http://finance-commerce.com/transit/201 ... -upgrades/Meeting dates for Metro Transit's Service Improvement Plan:
http://metrocouncil.org/Council-Meeting ... 4_210.aspx
http://www.metrotransit.org/sip
This is a big one folks. You gotta get involved, attend these meetings, and submit comment. These could be transformative improvements and upgrades to our backbone local bus service.
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The Service Improvement Plan (SIP) is a long-term plan to guide the expansion of the local and express bus route network. The draft SIP reflects the transit policy direction in Thrive MSP 2040 and the 2040 Transportation Policy Plan as well as significant public engagement and fundamental transit planning principles to identify the service improvements that best achieve regional goals. It is a specific and prioritized list of improvements that could be implemented if increased transit funding is available.
The SIP does not include any transitways eligible for CTIB funding. However, bus routes connecting
with these projects and unfunded bus rapid transit projects are included. Arterial BRT corridors will not be evaluated and prioritized in this project, since this was the purpose of the amendment that added enhanced bus services to the Transportation Policy Plan.
Projects were prioritized using these evaluation measures:
Productivity (50%): Demonstrate the ridership potential of service improvements using land use, population, jobs, regional Job Concentrations served, passengers per in-service hour and subsidy per passenger.
Social Equity (25%): Evaluate how well improvements serve people most reliant on transit, based on low-wage jobs, auto availability and the percentage of low-income, people of color and disabled populations.
System Connectivity (25%): Establish how effectively projects improve access to transit service based on the number of connecting transit routes, persons served by a new route or extension of an existing route, key destinations, regional Educational Institutions served, and improvements to off-peak, span or reverse commute service.
There were a total of 166 projects initially identified. Only 123 projects (which ranked high and medium) are recommended for implementation. Those ranking low are included for reference. Implementation is recommended in three phases: 2015-2017, 2018-2020, and 2021-2030. These
projects represent nearly 29 million new annual rides, 161 additional peak buses, and $106 million in annual operating expenses. Arterial BRT projects are already included in TPP. As such, they were not ranked, but bus and operating resources are included in the total.
Public meetings:
Wednesday, November 5th: Hennepin County Central Library (Minneapolis), 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Saturday, November 8th, North Community YMCA (Minneapolis), 1:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 13th, Hennepin County Southdale Library (Edina), 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 15th, Conway Recreation Center (St. Paul), 1:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
Monday, November 17th, Anoka County Northtown Central Library (Blaine), 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, November 18th, Metropolitan Council (St. Paul), 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. (official public
hearing)