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Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: April 25th, 2019, 7:47 pm
by Anondson
For every $1 spent on public transit the Twin Cities gets $2.90 in benefits.

https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/ ... -twin.html

So $2B on SWLRT is $5.8B?

I know, I know. That’s not the way any of this works. But it’s funny to have controversial transit math to pull out when controversial highway math is given for reasons spend all transportation money of car and truck pavement.

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: April 26th, 2019, 12:38 pm
by mamundsen
I find it interesting that even with the Hennepin buses rerouted to Nicollet, there doesn't seem to be THAT many busses on the mall. Makes me think that they could have kept them making it a major bus route (like Marq2) and then reduce Hennepin to single lane and left turns only with HUGE sidewalks.

Has anyone experienced delays or issues since the reroute?

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: April 26th, 2019, 2:14 pm
by mattaudio
Yes, if we're going to have buses on Nicollet, then we might as well combine Hennepin buses on there as well. And bus passing lanes should have been built on the blocks where buses are dwelling at stops. And Hennepin should be three lane.

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: April 27th, 2019, 2:07 pm
by alexschief
Yes, if we're going to have buses on Nicollet, then we might as well combine Hennepin buses on there as well. And bus passing lanes should have been built on the blocks where buses are dwelling at stops. And Hennepin should be three lane.
The better option is to do the reverse: outer two lanes on Hennepin become bus only, and Nicollet becomes entirely a pedestrian mall.

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: April 28th, 2019, 5:00 am
by nmin
Yes, if we're going to have buses on Nicollet, then we might as well combine Hennepin buses on there as well. And bus passing lanes should have been built on the blocks where buses are dwelling at stops. And Hennepin should be three lane.
The better option is to do the reverse: outer two lanes on Hennepin become bus only, and Nicollet becomes entirely a pedestrian mall.
I'm not a fan of moving buses even farther away from some of the major institutions in DT (Convention Center and HCMC). If we are going to move buses off Nicollet I think we should be looking at 3rd Ave (or even farther east), not Hennepin.

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: April 29th, 2019, 9:48 am
by amiller92
Seems like HCMC is far enough away that most would transfer to on of the many buses that stops right at HCMC

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: May 1st, 2019, 1:30 pm
by mattaudio
Meet the mapmaker behind the ambitious new METRO map
https://www.metrotransit.org/meet-the-m ... -metro-map

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: May 1st, 2019, 2:51 pm
by HiawathaGuy
Meet the mapmaker behind the ambitious new METRO map
https://www.metrotransit.org/meet-the-m ... -metro-map
Hopefully some of the feedback from people on here can make it to her.

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: May 2nd, 2019, 10:30 am
by alexschief
Fun news, Metro Transit's fall 2018 ridership data dump is now available. The data overall shows an increase in ridership, which we know was not true for the year as a whole, so all of these numbers are a bit autumn-tinted.

Couple lunch break observations:

- The #5 is still the most popular local bus route (15,902), and although it continued to bleed riders, it was at a slower pace than the year before. When the D Line comes online in a year or two, it will hopefully be able to reverse the losses in the Emerson/Fremont-Chicago corridor.

- In contrast, the #19 had a stunning year, increasing ridership by over 15% and jumping two places to fourth place (8,923). That's great news in advance of the C Line opening on the Penn corridor this summer. I'm not sure if we should expect a jump in ridership quite like the A Line, which increased service by more over its baseline than the C Line will, but this is already a good start.

- It seems like route improvements to the #2 bus may be having a big effect. The Franklin corridor saw a ridership increase of 14% and also jumped two places to sixth place (8,248). I wish we were talking about this route as an aBRT corridor to coincide with the Green Line extension, but for now, the local bus is doing well.

- Service improvements and extensions were unsurprisingly a big boost to the #54. Ridership increased 26%, the most of any core local route, and it moved up five places to thirteenth (5,535). The ridership is still a dicey proposition for rail, but the response to the increase in service shows that there is a lot of transit potential here. Adding to the case is the fact that the corridor still has some of the highest ridership individual local bus stops in the system. It's a short corridor which packs a significant punch.

