MVTArider Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Found this article on MSNBC today. Interesting. My reply to the quote at the end is that stuff will not change overnight especially with a governor vetoing all the funding to get new transit projects started or studied like Pawlenty did How does he think I a resident of the state of MN am supposed to get around when gas prices keep climbing? I ride the bus on all the trips I can but there are some that are just undoable now that would be fixed with some more routes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcmetro Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 ^^ Minnesota has the Northstar under construction, and the 35W and Cedar BRT's are supposed to open in 2009 or 2010 from the new UPA money. The Central LRT is supposed to open in 2014, and all local funding and the routing has been approved, we are just waiting on the feds. Some cities like Detroit and Indianapolis could use some help too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVTArider Posted June 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Yeah I know its not like we have nothing. Its just that it gets to me that Pawlenty is supposedly concerned about climate change and such, but then vetoed all the requests for money in the bonding bill for transit related projects. I hope eventually Minnesota will get more lines in operation. I am looking forward to Cedar Ave. BRT and hopefully the Central Corridor will get through the Feds. I know there are people out there who do not agree with me on this but I'm glad the legislature overrode the Governor's veto and established the 1/4 cent sales tax for transit improvements in the metro area. What we really need in Minnesota and I bet in other states as well is a dedicated funding source for mass transit. After all we subsidize private car travel with roads and streets. Get dedicated funding for transit too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVTArider Posted June 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 Alright enough of me whining about Pawlenty, back on topic now. From what I have observed with Metro Transit its probably another record ridership year for them. I have only been on the CTA once this year so far and when I was it was packed. How is it looking as far as will CTA be packed to capacity this summer? I wouldn't be surprised since CTA has pretty good coverage and service. I know Metra purchased those 1950's bi-levels back so I'm guessing that they are already near capacity. At least some places are still sitting pretty with good transit systems that can handle lots of riders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nextstopchicago Posted June 12, 2008 Report Share Posted June 12, 2008 CTA ridership normally peaks in October. It seems related to the high school cycle -- the most kids are taking transit when the school year starts, but then slowly, some drop out and others get a drivers license. Overall, summer months are usually pretty low. Maybe this year will be different. Routes downtown may be more crowded this summer. There's still a fair amount of capacity on routes I ride downtown - the 145 and 148 expresses on Lake Shore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted June 13, 2008 Report Share Posted June 13, 2008 Yeah I know its not like we have nothing. Its just that it gets to me that Pawlenty is supposedly concerned about climate change and such, but then vetoed all the requests for money in the bonding bill for transit related projects. I hope eventually Minnesota will get more lines in operation. I am looking forward to Cedar Ave. BRT and hopefully the Central Corridor will get through the Feds. I know there are people out there who do not agree with me on this but I'm glad the legislature overrode the Governor's veto and established the 1/4 cent sales tax for transit improvements in the metro area. What we really need in Minnesota and I bet in other states as well is a dedicated funding source for mass transit. After all we subsidize private car travel with roads and streets. Get dedicated funding for transit too. I left the Twin Cities area just before the Hiawatha Line opened, but I read that it was very successful, so much so that initally Metro couldn't handle the demand for service. Prior to then, I marvelled how "empty" buses would be traveling on I-35W even with the use of HOV lanes and the shoulder bypassing slow moving cars in rush hour traffic. I believe part of the problem is that big city transit is geared toward the downtown area, but the workforce destinations are spread out. I was a suburb airport worker, thus there was no suitable transit option from my suburb to MSP but there was one to downtown Minneapolis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVTArider Posted June 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2008 I left the Twin Cities area just before the Hiawatha Line opened, but I read that it was very successful, so much so that initally Metro couldn't handle the demand for service. Prior to then, I marvelled how "empty" buses would be traveling on I-35W even with the use of HOV lanes and the shoulder bypassing slow moving cars in rush