Transit ridership in the Twin Cities reached 92 million in 2019, marking a decline of about 3% from the previous year.
Bus ridership — the workhorse of the region’s transit system — declined 5% last year with 53 million rides provided, according to the Metropolitan Council.
Citing national trends, the council said people may be opting to drive instead of using transit owing to cheap gas prices and low interest rates that make it easier to buy a car. Potential riders could be using ride- and bike-sharing services and scooters as well.
Moreover, road construction in urban areas — including downtown Minneapolis, where many riders transfer — has created detours and delays for several of the system’s busier lines.
Light-rail ridership on the Green Line, which links the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul, set a record last year with 14.3 million rides, an annual increase of 3%. Ridership on the Blue Line, which connects the Mall of America to downtown Minneapolis, was essentially flat with 11 million rides provided.
Metro Transit has launched several initiatives to improve the customer experience on its light-rail trains, including cleaning them more often and boosting the police presence following a spike in serious crime.
There were some bright spots in Friday’s report, including the growing popularity of A Line and C Line rapid bus service, which provide more-frequent and reliable service to passengers along busy transit corridors.
The three-year-old A Line, which connects Rosedale to the Blue Line’s 46th Street Station in Minneapolis, provided about 1.7 million rides, an increase of 3%. The C Line, which began service about six months ago between downtown Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center, tallied 1.2 million rides.
The Met Council is lobbying state lawmakers for $55 million in bonding money to build two more rapid bus lines in the metro: the B Line connecting Minneapolis’ Uptown neighborhood to Union Depot in St. Paul, and the D Line linking Brooklyn Center to the Mall of America.
“We’re really talking about how we move people around and get them where they want to go, like reaching good jobs,” said Met Council Chairman Charlie Zelle, in a statement. “It’s not just about one transit line, it’s about the whole network. We choose to invest in lines that best build out the system and where riders get what they need.”
Metro Mobility, a federally mandated shared-ride service for riders with disabilities or health conditions, saw ridership increase 2% to 2.4 million rides in 2019.
Northstar commuter rail service between downtown Minneapolis and the northwest exurb of Big Lake declined 2% to 767,767 rides last year.
The regional bus providers — Maple Grove Transit, Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, Plymouth Metrolink and SouthWest Transit — provided about 5 million rides, a slight decline. The University of Minnesota’s bus service remained flat at about 4.1 million rides.
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March 07, 2020 at 02:02AM
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Transit ridership in Twin Cities metro declined slightly last year - Minneapolis Star Tribune
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