Minneapolis "t" Buses....

[MVTArider]

The new schedules today caused me to miss my connection this morning, causing me to miss class. But it wasn't all bad, I got to go to the new 46th St Transit Station and get some photos. Unfortunately, I don't have my cord on me to upload them.

It is a pretty cool station. Hopefully they install more of these when freeway interchanges are rebuilt.

Anyways, the 535 is so much faster now that they got rid of the part along Nicollet. And it runs more frequently during rush hour, although only on the DT-76th St segment.

--

A couple weeks ago I saw what looked to be an ex-MVTA Blue Bird, possibly the LTC-37 on the St. Thomas shuttle. I will try to hunt it down soon.

I'd like to see the photos when you get them I haven't had a chance to go there myself yet. It is a cool looking station though. It's like a pretend heavy-rail station

Good luck finding the St. Thomas bus. All i've seen on that route as of late is the wrapped Phantom. I'm not sure where the route runs exactly but I remember seeing it coming down the street by HCMC while I was waiting for the 94 to St. Paul once.

[Tcmetro]

I'd like to see the photos when you get them I haven't had a chance to go there myself yet. It is a cool looking station though. It's like a pretend heavy-rail station

Good luck finding the St. Thomas bus. All i've seen on that route as of late is the wrapped Phantom. I'm not sure where the route runs exactly but I remember seeing it coming down the street by HCMC while I was waiting for the 94 to St. Paul once.

I think the St. Thomas shuttle goes between the St. Paul and the Minneapolis campuses.

Looks like AVTS may get TVM's for Cedar BRT, but the others won't, according to the latest CTIB meeting packet: http://www.mnrides.org/sites/default/files/downloads/Full_packet_December_2010_Board.pdf

I saw a bus with a similar ad to the 'Stretch' one, but it was blue and said something else (which I forgot).

According to the SW Transit meeting agenda, a bus route between Burnsville TS and Eden Prarie will start in January. http://swtransit.org/sites/d82719c7-9b33-46b8-a7af-e5577d7145af/uploads/Packet_5.pdf

Looks like they also changed the 632 schedule on Monday: http://swtransit.org/sites/d82719c7-9b33-46b8-a7af-e5577d7145af/uploads/632_Schedule_12.06.10.pdf

[Tcmetro]

Here's some more interesting stuff that I found:

Dec. 2010 revision of the Draft Cedar Ave BRT IPU (along w/ some other stuff in the DCRRA Dec. meeting packet):

http://www.co.dakota.mn.us/NR/rdonlyres/00004268/eiwbzajyrondoqvizvynqdqzgebsgfjo/20101214pacrra.pdf

I am still unsure about the headways of station-to-station service (is it 10, 15, 20, or 30?), and if they will stop at Palomino or not. Also it seems that they expect it to be operated by MVTA (considering MVTA is budgeting BRT buses and garage expansions for BRT).

Presentation about the Downtown Minneapolis Layover Study: http://www.cts.umn.edu/Events/ResearchConf/2010/presentations/9-carlson.pdf

Presentation about Northstar CR (from April): http://www.cts.umn.edu/Events/ResearchConf/2010/presentations/8-fuhrmann.pdf

Presentation about AVL/GoTo data: http://www.cts.umn.edu/Events/ResearchConf/2010/presentations/24-liao.pdf

More presentations (not necessarily related to public transit): http://www.cts.umn.edu/Events/ResearchConf/2010/

[artthouwill]

Since athe Northstar and future commuter lines are (will be) Metro routes, are there any fare integration mechanisms in place to ride both a Metro city bus and a commuter rail line, like a smart card?

[Bus Driver Dude]

Since athe Northstar and future commuter lines are (will be) Metro routes, are there any fare integration mechanisms in place to ride both a Metro city bus and a commuter rail line, like a smart card?

Yes, Metro Transit has the Go-To Card

[Busjack]

Yes, Metro Transit has the Go-To Card

To anticipate art's next question.

