On June 19, 1954 the streetcar system in the Twin Cities shut down permanently. I consider it one of the biggest mistakes our region has ever made as we’re now spending billions and taking decades to rebuild a similar system albeit with arterial bus rapid transit (ABRT), BRT, and light rail. There are several causes […]
Here’s a map from erstwhile rail and transit blogger, Alon Levy, with a proposed “high-speed” / low-speed rail network that would connect to Minnesota. First, the map itself: For Levy’s proposal, the Chicago-to-Minneapolis travel time would be 2 hours and 30 minutes. There would also be connection north to Duluth. Here’s what Levy writes about […]
As we plan a better transit system for the region, we need to understand a few simple facts. 1) Not everyone wants to live in the city. 2) Not everyone wants to live in the suburbs. 3) Not all of the jobs are in downtown. 4) Not all of the jobs are in the suburbs. […]
It’s busy times for the Metro Transit system in the Twin Cities. Although the roadblocks seem endless, the Southwest Green Line light rail extension is agonizingly inching towards construction next year. The Bottineau Blue Line extension is seemingly on pace to start construction sometime a year or two after that. The Orange and Gold Line […]