44 replies to this topic

[Snowguy716]

I think transit in the Twin Cities will see a major boost in the next few years, but a lot of that lies in this Tuesdays' election.

The transportation ammendment on the ballot that would dedicate all taxes levied from car sales to transportation says that at least 40% must be used for public transit and no more than 60% for highway funding.

The question is lengthy and difficult to understand.  Many people from rural Minnesota are voting no because they think they will be short changed as public transit is not feasible in many areas.  If you don't vote, it counts as a no.

Either way, all three gubernatorial candidates have now said they will work to expand transit projects in the state.  Many of these plans are for a streetcar system in Minneapolis with 2 or 3 new Light Rail Transit lines to be built, one of them quite extensive (The SW corridor through Hopkins, St. Louis Park, and Minnetonka) along with the central corridor.

Commuter rail is ready to be implemented on the Northstar route from downtown Minneapolis to Big Lake with future expansions to St. Cloud and northward.  Also, the Red Rock Corridor is being looked at to connect the southeastern suburbs to St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Personally, I would like to see Minneapolis/St. Paul get very serious about the public transit issue and develop a world class system that uses LRT, Street cars, and subways.  Many European cities of smaller size that are comparable in density have much larger public transit systems.  It will gaurantee a successful future for the Twin Cities to be ahead of the game on transit.  Make it a world class city!  Why not?

[Snowguy716]

http://www.startribu...ory/782338.html

A story talking about how despite park and ride spaces increasing from 9,000 in 1999 to 20,000 today, they are filling up fast.  Bus ridership in September '06 was up 11.5% over Sept. '05.. clearly good news!

[Snowguy716]

I was just thinking about this a bit.  I think it would be better if the central corridor LRT was put underground for major portions of its route.  Of course it would be above ground over the river and along more residential areas, but wouldn't it serve better in the long run to have run underground near the downtown areas/University?

It would certainly be able to travel faster thanks to uninterrupted track and lack of pedestrians/cars... say up to 55mph.  This would increase efficiency greatly and provide for more connectibility to future lines (into St. Paul neighborhoods, for example).

I just don't understand the anemic plans for public transit.  The 30 year plans include only 2 commuter rail routes and 3-4 LRT lines with a major focus on bus transportation.  WHo knows what the state of buses and transit will be like in 30 years.. not to mention that 30 years is a very long time to spend on menial things like a few LRT lines.  The 30 year plan should include major expansions to the transit system so that in 30 years one can travel in any direction out of the city on rail of some kind.

Call it nostalgia or just a more efficient, practical way of getting people where htey need to go.. BRT is only effective along freeway corridors, and not everyone lives next to a freeway.

[City_of_Lakes]

No doubt!  Not to mention that TOD's would increase all over the place.  Wouldn't that be great, little hubs of energy all along train lines throughout the cities.  

Random thought: Too bad the subway was never built that some were advocating for decades ago.  That could've been the start of a beautiful system.  

Funny how one of the route options being studied for the SW Corridor would put the train underground below Nicollet (Eat Street) on its way from the Midtown Greenway towards DT.  While I realize that this street is far narrower than University Ave, nonetheless it is still a very busy neighborhood both vehicle and pedestrian traffic wise.  Would be so nice if the light rail vehicles could more unhindered from one stop to the next.  Darn it, there are so many stipulations the FTA puts out in order for projects to get approval for 50% match funding.  

[migrjo]

Is there anyone here who has difficulty with crowding still coping with Metro Transit? Do you have any tips? I'm at the end of my rope!

M.