These are not good times for bus ridership. It’s down 7 percent in the Twin Cities metro area for the first half of 2019 compared with 2018. In contrast, Green Line light rail ridership is up 5 percent, the Blue Line is down only 1 percent and the Northstar line is down 3 percent. What’s […]
Direct transit links are not only good for urban quality of life but improve regional competitiveness. They should be a no-brainer. Being able to land in a city and board a train with assurance you’ll be downtown in a fixed amount of time provides peace of mind for residents, tourists and businesspeople alike. A pleasant […]
Minnesota’s most predictable seasons — winter and roadwork — are no joke to the thousands of commuters who travel Interstate 35W through South Minneapolis every weekday. The $240 million construction project, which has reduced lanes and is closing stretches of the freeway altogether some weekends, will last until 2021. Inconvenience means opportunity for Metro Transit, […]
This summer, for the first time, I had the opportunity to use the A-Line arterial bus rapid transit (aBRT) on Snelling Avenue. I don’t mean ride the A-Line. I’d done that for the first time during a visit to the Twin Cities (I live in Philadelphia) the summer before, soon after the service had started operating. But […]
Bit by bit, computer technology is demystifying the unavoidably complex Twin Cities transit system. Say you’re on the bus but your trip requires a transfer and you’re unsure when the connection will arrive. You can look it up on your smart phone, but wouldn’t it be nice if an on-bus display just teed it up […]
Here’s last week on streets.mn: Transportation The A Line Works, Let’s Build More by William Schroeer shares some reactions to the A Line (“I really love the fact that it comes so often,” for example) and also provides information about funding for more aBRT : “Governor Dayton has proposed bonding for $50 million to fund more […]
I was out last Friday making a video about people’s experience with the A Line. Now, I knew about the 30% increase in ridership in this corridor since the A Line opened. But the numbers did not quite prepare me for people’s enthusiasm. “It’s just really easy.” “The A Line has helped me by taking […]
The weather is wintry, but you can still Join streets.mn on the A Line Sunday, April 15! – that’s today at 2:00 pm! – to ride the A Line and hear from Katie Roth, aBRT manager from Metro Transit. And whether or not you ride the bus, do read the rest of last week on streets.mn: […]
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 […]
July is almost over and tomorrow we’ll start the end of summer, family vacation after youth soccer is over, run up to the State Fair, back-to-school sort of month of August. Here on streets.mn this week, we’ve got a good mix of politics, reports on particular places and some looks further afield. As always, we […]