The how to page says that it can be used on the Northstar by tapping the card, and then when the police officer scans your card, his scanner indicates that you paid the fare. It apparently doesn't issue tickets, per se.

The Northstar fares, according to the fare page, indicate that they depend on station, regardless of where you are going. However, the more detailed page indicates that there are station to station fares, which could be half of the longest haul fare.

So, to simplify the issue, do the Northstar fare machines differentiate by the length of the ride? The issue arises because Metra does not have fixed fares, but zone ones, requiring inspection of the ticket. For instance, an A-E ticket from Deerfield to downtown is $4.50, but if you are staying with within Zone E, say, Deerfield to Northbrook, the fare is $2.25.

[Bus Driver Dude]

To anticipate art's next question.

The how to page says that it can be used on the Northstar by tapping the card, and then when the police officer scans your card, his scanner indicates that you paid the fare. It apparently doesn't issue tickets, per se.

The Northstar fares, according to the fare page, indicate that they depend on station, regardless of where you are going. However, the more detailed page indicates that there are station to station fares, which could be half of the longest haul fare.

So, to simplify the issue, do the Northstar fare machines differentiate by the length of the ride? The issue arises because Metra does not have fixed fares, but zone ones, requiring inspection of the ticket. For instance, an A-E ticket from Deerfield to downtown is $4.50, but if you are staying with within Zone E, say, Deerfield to Northbrook, the fare is $2.25.

Yes, the passenger has to plug in the destination and pay. The station have readers and ticket machine.

Northstar fares are determined by the day of the week and distance traveled; there are no rush-hour fares on Northstar trains.

Metropass, U-Passes and Go-To College Passes are valid for $3 toward your Northstar fare. The rest of the fare can be paid using stored value from your pass. Northstar Fares

[Busjack]

Yes, the passenger has to plug in the destination and pay. The station have readers and ticket machine.

The ticket machine looks nearly the same as a CTA one (except I don't think we have Somali) in that you can buy a ticket (what we call a Transit Card) or add value to the Go-To Card (what we call the Chicago Card).

However, the hole in my mind is can the reader deduct the correct amount for a short ride if someone has more than the necessary fare prepaid on the Go-To card?

For this system to work on Metra, it would seem that the reader would need to have the option, when entering the station to board the train, and presenting a prepaid stored value card, to select an E to A, B, C, D, E, F, J, etc. ride, for the from Deerfield example I suggested earlier.

Another complication is that some Metra lines have significant reverse commuter ridership, while it seems like Northstar is mostly, but not entirely, in the rush direction. That was suggested by the possibility of an E to J ticket.

I suppose that once the kinks are worked out, Metra conductors could use the readers used by the Northstar police, but again they would need to have some way of keeping track of who has paid fares to other than Zone A, and to what zone outbound. The current method is that you have to keep your ticket or receipt in the clip until near the end of the ride.The IC, which became the Metra Electric, had a closed fare system where you had to put the ticket in the slot to exit, but the turnstiles were removed and there were ways to say that you didn't know that the magnetic strip on the ticket was bad so as to exit (even back in the 70s, the stations had remote surveillance).

[Bus Driver Dude]

However, the hole in my mind is can the reader deduct the correct amount for a short ride if someone has more than the necessary fare prepaid on the Go-To card?

Like I said, the passenger has to select the destination on the reader. Example:I am at Coon Rapids Station going to Foley Station. I would have to select Foley Station as my destination on the reader than the fare will be deducted from my value on my card. If I was going to Downtown the reader is preset for downtown for faster reading. As most passengers are going downtown.

[MVTArider]

That would be nice if AVTS gets TVMs. I think that could really help boarding times on the express buses too.

Like I said, the passenger has to select the destination on the reader. Example:I am at Coon Rapids Station going to Foley Station. I would have to select Foley Station as my destination on the reader than the fare will be deducted from my value on my card. If I was going to Downtown the reader is preset for downtown for faster reading. As most passengers are going downtown.

