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Author Archive | Aaron Isaacs

Transit Cuts – How Bad Could It Be?

By on April 18, 2017 in Governance, Politics, Transit

The GOP majorities in the Minnesota House and Senate have proposed budget cuts to public transit funding by as much as 40 percent, that could have catastrophic consequences for Metro Transit riders. Local advocacy groups Transportation Forward and Transit for Livable Communities are holding a rally tonight at 6pm at the Rice Street / Capitol Green Line Station.  Independent from […]

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Spring Migration at Lake Calhoun

By on April 17, 2017 in Environment, Parks

We may live in the city, but nature, though often drowned out, is still there and capable of putting on a show. I live near Lake Calhoun and this is spring migration season. This year the birds are coming through, and in greater numbers than usual. We had an early thaw this year, but normally […]

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The Long Road to Light Rail in the Twin Cities

By on April 10, 2017 in Transit

From the first expression of interest to the actual hauling of passengers, the gestation period for light rail transit in Minneapolis/Saint Paul turned out to be 44 years. When the Twin Cities Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC) was created in 1967, the prevailing vision for rail transit was what we now call “heavy rail”, completely grade […]

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The Quarterly Transit Report – March 2017

By on February 28, 2017 in Buses, Transit

The retrenchment begins With this quarterly schedule change, Metro Transit has begun trimming bus service, and this is probably the first of many cuts. There are two reasons for this: After the longest run of annual ridership increases since before World War I, bus ridership has dipped. This appears to track with much lower gasoline […]

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Transit Potential: Arsenal vs. Ford Plant

By on January 3, 2017 in Development, Transit

The Ford Plant and the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (the Arsenal) offer rare opportunities to design new neighborhoods from the ground up. Both will feature a mix of commercial and residential, will be pedestrian friendly, and will incorporate public transit. In terms of transit potential, however, the two could hardly be more different. Transit to […]

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The Quarterly Transit Report–December 2016

By on December 15, 2016 in Suburbia, Transit

December service changes Once again it’s a pretty quiet service change. There are two suburban route extension stories. Route 722 has always been a short 2-mile shuttle from the Brooklyn Center Transit Center to the apartment concentrations near 65th Avenue N. and Dupont. It runs every half hour. Now hourly service has been extended seven […]

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The Quarterly Transit Report–August 2016

By on August 22, 2016 in Transit

Service Improvements As funding is available, Metro Transit is implementing the Service Improvement Plan (SIP) that was approved last year. Looking beyond the high profile improvements like LRT and Arterial BRT, the plan calls for increasing frequencies on the urban local bus routes that have always been the backbone of the system. This recognizes the reality that regular […]

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Curbing Metro Mobility’s Growth

By on July 20, 2016 in Accessibility, ADA, Buses, Transit

In order to accommodate riders with disabilities, transit agencies are required to make fixed route vehicles (buses and trains) accessible. They are also required to provide a demand responsive service (dial-a-ride) in the same geographic area and during the same time periods as the fixed route service. In the Twin Cities, that service is largely […]

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Shopping Centers vs. Transit Users

By on June 7, 2016 in Accessibility, Buses, Public Realm, Transit

The Star Tribune recently ran a story about a Coon Rapids strip mall owner who is trying to evict a public transit bus stop from its property, saying this violates its property rights. This private property versus transit controversy has surfaced several times before in this metro area and across the nation. It falls in a […]

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Quarterly Transit Report – June 2016

By on May 31, 2016 in Buses, Transit

An A Line Preview The big news is the June 11 opening of the A Line, the first urban BRT. I’ll do a separate report on it after it’s been running a couple of weeks and the initial bugs are worked out. The basics have already been well publicized—off-board fare collection, large heated shelters, limited […]

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