METRO TRANSITÂ
By JOHN CHARLES WILSON
Yesterday (14 September), I went for a bus ride to West Saint Paul to take a friend out to lunch for his birthday. It was one of probably less than a half dozen bus trips I”™ve taken since COVID-19 became an issue. Partly this is because of COVID and partly because of debilitating back pain which keeps me from standing or walking very much. Anyway, one thing I noticed on this trip is that transit ridership has really sprung back to life. This is a good sign.
On 12 September 2020, new transit schedules went into effect. Many routes are now back to normal, and others have seen significant improvements. As far as routes in the Phillips neighbourhood go, here”™s the scoop:
Routes 2, 5, 11, 14, 21, 22, 27, and the C Line are back to normal weekday schedules.
Route 9 has seen improvements but is still not fully back to normal.
Light Rail is back to running every 10 minutes, but does not run 11 PM to 5 AM.
Other bus routes in Phillips are still suspended (these are mostly rush-hour-only routes like the 39 and 53).
Unfortunately, or fortunately as your perception may be, paper schedules are still not being given out on the buses. Presumably this is for “sanitary” reasons.
Well, anyway, we should keep supporting Metro Transit by riding buses and trains safely” (wear masks, keep social distancing, and don”™t give the drivers a hard time about the rules), so that this nightmare ends as soon as possible. Vladimir Putin already has a vaccine, and we will soon have one too.
So much has to be restarted in our society once the virus is under control. Functional transit is one piece of the puzzle.