To add, it's basically the same concept as paying bus fare, where $1.75 is deducted from the amount stored on the card and the leftover amount is not used until the 2.5 hour transfer time is up, unless you board an express bus in which case an additional 50 cents is deducted.

Also here is a photo of the card readers at the ballpark station:

---

Something very strange was going on with the 16/50 yesterday evening. At about 7:15-7:25 I saw about 14 16's go by on Washington Ave. to St. Paul and two 50S even though the last 50S is supposed to leave DT Minneapolis at 6:10 :o

[Busjack]

....

To add, it's basically the same concept as paying bus fare, where $1.75 is deducted from the amount stored on the card and the leftover amount is not used until the 2.5 hour transfer time is up, unless you board an express bus in which case an additional 50 cents is deducted.

...

I think Bus Driver Dude answered the question.

As the Metra example points out, it isn't the same concept as a bus ride (or as I assume an LRT ride there or L ride here) in that you pay only on boarding the bus, and the system only has to figure out if it is an express fare or a transfer. However, the issue I was posing was the monitoring of distance-based fares, which Bus Driver Dude indicates can be done.

I take it from the picture that if you are going to a particular destination, you have to use the reader with that name on top of it.

BTW, given the picture of the array of machines, I find it hard to imagine how big of an array of readers would be needed at Chicago Union Station or Ogilvie Station.

Thanks.

[Tcmetro]

Here are my 46th St pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/52701740@N06/sets/72157625485081567/

[Tcmetro]

Something very strange was going on with the 16/50 yesterday evening. At about 7:15-7:25 I saw about 14 16's go by on Washington Ave. to St. Paul and two 50S even though the last 50S is supposed to leave DT Minneapolis at 6:10

Bus bunching to the extreme! All the buses were late on Monday and Tuesday. The Express buses were upwards of 3-45 minutes late. On top of that the 35W/Lake St stop was not plowed, so riders had to climb over the snow bank to catch the buses that were stopping on the shoulder. Most MVTA buses were skipping the stop, but it was finally plowed by Wednesday morning.

Also the bus shutdown on Saturday was terrible. I got stranded in West Bloomington. MT shutdown at 1:40 pm on Saturday and reopened at 10:00 am on Sunday. The Northstar and Hiawatha lines were still running though. MVTA shutdown at 4 pm on Saturday, and I believe they started up at regular times on Sunday.

[MVTArider]

Also the bus shutdown on Saturday was terrible. I got stranded in West Bloomington. MT shutdown at 1:40 pm on Saturday and reopened at 10:00 am on Sunday. The Northstar and Hiawatha lines were still running though. MVTA shutdown at 4 pm on Saturday, and I believe they started up at regular times on Sunday.

Darn I wanted to go out last Saturday but the snow was so deep on my street it seemed like a lot of work. Was able to go out today though. The 35' GILLIG on the 444 southbound at 2:30 appeared to have broken down just outside the MOA garage exit. When the 445 was pulling out past it 4345 was there loading the passengers to continue on. A lot of people were riding. Not many on the 445 but the LRT was packed.

[Bus Driver Dude]

Also the bus shutdown on Saturday was terrible. I got stranded in West Bloomington. MT shutdown at 1:40 pm on Saturday and reopened at 10:00 am on Sunday. The Northstar and Hiawatha lines were still running though. MVTA shutdown at 4 pm on Saturday, and I believe they started up at regular times on Sunday.

The LRT was running but late. Also there was a LRT train that did get stuck. They had to call in a tow truck (one used to tow larger trucks) to pull it out. They had to pull it out one train at a time. LRT also ran trains all night to keep the tracks clear of snow.

[artthouwill]

,,

The LRT was running but late. Also there was a LRT train that did get stuck. They had to call in a tow truck (one used to tow larger trucks) to pull it out. They had to pull it out one train at a time. LRT also ran trains all night to keep the tracks clear of snow.

