructure. My understanding is that the existing 270 frequency is temporarily propped up by a grant to improve the usage of the new-ish ramp at Maplewood Mall. Which seems to be working, every bus I ride (except holidays) is full to standing room only and I ride the full range of buses. The MM ramp is full too.

jebr
Nicollet Mall
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby jebr » November 7th, 2018, 3:29 pm

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 for the 84, but if there's any left this would keep it alive. (If this doesn't work, I see the 87 taking the southern portion of the 84 route and the 84 otherwise just going away.)

Rube Dali
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Rube Dali » November 7th, 2018, 9:56 pm

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 for the 84, but if there's any left this would keep it alive. (If this doesn't work, I see the 87 taking the southern portion of the 84 route and the 84 otherwise just going away.)
Google Maps has already added stops on Pascal and on Midway at Arona.
Buildings, what buildings?

hpan3
Block E
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby hpan3 » November 21st, 2018, 9:11 pm

Some updates from the Met Council (the agency that runs Metro Transit) at their next meeting:

Agreeing with MVTA to have them run the Red Line https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetin ... 8_308.aspx
Branding the aBRT (A-Line, etc) lines as part of the METRO system: https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetin ... ation.aspx
Modifying the TPP to include West 7th Streetcar https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetin ... 25-SW.aspx
Update on bus shelters https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetin ... nfo-1.aspx
Ridership is down. Again. https://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meetin ... rship.aspx

Also, Met Council is seeking people to serve on the, well, council. There are 17 vacancies, 2 in Minneapolis and 2 in St. Paul. By serving, you have the ability to make decisions that impact Metro Transit service, as an example. Applications are being reviewed starting next Monday: https://metrocouncil.org/About-Us/Who-W ... litan.aspx

mamundsen
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby mamundsen » November 21st, 2018, 10:39 pm

The map at the end of the METRO presentation looks great. Riverview is listed as LRT. 😁

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Tiller
Foshay Tower
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Tiller » November 21st, 2018, 11:42 pm

I hope that map isn't a final design, since it looks kinda rough. Pretty great seeing all of those routes on the official metro map, though!

Multimodal
US Bank Plaza
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Multimodal » November 22nd, 2018, 5:28 am

Informative links, thanks.

Re: Branding. Now I understand why some BRT is named by color (hBRT) and some by letter (aBRT). First I heard of hBRT and dBRT. The More You Know…

I was initially confused about why the Northstar Line was designated as Metro Transit while LRT is METRO. But the next slide made it clear—LRT/BRT is all-day, frequent service, whereas Northstar is a commuter line and just for rush hour. So the branding is organized by type of service (frequency, all-day), not mechanism (rail vs. rubber, for example). That makes sense.

I guess that puts the lie to the thought that SWLRT/Green Line Extension is “just” a commuter line. It will presumably have the fast, frequent service of any other LRT. All the more reason to push for density in people & retail/jobs at SWLRT stations; it’s not just for commuting into the cities; they are destinations themselves. SWLRT could be defining new “downtowns” for each of the suburbs it travels through.

Multimodal
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Multimodal » November 22nd, 2018, 5:47 am

Re: Ridership

The trends are interesting. Both BRT & LRT are growing, at 2-3%.

It’s mainly local & express service that is declining. They mention the fare increase and “industry trends”—is that code for Uber/Lyft?

Tcmetro
Wells Fargo Center
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby Tcmetro » November 22nd, 2018, 7:09 am

Uber and Lyft are decimating bus ridership in bigger cities. Part of this is convenience, and part of it is related to traffic congestion. I also think that many offices are downsizing their space needs and working from home on some days is finally becoming a real option for many.

Lastly, Metro Transit hasn't really expanded bus service in a while. The last major expansion was the Green Line restructuring, which has had mixed results (i.e. expanded hours of operations being kept, service frequencies cut)

DanPatchToget
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby DanPatchToget » November 22nd, 2018, 8:04 am

Uber and Lyft are decimating bus ridership in bigger cities. Part of this is convenience, and part of it is related to traffic congestion. I also think that many offices are downsizing their space needs and working from home on some days is finally becoming a real option for many.

Lastly, Metro Transit hasn't really expanded bus service in a while. The last major expansion was the Green Line restructuring, which has had mixed results (i.e. expanded hours of operations being kept, service frequencies cut)
I have friend whose house is just down the street from the 11 in NE Minneapolis. He decided to take it to First Avenue (first time he’s tried this bus). The bus that was supposed to pick him up never showed up, so he took a later bus. Then the bus that was supposed to take him home never showed up either, so he took Lyft. Granted this is just one example, but even with a bus running pretty regularly all day in front of a person’s house and people still choose Uber/Lyft.

tmart
Rice Park
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Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Postby tmart » November 22nd, 2018, 9:08 am

I have friend whose house is just down the street from the 11 in NE Minneapolis. He decided to take it to First Avenue (first time he’s tried this bus). The bus that was supposed to pick him up never showed up, so he took a later bus. Then the bus that was supposed to take him home never showed up either, so he took Lyft. Granted this is just one example, but even with a bus running pretty regularly all day in front of a person’s house and people still choose Uber/Lyft.
Unreliability, infrequent service, and detours are absolute killers for the perception of transit--and rightly so. Even with a transit bias, and even now living in a city with a substantially better bus network, I still view Uber as a fallback if the buses aren't meeting my expectations. If I get stuck somewhere outside service hours, or my destination is in a more suburban area (less or no service, more circuitous routes), or the next bus isn't coming within 10 minutes (especially if it's not a one-seat ride), I'll absolutely hop in an Uber.

There are some folks who are just anti-transit ideological zealots, but apart from them, Metro should absolutely view each Uber as a service failure. (Or sometimes a land use failure, but I digress.) The remedies for this are obvious, and supported by the fact that ridership is growing for the few corridors where we invest in a consistently high level of service and routes that are reliable, direct, and simple. The issue is that running buses and trains at high frequency costs money, and building transitways to ensure fast, on-time operation costs even more money.


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