Marrying Bus and Rail on the Central Corridor

From Dave Van Hattum, Senior Policy Advocate

A critical component of the success of the Central Corridor light rail line will be how the bus connects to it, specifically providing some level of continued bus service in the corridor and expanding north/south bus connections to the corridor.  Metro Transit recently began the Central Corridor Transit Service Study, with the goal of improved connections and reliability, and a simplified multi-modal system.  Open houses on the study will take place in March.

Metro Transit estimates that 40% of Central Corridor riders will access the train via a bus trip. At Transit for Livable Communities, we support much more extensive implementation of new connecting bus service than will be possible with available dollars.   

The sector study assumes that any funding of expanded north/south service will come from savings from reductions in current service, including elimination of route #50 (express service along University), and reductions in the frequency of route #16 (local service along University)and route #94 (express bus along I-94).

 
The #65 bus provides a north-south connecting service to the Central Corridor.

The Met Council’s Transportation Policy Plan calls for an expansion of our region’s transitways (LRT, commuter rail and bus rapid transit) and for an expansion of our region’s bus system.  Due to funding constraints, bus expansion has been on hold for nearly a decade.  Better bus connections to the Central Corridor light rail will further leverage this key public investment and expand benefits to residents along the corridor and in the sector area planning geography. 

TLC has and will continue to advocate for additional funding for metro area transit through an increase in the metro area sales tax for transit.  A modest increase is needed to assure that regional corridors after the Central Corridor (e.g. Southwest, Bottineau, Gateway, etc) receive necessary capital and operating funds and that bus service is expanded throughout the Twin Cities metropolitan region.

TLC encourages residents and bus riders to attend the Open Houses for the service plan. We are encouraged by the Met Council’s innovative community outreach strategy called Trusted Advocates. Trusted Advocates are community residents who “have deep connections into their communities as organizers or advocates” and can provide a strong interface between specific communities and the Met Council. More about Trusted Advocates here.

The sector study encompasses an area bounded by the Mississippi River and Lake St to the South, Hennepin and Larpenteur Aves. to the North, 35E to the East, and Hiawatha Ave
and I-94 and I-394 to the West.