All it took was one winter in the Twin Cities to convince me that Minnesota was not for me. Sure we have winter in Chicago, but large amounts of snowfall here are the exception (think 1967, 1979, New Years 1999?) and not the norm like up there. When I was up there and asked how do you deal with this EVERY YEAR and the response was you just get used to it. No you don't. I knew I was in trouble when I saw a sign posted at a bus stop that MT buses could be rerouted due to snow. You know its bad when a transit system stops running its buses due to the weather.

BTW, GO BEARS!!!

[MVTArider]

,,

All it took was one winter in the Twin Cities to convince me that Minnesota was not for me. Sure we have winter in Chicago, but large amounts of snowfall here are the exception (think 1967, 1979, New Years 1999?) and not the norm like up there. When I was up there and asked how do you deal with this EVERY YEAR and the response was you just get used to it. No you don't. I knew I was in trouble when I saw a sign posted at a bus stop that MT buses could be rerouted due to snow. You know its bad when a transit system stops running its buses due to the weather.

BTW, GO BEARS!!!

Yay Bears! Being from western NY I was wondering where winter went when we came to Minnesota

-----

Since I was on campus for a final anyways I tried to get there early to observe what was happening for the game. Unfortunately the 440d took about an hour instead of a half hour to get downtown so I didn't get as much time as I wanted.

All the First operated 2002 GILLIG Low Floors were out running stadium shuttles in addition to full service on the campus shuttles. One of the GILLIGs has a Delta logo on the back, the others I saw were either solid white with no number or the aforementioned 624/625. Metro Transit was running artics signed U of M through downtown to help with the crowds. There were also some chartered school buses.

Here's a quick video clip of two Phantoms on Washington.

A couple photos from this morning:

-----

EDIT: A different spotting at Istate today:

[artthouwill]

Bus bunching to the extreme! All the buses were late on Monday and Tuesday. The Express buses were upwards of 3-45 minutes late. On top of that the 35W/Lake St stop was not plowed, so riders had to climb over the snow bank to catch the buses that were stopping on the shoulder. Most MVTA buses were skipping the stop, but it was finally plowed by Wednesday morning.

Also the bus shutdown on Saturday was terrible. I got stranded in West Bloomington. MT shutdown at 1:40 pm on Saturday and reopened at 10:00 am on Sunday. The Northstar and Hiawatha lines were still running though. MVTA shutdown at 4 pm on Saturday, and I believe they started up at regular times on Sunday.

And I was being thankful not to be living in the Twin Cities. Maybe I should add New York City to that list.

There was an article that a NYC subway train was stuck in the subway for six hours near the airport station because of the winter storm. I tried to post the link but it is not working.

[Bus Driver Dude]

And I was being thankful not to be living in the Twin Cities. Maybe I should add New York City to that list.

There was an article that a NYC subway train was stuck in the subway for six hours near the airport station because of the winter storm. I tried to post the link but it is not working.

Snow Strands Subway Riders In Car For Almost 11 Hours Riders Stuck On Train With No Food, Water or Bathrooms

Hundreds of New York City Buses Stranded

[Tcmetro]

I was at the U during last weeks game, and I saw a 2 of the Gillig LF's. One was blank, the other with Delta logos, I believe it was 624.

[Tcmetro]

I was at the NB 35W/Lake stop, and there was a rider alert saying that Route 535 will stop there on request only beginning 1/5/11. I guess this is due to the heavy backups in the area now that the Crosstown Commons is complete. I don't think it will make much difference though, as most trips have people that want to get off at Lake.

[MVTArider]

I was at the NB 35W/Lake stop, and there was a rider alert saying that Route 535 will stop there on request only beginning 1/5/11. I guess this is due to the heavy backups in the area now that the Crosstown Commons is complete. I don't think it will make much difference though, as most trips have people that want to get off at Lake.

I look forward to the day Lake St. gets a center stop too There were a couple artics mixed in with the 40' units on the 54 Christmas eve. A lot of folks were going to the airport and the mall.

Off topic: I was down in Iowa the other day, here's some CyRide and DMARTA photos I got. I'll probably go back someday when CyRide is running at full service with more than just their new units.

