Rumor Has It
Rumor has it that Metro Transit Routes 4 and 6 will be returning to Hennepin Avenue in Downtown Minneapolis with the December 2022 pick.
The Fare Issue: Affordability
A few days ago I posted about the pros and cons of fare-free transit. Since there are two primary issues with the collection of fares, I’d like to deal with each one separately. Today, I will discuss the issue of affordability for people with low incomes. For the majority of people with high or moderate […]
Yes! A Second Train to Chicago!
Planning is still in the works for a second daily train from Saint Paul to Chicago, which would leave Saint Paul a few hours after the morning Empire Builder, and leave Chicago a few hours before the afternoon Empire Builder. The route and stops would be the same, except for the addition of two extra […]
Go For the Gold
Metro Transit’s Gold Line Bus Rapid Transit construction has begun! The Gold Line is going to be a Bus Rapid Transit line from downtown Saint Paul to Woodbury. While I do have some minor criticisms of the Gold Line, I do think it will be good for people from Saint Paul to access retail in […]
Should Public Transit Be Fare-Free?
Today I’d like to explore the pros and cons of fare-free public transit, as many social justice and transit advocacy groups are advocating that transit fares be eliminated and the service funded 100% by taxation. The first experiments with fare-free transit, like most innovations in the field, happened in the 1970s. These experiments produced an […]
Rochester Public Transit
Two nights ago, I dreamt about Rochester and its transit system. In my dream, I was analyzing the problems Rochester Public Transit was having with its new Transit Development Plan. TDPs are documents issued by most smaller transit systems once every five years. (As a Communist, I find the idea of “five-year plans” in American […]
Temporarily Solving the Southwest LRT Boondoggle
Metro Transit’s Green Line Extension, otherwise known as the Southwest Light Rail or LRT, has been delayed until 2027, or four years past its originally planned opening, due primarily to construction issues between the West 21st Street and West Lake Street stations. I would like to propose a temporary solution: open the line as soon […]
Welcome to My Transit Blog
Hi! My name is John Charles Wilson and I founded the Minneapolis Transit Blog in imitation of the Seattle Transit Blog. (I hope they consider it flattering!) Today is the 52nd Anniversary of the Metropolitan Transit Commission takeover of Twin City Lines. Officially the money ($6.1 million) changed hands at 5 PM on the 18th, […]