Inspired by a conversation yesterday, here are all of Metro Transit’s local bus routes, ranked by number of branches. The information was gleaned by manually (!) going through them on metrotransit.org, so there may be a margin of error.
Many branches! Here are all the branches:
2, 2A, 2C, 2E, 3, 3A, 3B, 3C, 3E, 3K, 3U, 4, 4B, 4G, 4L, 4P, 5, 5A, 5B, 5E, 5F, 5K, 5L, 5M, 6, 6A, 6B, 6C, 6D, 6E, 6F, 6G, 6K, 6U, 7, 7A, 7B, 7C, 7E, 9, 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D, 9H, 9N, 9P, 10, 10H, 10N, 10U, 11, 11A, 11C, 11D, 11X, 12, 12B, 12C, 12D, 12F, 12G, 12K, 12H, 12X, 14, 14B, 14C, 14D, 14E, 14L, 14N, 14R, 16, 17, 17A, 17B, 17C, 17D, 17F, 17W, 17X, 18, 18A, 18C, 18D, 18E, 18G, 18X, 19, 19B, 19H, 19Y, 20, 21, 21A, 21C, 21D, 21E, 22, 22A, 22B, 22C, 22D, 22F, 22G, 22H, 22X, 23, 23B, 23C, 23H, 25, 25A, 25D, 25L, 25N, 27, 30, 30A, 30B, 32A, 32B, 32C, 32D, 32E, 32F, 39, 46A, 46B, 46C, 46E, 46X, 53, 54, 59, 59A, 59B, 59C, 59T, 61, 61B, 61C, 62, 62B, 62C, 62D, 62L, 63, 63B, 63K, 63S, 64, 64D, 64H, 64N, 65, 67, 67A, 67C, 68, 68C, 68D, 68E, 68F, 68G, 68J, 68M, 70, 70B, 70D, 70S, 71, 71A, 71B, 71C, 71D, 71E, 71F, 71H, 71K, 71L, 71M, 74, 74A, 74G, 74S, 75, 75B, 75D, 75E, 75F, 80, 83, 84, 84D, 84F, 84H, 84X, 87
Some highlights:
- 10U looks like I.O.U.
- There is a 3A and a 3C, which is funny
The 3G is faster than the 4G, which is also funny- The 75F is always just the right temperature, there is no need for air conditioning or heat
- The 5K’s route is considerably longer than a 5K
It is a little confusing and daunting, but it’s not immediately clear how it could be simpler–there are a lot of 6s, for example, but it would be just as confusing for people to have to remember that there are a bunch of differently numbered routes heading south on Hennepin Avenue. Kind of a trade off.