Public Transit News / Current Events (MN only)

[Trademark]

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.

[Tcmetro]

The last I heard is that the new bus garage will open in March 2023. Concurrently, Ruter Garage in Brooklyn Park will close but Metro Transit will maintain it while they figure out future service and facility plans.

My one concern with the December schedule is that some routes will only have one bus in operation at certain times. The 805 and 852 on Saturdays are interlined and only have one bus assigned, so if there's no driver available those riders basically get no service. With the amount of reductions happening there should be less cancellations, but that is dependent on operator availability stabilizing.

[jebr]

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 for connectivity and makes transit basically useless for me to even attempt to use to/from work.

[hpan3]

Hello! It's been awhile!

Metro Transit posted D Line opening details to their website: https://www.metrotransit.org/d-line

Ribbon cutting and press event at MOA TS at 10am
Community Celebration at Juxtaposition Arts in North Minneapolis 10am to 1pm
Community Celebration at Veteran's Park in Richfield 10am to 1pm
If anyone here feels super adventurous and awake early enough, feel free to join me in riding the first revenue coach, which departs 8th and Nicollet at 4:10am. No buses go there that early though, although it pulses with trips on the 10 and the 18 which also depart from there around the same time.

[MNdible]

Am I correct in understanding that it's still not possible to link your Go To card to the Metro Transit app? In 2022?

If it's possible, apologies for being too dumb to figure it out. If not, how in the world is this still not enabled?

[Bakken2016]

Am I correct in understanding that it's still not possible to link your Go To card to the Metro Transit app? In 2022?

If it's possible, apologies for being too dumb to figure it out. If not, how in the world is this still not enabled?

It is not possible. So Metro Transit has an older version of Cubic and our Go To Cards are on a card based system. They are currently working on getting a new version of Cubic and transitioning the Go To Cards to a cloud based system. Once this happens, things like fare capping, Apple Pay/Google Pay etc. can start happening. Metro Transit was one of the first adopters of card based technology and at that time none of these newer technologies existed.

[alexschief]

Metro Transit has a good explainer on the Rider's Almanac blog about the service cuts and the operator shortage.

I suspect most people on here are aware of the problems, but the post helps put some numbers to the issues (they are 300 operators short of running pre-pandemic levels of bus service, and 40 LRT operators short of returning to 10 minute headways) and also explains what they are doing in response.

There's also a kernel of good news, in that they've recently had an uptick in attendance at their one day apply-interview-offer job events. But it's clear that it will take at least a year, and more realistically several, to built up their bench of operators back to the levels they need to return to pre-pandemic service levels. As ridership is partly driven by service levels, one hopes that the two might recover in tandem over the coming years.

[StandishGuy]

As a somewhat frequent rider of the route #23 bus on 38th Street, I feel like sharing the frustration with detours over the past few years. Anecdotally, it seems like ridership is down, possibly due to this and the reliability issues the detours cause.

The main, permanent detour avoids George Floyd Square re=routing all the way down to E. 42nd St. Last summer, even that detour was detoured due to D Line and E. 42nd St. construction. There was a significant detour due to the Grand Ave reconstruction, a Met Council sewer line near E. 26th Avenue and multiple closures at Hiawatha Avenue. I think 38th & Hiawatha remains detoured right now.

Maybe there's nothing to be done, but it seems the City of Minneapolis has no concern with causing detours along this route, which just wouldn't be done anywhere else.

[Silophant]

I'm wondering how many of those 300 operators it would take to get local services back to pre-pandemic levels. For better or for worse, it's hard to imagine that the demand for peak hour expresses will ever be what it was in 2019.

[DanPatchToget]

I'm less concerned about getting enough drivers for peak-hour express routes and more concerned about getting enough drivers for bus service improvements including more aBRT and BRT routes.

[Bakken2016]

I'm wondering how many of those 300 operators it would take to get local services back to pre-pandemic levels. For better or for worse, it's hard to imagine that the demand for peak hour expresses will ever be what it was in 2019.

I'm going to assume a large percentage, just because express buses were mostly peak only, and don't require as many operators.

[Silophant]

Yeah, that makes sense. I suppose that was a bunch of the part-time weekday operator needs, which presumably would be difficult to fill.

