Editor’s note: “Let’s (St)roll There” is an occasional series about ways to get to unusual or out-of-the-way places by foot, bus, train or bike. In this case, the goal was to get to the suburbs by bus, during a March snowstorm.
The National League of Cities recently invited the media to its Mobility Matters conference in Burnsville. Event organizers emphasized the importance of transit for the health of cities, promising “a focus on accessibility, sustainability and economic impact.”
Other organizers included the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA), the City of Burnsville and Enterprise Mobility. Their outline of the gathering’s goals intrigued me:
- Public transportation plays a fundamental role in ensuring access to employment, education and essential services.
- It also contributes to local economies and is “a key driver of economic vitality.”
- Collaboration among federal, state and local governments “are integral to mitigating mobility gaps in our communities.”
- The public transit sector employs more than 430,000 people, while supporting millions of other jobs.
Since it was my spring break at work, I decided to make a day of attending the event and exploring transit infrastructure in a part of the metro I rarely visit. I’d often choose to bike to a destination like this, but we’d had the biggest snowstorm of the year the night before, and I didn’t know whether trails and other bikeways would be reliably cleared. Plus, taking transit to a transit-focused event seemed appropriate.
Snowstorm Travel Impacts
The magnitude of the snowstorm meant that both Metro Transit and MVTA buses weren’t running for a period in the morning. Though light-rail trains were still operating and I can easily walk to the Green Line from my home in St. Paul, light rail could only get me as far as the Mall of America. MVTA buses were back in action by the time I finished shoveling, so I headed out.
After boarding at the Hamline Avenue Station, I saw that the A Line was theoretically running again, so I quickly hopped off and waited at Snelling and University. My reasoning: It would be faster to take the A Line to the 46th Street Station and connect with the Blue Line than to ride the Green Line to US Bank stadium in downtown Minneapolis and backtrack on the Blue Line. Though the screen showed an A Line arriving in six minutes, the bus never showed. So, switching up plans again, I hopped on the next 21 and aimed to transfer to the Blue Line at the Lake Street Station instead. A thorough knowledge of our transit system let me adapt my plans on the go.
Heading to Burnsville
All was smooth after that, and I appreciated letting a professional do the driving on the still very snowy streets while I enjoyed spectacular views of a snowy Mississippi River Gorge as we crossed the Lake Street-Marshall Avenue Bridge. The Blue Line train was right on time and clean and comfortable. Props to Metro Transit for the seating changes on both light-rail lines to more durable, easy-to-clean materials.
Once at the Mall of America Station, I had about 15 minutes until my MVTA bus arrived. It was nice to wait inside the station area with good facilities, including bathrooms and route and departure information. The MOA station is impressively busy, with several high-frequency routes regularly coming and going (including the D Line BRT, the Blue Line trains and Route 54).
My MVTA route 442 bus left right on time (and my Metro Transit fare worked as a transfer with my Go-To Card); we cruised over to Cedar Avenue, and I again marveled at the spectacular snowy views as we crossed over the Minnesota River this time. This bus takes a circuitous route, winding through several different areas in and around Cedar Avenue as it heads south into Apple Valley, stopping at several main transfer stations such as the Apple Valley Transit Station.
I used to drive up to this area of Apple Valley as a teenager from Red Wing, so it was fun to see it from the transit perspective this time. As I cruised along on the bus, I saw many people out cleaning up their driveways and sidewalks (where they existed) from the storm. Many driveways had up to four cars, which must add up to a significant cost for these households. The housing stock we passed was variable, with more multi-family and townhouse-style units than one might expect in a second-tier suburb. That said, there is, of course, a lot of single-unit, detached housing, much of it on large lots, which represents a significant barrier to higher transit usage in areas like this.
As might be expected considering the land use, the weather and the (hourly) frequency of buses, I saw few other riders on the bus. That said, the ride was perfectly pleasant, with an immaculately clean bus, super comfy seating and WiFi. I continued to enjoy the sparkling winter wonderland without the stress of having to drive myself.
Mobility Matters Event
Even with the weather and road conditions, I still made it to the hotel hosting the conference just about on time. The main sidewalk along Nicollet Avenue had been cleared, though as usual with car-centric development, no sidewalks connected into the business areas, so you must walk in the driveways and parking lots. Once inside, I was greeted by MVTA’s Joya Stetson, who introduced me to several of the presenters, including MVTA CEO Luther Wynder.
Burnsville City Councilmember Dan Kealey welcomed us and talked about the importance of transit, and especially transit funding, for Burnsville and MVTA. Most transit agencies in the United States are always underfunded compared with their international peers, so much of what they can accomplish — whether new routes, higher frequency or improved equipment and infrastructure — is limited by available funding. Kealey discussed their efforts to get more funding through sources like the Motor Vehicle Sales Tax and the state legislature’s 2023 seven-county transportation sales tax. He touted the success of the area’s Connect microtransit model, which has recently acquired five electric e-JEST buses to use on the routes, replacing some gas cutaway vans.
Next up was Steve Patterson, mayor of Athens, Ohio, and the president of the National League of Cities. Patterson emphasized the need for accessible, safe transportation solutions to get people to work, errands and home. Transit is an essential part of that picture, he said, helping to stimulate and support growth.
Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz highlighted the impressive efficiency and sustainability accomplishments that Burnsville has achieved so far, including a 60% emissions reduction throughout city operations since 2005. This consists of building efficiency updates, rooftop solar and decreases in energy costs of water services, despite increased demand as the city’s population grows. The mayor also highlighted MVTA’s recognition for excellence in sustainability for its sustainability plan.
Due to the flurry of activity in Washington, D.C., Second District Congresswoman Angie Craig (D-Minn.) sent a pre-recorded video in lieu of attending. She noted that, despite being the world’s wealthiest country, the United States ranks 13th in infrastructure. (I would point out that this is largely because we’ve spent so much money on unproductive, expensive, inefficient infrastructure, so even maintaining the existing infrastructure is a financial ticking time bomb; as suburbs age they will likely be in even more dire financial straits than many of our core cities are now.) Craig highlighted several projects she worked to fund, such as improvements to bus facilities.
Wynder, the MVTA chief executive, concluded the event by again touting the Connect service, which provides around 600 rides per day and is the fastest growing segment of the MVTA’s ridership. The service can provide both direct trips, or first- and last-mile connections to stops for fixed routes such as the 442 that I took. Their new electric e-JEST minibuses are expected to save $10,000 to $14,000 a year in fuel costs, with additional expected maintenance savings.
Like others, Wynder emphasized the importance of transit in offering residents and visitors the best range of transportation options. Other MVTA folks I talked to noted the shifting nature of ridership as well, with a lower demand for Park & Ride and hub-and-spoke service and higher demand for point-to-point and suburb-to-suburb trips.
Electric Connect Buses
After the event ended, I explored the e-JEST, which reminded me of the adorable minibuses I saw in Madrid. MVTA Fleet Manager Scott Poppenhagen graciously answered my questions about the buses and other fleet considerations.
MVTA hopes to replace more of the gas-powered cutaway vans with these to save money on fuel and maintenance and help to avoid pollution. They’ve been working on the logistics of charging, something I imagine might be more complex due to the non-fixed-route nature of the Connect service.
Scott, who mentioned he’s a big fan of Streets.mn, said he’s excited about the expanding roles of electric and autonomous vehicles for transit use. Unfortunately, the U.S. has lagged behind other nations in these developments, especially electric vehicles.
Heading Home the Orange Way
Finally, I looked at my options for heading home. A 442 bus in the reverse direction back to MOA was scheduled soon, but I had wanted to take the Orange Line as part of my trip, so I opted for the Orange Link 425 route instead. That brought me to Burnsville Heart of the City, where I could transfer.
I grabbed a quick snack at Taco Bell, then walked toward the nearest Orange Link stop, supposedly a nine-minute walk. It was actually shorter, though a snowplow had gone by on Nicollet Avenue since I arrived and pushed lots of chunky snow back onto the previously cleared sidewalk. Additionally, intersections often featured a large berm of plowed snow blocking the crossing. I was able to climb over these without issue, but it could be prohibitive for others.
Being a little early to the stop, I walked one stop farther down. Here the sidewalk had been cleared, but additional snow had fallen or drifted. At least there was a sign for the bus stop, unlike some other spots. The Orange Link was more or less on time (helpful, since Transit had no real-time information for it at the time), and I climbed over the plow berm to board. We arrived at the Heart of the City about 15 minutes later. An Orange Line bus was waiting, and we took off in just a few minutes.
Once on I-35W, we zipped along very quickly north. Some folks took long trips, others just a stop or two, such as the person who got on at the American and Knox station with large bags of takeout food, then got off one stop later on the other side of the tunnel under 494. The station design of the inline (middle of the freeway) stops was interesting to observe. At the 46th Street stop, buses cross over each other, because there’s an island platform and bus doors on the right hand side, so they need to stop on the left side of the platform. The Lake Street Station avoids this crossover by having individual side platforms.
We quickly zipped into downtown Minneapolis and onto Second Avenue. I got off at the Seventh Street stop, along with another passenger who had boarded at Heart of the City with his bike. Overall, I was impressed with the Orange Line service, which is super quick and easy to ride. One way it could be even better — like almost all buses I rode that day — is with better signal priority. Several times we had to wait quite a while at lights to start back onto 35W, adding several minutes to the overall trip.
Last Leg
I walked around downtown a bit, since I always enjoy checking out the complex snow-removal activities after a big storm. I stopped for happy hour at noa, which I picked due to a nice street-facing, non-skyway location. Enjoying some herb fries and a beer, I overheard a lawyer describe his previous $30,000-a-year wine habit to a friend, and then eventually headed to Washington Avenue to catch a Route 3 bus toward home.
A 3A came first, which means a longer walk home, but with no wait, I gladly hopped on that. As we passed through the University of Minnesota, I smiled wistfully listening to grad students talking about the stress of giving group meeting presentations and the excitement of experiments finally working. With all the uncertainty currently emanating from the federal government, it was refreshing to overhear the familiar trials and tribulations of graduate school from a new generation of scientists.
After I hopped off at the Como and Hamline stop, a pleasant walk through Como Park beckoned, where the late afternoon sun highlighted sculptures in the drifted snow and families yelled in delight while sledding down the hills surrounding McMurray Fields. Overall, it was less exotic than a spring break cruise or trip to Cabo, but for $4 in transit fare, I had quite the adventurous day, and I’m incredibly thankful for everyone who plans, operates and maintains our transit systems!
All photos by Zack Mensinger