hour traffic. I believe part of the problem is that big city transit is geared toward the downtown area, but the workforce destinations are spread out. I was a suburb airport worker, thus there was no suitable transit option from my suburb to MSP but there was one to downtown Minneapolis. YES! You hit the nail on the head! That is my biggest frustration with our transit system. It is a wheel with a big hub and spokes but no actual wheel to connect the spokes. For example: I see people board the 445 in Eagan and ride to the MOA and go to Richfield for Aldi's when there is an Aldi on a bus route in Inver Grove Heights that is only about 5 to 7 miles away. Why? Because to get from Eagan to IGH Aldi you have to take 445 to the MOA, transfer to 54, and go to downtown St. Paul, then board 68E/F/J to get to Aldi. Total trip time is 2 to 3 hours one way depending on where you board. To go to RichField Aldi I think the total trip time is half of that even though its farther away. This is also a frustration for me trying to go to Inver Hills Comm. College. In the morning I could get an Express to St. Paul so the trip is only 1.5 hrs. Coming back the trip would be 3 hours because the express isn't running. I drive there because it only takes 20 minutes. But oh how I wish I could ride the Bus. That would save me hundreds of dollars on gas over the semester plus with a semester bus pass I would have the parking lot fees waived. Heres one study that had its funding cut by Tim Pawlenty, It is called the Robert Street Corridor Study. That will really help out in my area once some of it is actually built. By the way, watching the Legislature in action this spring one of my favorite comments was by Dick Day of Owatonna saying "Why do we need to spend all this money running an empty light rail train that nobody rides?" "I rode on that train and there was no one on it." These quotes are not exact but they were in this context and very similar. My response is what time were you on the train man? Let me know I would like a seat The Cedar Avenue BRT corridor will open in 2010 if it stays on schedule. Heres a link to that one too. I realize that part of the problem here is the geography of Minnesota is counter productive to putting in straight streets. But I wish we had a grid system like Chicago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcmetro Posted June 13, 2008 Report Share Posted June 13, 2008 ^^ Dude, if you have to go to Aldi's you can take the 445 and transfer to the 444 and go to the Aldi's in Burnsville. Get off at Hwy. 13 and County Road 11, and walk on the bike trail on the north side of Hwy. 13 for about a 1/3 of a mile. No need to go to Richfield or IGH. I sent an email to Metro Transit once asking them to consider combining the 75 and 415 so West/South Saint Paulers can get to Bloomington and all of the south suburbs in general. Hopefully they do something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVTArider Posted June 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2008 Yeah I know. I'm not saying I would go to RichField for Aldi. (Beside's there is a Rainbow on 445 anyways.) I'm just saying thats what i've seen as an example of having to go to a hub instead of a more direct route. Also I think the bus stop for Richfield Aldi is really close and not 1/3 of a mile away. Combining 415 and 75 would be nice. The short term transit route improvement for Robert Street Corridor is a limited stop route down Robert St. with one branch going to Thomson Reuters and the other branch to Inver Hills. That will help a lot if they get that going in a couple years. By the way I know its not just me, there are a lot of people who would like more east - west service in Dakota County. Is there anything like this up around the Minneapolis area where you have to go to Minneapolis and then backtrack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcmetro Posted June 13, 2008 Report Share Posted June 13, 2008 In Minneapolis you cannot get from NE to N on nights or weekends. The 32 only runs 6 am-6 pm across the Broadway bridge (as you might know the Lowry bridge is closed for reconstruction). I live in the suburbs though, and it can be tough getting around by bus at times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcmetro Posted June 14, 2008 Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Here is a link to the May 2008 Robert Street Corridor newsletter. link. Dakota County never put it on their page but it was on regionalrail.org, the Ramsey County Railroad Authorities website. We should probably move the disscusion of individual rail lines in the twin cities to the Minneapolis thread to stay on topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVTArider Posted June 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Thanks for the link Tcmetro I knew I saw it somewhere but couldn't find it later. To avoid making any unnecessary, unimportant or irrelevant posts in this thread this will be my last entry here unless anyone else has any important contributions. In closing however it is going to be interesting seeing how transit is affected in the future as gas prices rise and transit systems reach peak capacity. Personally I think