[Busjack]

Off topic: I was down in Iowa the other day, here's some CyRide and DMARTA photos I got. I'll probably go back someday when CyRide is running at full service with more than just their new units.

It looks like Iowa likes Orion VIIs, but ft the CyRide Orion Vs are 2005, that must have been near the last of the VIs. Not that I want to get into that debate.

Also, DART must have some inconsistent fleet numbering patterns, although I think I figured out the 5 digit ones (first two the year, the last 3 the fleet number irrespective of the year).

[Tcmetro]

Looks like we have a new route coming January 10th. Route 634 will operate from Heart of the City Park and Ride to SuperValu in Eden Prairie: http://www.swtransit.org/Golden_Triangle_Express.html

On January 3rd BlueXpress schedules changed: http://www.bluexpressbus.com/documents/BlueXpressEff01-03-11.pdf

• 4 trips were added to Route 490, 1 before and after each rush hour, expanding the span of service by about 20-25 minutes.
  
• Midday service was added, 1 SB route 490 at 1:22 pm and 1 NB route 492 at 12:39 pm.
  
• Route 498A shuttles were renumbered Route 498
  
• New route 492 provides two reverse commute trips. Route 492 appears to be identical to Route 491
  
• Route 491 reverse commute has been expanded to 2 trips each way.
  

There are still some oddities in the schedule. Route 498 service is still 1 trip for reverse commute connections, essentially making the added reverse commute express trips useless. There is no safe way to cross the highway to the shopping center, and it is nearly impossible to walk to the industrial park because of the freeway. Route 496E service was not extended to Southbridge park and ride for connections. Also, 491 and 492 appear to be identical routes. Only one of the new reverse trips provides direct service to Downtown Minneapolis from Soutbridge, and it doesn't connect with the 498. The other trips travel through Prior Lake, which is at least 20-30 minutes slower than the direct trips. I think they may have got some more buses as well, but I am unsure.

Hastings got a $600,000 grant to pave a 100-space park and ride. Now they are looking at service options (either a private contract or an extension of Metro Transit routes): http://www.startribune.com/local/east/112700634.html

Robert Street got a $1.18 million grant to conduct an Alternatives Analysis: http://www.startribune.com/local/south/112574339.html

Two people were caught trying to walk through the airport light rail tunnel because they didn't want to wait for a train to come: http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/112839844.html

Looks like the new 285 bus is only attracting 120 riders per day: http://www.startribune.com/local/east/112406074.html

The Interchange rail station has a webpage now. There are design workshops tonight and all day tomorrow. http://www.theinterchange.com/joomla2/

[MVTArider]

Looks like we have a new route coming January 10th. Route 634 will operate from Heart of the City Park and Ride to SuperValu in Eden Prairie: http://www.swtransit.org/Golden_Triangle_Express.html

Hastings got a $600,000 grant to pave a 100-space park and ride. Now they are looking at service options (either a private contract or an extension of Metro Transit routes): http://www.startribune.com/local/east/112700634.html

Robert Street got a $1.18 million grant to conduct an Alternatives Analysis: http://www.startribune.com/local/south/112574339.html

Two people were caught trying to walk through the airport light rail tunnel because they didn't want to wait for a train to come: http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/112839844.html

• Why do I get the feeling SWT is setting this up to fail so they can say there's no reason to provide inter-suburb service? One trip each direction a day seems like it wouldn't attract anyone other than a truly transit dependent person.
  
• I wonder if Hastings will ever get some sort of fixed circulator route going in the urban area? Hastings is fairly compact so I could see a circulator that connected a few neighborhoods with the downtown area, hospital, the Walmart/Target/Cub shopping area and perhaps the county courts/correctional facilities being successful. At any rate it's about time they get some P&R service.
  
• Yay! Of course the real question is whether anything will come of this. At least the last round of meetings wasn't so long ago that they need to start from scratch on proposed modes and routes.
  
• I've heard you can get in SERIOUS trouble for going into the tunnel like that. Not a smart move.