Maple Grove and Plymouth are looking to improve microtransit services and reduce the number of express routes.
In the face of changes to travel patterns in the wake of the pandemic, Maple Grove Transit and Plymouth MetroLink are planning updates to their transit services. Since the two bordering cities share a number of riders, they have decided to partner for community engagement to layout their roadmap for the next 10 years.
Currently the cities offer 10 express routes — four from Maple Grove and six from Plymouth — to downtown Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota. The routes are largely centered around park and ride lots, and are timed primarily to serve commuters into downtown Minneapolis.
Both cities also offer microtransit options, Maple Grove My Ride and Plymouth Click-and-Ride. Microtransit uses smaller buses to serve on-demand rides, rather than fixed routes and schedules.
My Ride offers service to and from Maple Grove to any destination within the city or select destinations in surrounding cities, including Plymouth, Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center.
Plymouth Click-and-Ride offers similar service in Plymouth, as well as drop offs at the Maple Grove Transit Station.
An Uneven Ridership Recovery
During the pandemic, ridership on express routes fell massively but has recovered slightly in the past few years, according to the Northwest Service Providers Transit Study. Both providers saw a 16% increase in express bus ridership in 2024 compared with 2023. Recovery has been uneven across routes and weekdays. Fridays in particular see much fewer rides than other weekdays, likely due to hybrid workers choosing to stay home on those days.
Microtransit, on the other hand, has more riders than ever. My Ride and Click-and-Ride served over 80,000 combined rides in 2023, a 17% increase compared with pre-pandemic ridership, according to the Northwest Service Providers Transit Study. Microtransit riders also tend to be lower income compared with express bus riders.
In light of these trends, both providers are considering cuts to express bus service, consolidating existing service to a smaller number of better performing routes. This would allow the remaining routes to offer more frequent service while still saving money. With those savings, the cities would aim to increase investment in microtransit services to decrease wait times and reduce the number of declined trips during peak times.
Maple Grove Transit and Plymouth MetroLink are currently seeking feedback on their plans. A finalized report on the proposed changes is expected early in the summer. More information and a survey link can be found here.