that in the future there will be a lot of new transit riders who are tired of spending their lives in suv's going from one place to another. Also I think there will be a greater demand for transit as the population ages and decides they don't want to drive anymore. For now we'll just have to sit back and wait and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcmetro Posted June 14, 2008 Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Post away, it isn't a big deal. I am guilty of getting off-topic a lot . In Seattle they approved a sales tax increase to boost bus service, and they just raised fares by 25 cents. They are considering another fare increase to cover rising fuel exprenses, because they don't want to eliminate some bus service (good idea because from what i've heard many buses in Seattle are packed already). King County Metro is paying nearly $4.00 per gallon for diesel, there budget allows for $2.60 a gallon, creating a $13 million shortfall. Here is the link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/365745_gas04.html. Here in Minneapolis fares might go up, because of a $47 million shortfall for Metro Transit. The Metropolitan Council wants to take some of the new sales tax money (that is meant for light rail and other transitway expansion projects) to keep the buses running. MVTArider, in that story that you first linked, it mentions buses so full in Indianapolis that they have to turn away riders :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVTArider Posted June 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Well alright I'm back on this thread but I will try to keep on topic and keep the MT bus operations to the Minneapolis T bus thread. Fares up in Seattle sounds like another one to join in the next fare raising trend. At least Seattle was smart enough to keep their trolley buses instead of throwing them out when diesel was cheap. I know Lynx bus already raised their fares 25 cents a year ago to $1.75 and Rochester City Lines raised theirs to $1.50 recently as well. I'm guessing that MT will do likewise. In my opinion they could raise it 50 cents and it would still be a better deal versus driving. I wouldn't mind if Met Council used some of the sales tax for funding the bus. It would be silly to save all the money for future transit system expansion and let the system we have now go kaput. By the way do you or anyone else know if other cities are funding transit through sales tax? I think its a good way because it gets everyone and not just the property owners and auto owners. From my observations I have seen an increase in people riding MVTA buses lately. I spoke to a driver on 445 a few months ago and he said that the 444 had standing room only sometimes. I remember one trip a few years ago where I rode 445 from the mall back to my house towards the end of the line and there was only one other person the whole trip. I don't see that anymore now though. Now the buses are full when they leave the mall. I wonder if MVTA really should be getting 35 ft buses instead of 40 ft buses if this trend in ridership increases continues. Another interesting thing on packed transit that I saw is a documentary done in 2001 on Baltimore's transit system. A lot of the problems like taking forever to get to work for people who cannot drive sounded familiar. I tried linking it to this thread but since its under google video the only link I can get is search results that are not really related to it. I will try to find out who hosts it and get a link to that site later. I wonder how long until we see MT buses turning people away? When I was in Chicago last time I was on a bus that was so full there were people standing up against the windshield! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcmetro Posted June 14, 2008 Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Many cities have sales taxes for transit. King County has a .9% sales tax for King County Metro and a .4% sales tax for Sound Transit regional express bus, light rail, and commuter rail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcmetro Posted June 14, 2008 Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Here is a pdf that shows cities with dedicated transit funding from sales tax. http://www.tlcminnesota.org/Resources/Poli...sit%20Mar08.pdf The data might be outdated, it is from 2006 or 2007. Here is a pdf that compares transit fares (it is from July 2005): http://www.tlcminnesota.org/Resources/Poli...ransitfares.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted June 14, 2008 Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Here is a pdf that shows cities with dedicated transit funding from sales tax. http://www.tlcminnesota.org/Resources/Poli...sit%20Mar08.pdf The data might be outdated, it is from 2006 or 2007. Here is a pdf that compares transit fares (it is from July 2005): http://www.tlcminnesota.org/Resources/Poli...ransitfares.pdf As of April of this year Chicago and its suburbs within the six county region in NE Illinois now have a part of their sales tax diverted for transit funding for CTA, Metra and Pace. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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