- The #18 on Nicollet and the #10 on Central both gained ridership. Merging these two routes into one ridership powerhouse (combined: 18,220) and converting to aBRT remains the most obvious transit move that MSP is not making.

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: May 2nd, 2019, 10:37 am
by Silophant
BuT tHe StReEtCaR

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: May 17th, 2019, 7:10 am
by Tiller
https://www.npr.org/2019/05/16/72414547 ... -rail-fund
Trump Administration Cancels Nearly $1 Billion In California High Speed Rail Funding

Can/will the feds successfully pull back the money? If they do, would that mean $1B or even $2.5B could become available for some sort of high speed rail somewhere else? *thinking noises*

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: May 17th, 2019, 8:20 am
by Rube Dali

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: May 17th, 2019, 10:22 am
by mamundsen
Every time there is a change I hold my breathe hoping for nothing major. Hooray! This looks minimal.

Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: May 19th, 2019, 8:29 pm
by Anondson
In this news story about demand for the MVTA transit station in Apple Valley being so strong they are expanding the parking ramp (better parking ramps in the suburbs than in the downtown core) is a section about a pilot project for the 477 bus.
http://www.startribune.com/ramp-expansi ... 510141652/
The northbound buses arrive downtown and travel on S. 2nd Avenue. Southbound buses departing downtown operate on Marquette Avenue. Buses in both directions had crossed Washington Avenue, and that is where they went off schedule.
The sheer frequency rush hours drivers block the intersection preventing buses from crossing at Washington is shameful. I see it every day as I get on a different bus one block to the north.
“That area north of Washington is very congested and our buses get hung up there,” Crawford said. “We are trying to avoid that area and see if that has a significant impact on schedule reliability.”
This makes it sound like there is just a large number of buses. There are a lot. But it is the car drivers on Washington blocking Marquette buses that creates the congestion of buses. I will witness multiple light cycles, sometimes a handful (!) of light cycles before drivers aren’t blocking southbound buses.

It is the deliberate choice not to enforce the law about blocking intersections that is leading to a transit agency degrading transit access. I have seen riders get on the 477 at Marquette and S 2nd St. They will now have to walk further for their bus.

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: May 28th, 2019, 12:06 pm
by Bakken2016
Metro Mobility did secure a one-time funding increase, and its own budget line. So it is now separate from Transit system operations. Also will now expand to serve Lakeville as well.

Still a big bummer to see no investment in BRT.

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: May 28th, 2019, 12:26 pm
by alexschief
One out of three for Metro Transit. Hopefully in the 2020 bonding bill, one-time money can be secured for the D, B, and E lines, and in the 2021 tax bill (possibly with different partisan control of the legislature), the metro-area transit sales tax can be raised to provide funds to pay for the next ten plus aBRT routes.

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: May 31st, 2019, 11:46 am
by Carlos
Open call for questions for Metro Transit police chief finalists - with multiple ways to ask them.

Public interview session at Minneapolis Central Library on June 13 at 7pm (will be recorded).

https://metrocouncil.org/News-Events/Co ... -2019.aspx#

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: June 12th, 2019, 1:28 pm
by DThompson
Metro Transit ridership falls 7% during first quarter

http://www.startribune.com/metro-transi ... 511185882/

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: June 12th, 2019, 1:49 pm
by alexschief
I expect that ridership is down, especially on local buses, which would only follow trends. But a 7% drop is extreme, and the drops on light rail and the A Line are a huge break from recent trends. To me, that suggests the primary cause of this ridership fall was the remarkably cold and snowy winter, which cancelled a lot of activities. A quarter is short enough that a run of bad weather will show up in the data. I wouldn't be concerned about it. Only if this type of plunge shows up in Q2 and Q3, should people be start to be alarmed.

Re: Public Transit News and Current Happenings

Posted: June 12th, 2019, 3:33 pm
by Qhaberl
Thanks for the reassurance.

I found an article talking about the transit ridership drops in Minneapolis yesterday. I was very concerned.


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