• We plan to build a public process in 2023 that gathers feedback on our framework and values used to make decisions with limited resources, acknowledge service suspensions and reductions that have been made in the past couple years, and creates a plan prioritizing service to be added in the next five years.

Is this a reboot of the route restructuring program they were looking at pre-pandemic, I wonder?

[alexschief]

Oh, doubling back on this to make one more point:

• The METRO D Line’s opening on December 3 will bring more reliable service to the corridor now served by Route 5, our busiest bus route. Largely replacing local bus service with BRT service benefits customers and operators with a minimal impact on operator requirements.

This is so key. One of the best ways for Metro Transit to provide a higher quality of service without adding operators is to simply have buses that stop less frequently and dwell for less time. I would love if Metro Transit made stop consolidation a higher priority on non-aBRT routes.

Finally breaking the Hennepin/Nicollet logjam after six years of reconstruction will also help service quality I imagine. The City could help with more pedestrian/transit-focused signal timing on these streets.

[daveybabymsp]

Oh, doubling back on this to make one more point:

• The METRO D Line’s opening on December 3 will bring more reliable service to the corridor now served by Route 5, our busiest bus route. Largely replacing local bus service with BRT service benefits customers and operators with a minimal impact on operator requirements.

This is so key. One of the best ways for Metro Transit to provide a higher quality of service without adding operators is to simply have buses that stop less frequently and dwell for less time. I would love if Metro Transit made stop consolidation a higher priority on non-aBRT routes.

Finally breaking the Hennepin/Nicollet logjam after six years of reconstruction will also help service quality I imagine.

Adding to this, more signal priority would have the same affect! It kills me whenever the bus stops in front of a light and it turns red while people are boarding.

[Trademark]

The complete lack of enforcement of the 7th Street bus lanes near Target Center on a weekend night is absolutely disgusting. It be taking you 15 minutes to go one block from Hennepin to 1st avenue. And there are multiple cops directing traffic. Yet letting this behavior continue.

What good is a bus lane with zero enforcement.

[Tcmetro]

The skyway connection at the Central Green Line station in Downtown St. Paul will be temporarily closed.

https://www.twincities.com/2022/12/19/t ... -homicide/

[COLSLAW5]

They have been having issues with that connection for a while now. Wouldn't be surprised if they never reopened it.

[Bakken2016]

They have been having issues with that connection for a while now. Wouldn't be surprised if they never reopened it.

https://www.metrotransit.org/building-n ... rily-close

"We recognize the importance of maintaining access to transit, as well as all the other surrounding amenities, and will work closely with our partners to re-open soon."

From MT's website, looks like they do plan on reopening it.

[Bakken2016]

Congresswoman Cori Bush of Missouri just introduced two bills surrounding increasing funding for Light Rail Transit and Bus Rapid Transit for the entire country.

The Light Rail Transit Act - https://twitter.com/RepCori/status/1605 ... X9kN30vGRQ
The Bus Rapid Transit Act - https://twitter.com/RepCori/status/1605 ... X9kN30vGRQ

[SurlyLHT]

Congresswoman Cori Bush of Missouri just introduced two bills surrounding increasing funding for Light Rail Transit and Bus Rapid Transit for the entire country.

The Light Rail Transit Act - https://twitter.com/RepCori/status/1605 ... X9kN30vGRQ
The Bus Rapid Transit Act - https://twitter.com/RepCori/status/1605 ... X9kN30vGRQ

Have there been any studies to see if the riders will come back or at least inform us?

Currently if feels like:

Conservatives: "Hahaha! We told you all of that $$$ on transit was a waste!! Told you so!!"

Democrats: "Let's keep investing, transit will fix so many things in our society and increase density and is green!"

The average citizen: "I like to work from home, don't feel safe always on transit, but still need to go to the office and like to have transit options and care about our environment. But, also want to make sure my tax dollars are used wisely."

I would love to read a non-biased assessment, or prediction of the future. There is some evidence that employer's support for work from home only is fading.

We have Northstar empty, Orange line empty, Green Line Ext a debacle, things need to be assessed and looked at from a fact and evidence based standpoint. Not a " I hate transit it's socialism," or "I love transit build! build! build!"