from the series Metro Transit
By JOHN CHARLES WILSON
Saturday, March 22 was the start date for Metro Transit service changes in the Phillips Community and throughout the Twin Cities. Changes affecting Phillips are:
- The D Line had schedule adjustments on early morning and late night trips to ease connections in downtown Minneapolis.
- The Route 2 layover, which used to be between Franklin and 22nd on Hennepin, is now located where the bus turns the corner onto Dupont.
- Eastbound weekday trips on Route 9 between 2:30 and 9:30 PM now arrive 3 minutes earlier; westbound trips arriving at Hedberg and Greenbrier at 5:18 and 6:17 PM now end at Louisiana Transit Center instead.
- Route 18 trip times have been adjusted to reflect real travel times.
- Route 21 now has different stops in downtown Saint Paul.
- Route 22 trip times have been adjusted for I-94 construction.
- Route 67 has been extended to Union Depot in downtown Saint Paul. In addition, all Sunday trips will now continue to Franklin and 14th. None will end at Fairview and University. Trip times have been adjusted for all days.
- The real big news is the Gold Line from downtown Saint Paul to Woodbury was also launched on the 22nd. This makes trips to the East Side of Saint Paul much faster. Improvements will continue in 2027, when the Gold Line is supposed to be combined with Route 94.
- As for more significant local improvements in Minneapolis, we look forward to the B Line providing a faster alternative to Route 21 as of Saturday, June 14, and the E Line speeding up bus service on Hennepin and France Avenues starting in December.
Is Metro Transit becoming better than it was before the pandemic? We in Phillips can only hope so.
John Charles Wilson is a transit enthusiast who has been interested in this field since the 1970s.
