‘Transit’ Archives
Eight Reasons Why Riding the Bus Could be the Most Radical Thing You Do
By MATTIE WONG In the wake of 2020, many of us reconsidered our safety and retreated from the public realm. If we had the means, we weighed our options and decided to use individual forms of transportation - automobiles, walking, biking, etc. Many of us are still a little shell-shocked and find it hard to return to public transportation. Spotted in a store window on a recent trip to Montreal. Translated, it says, "Thank you for choosing collective transportation." There are real - and imagined - issues with safety on public transportation. It’s a Catch-22 where in the retreat from public services, we also retracted the safety we GAVE when entering a public space. We left to keep our bodies safe, and in return, our bodies weren’t a safety to each other anymore. Now all our bodies are a little less safe. A friend of mine said, ‘Oh, well, I don’t take the bus because I don’t have to.’ It made me wonder if taking the bus really is a ‘have-to’ situation, or why [...]
Our Taxes At Work
from the series Metro Transit... By JOHN CHARLES WILSON On October 1, 2023, sales tax in the Twin Cities metro area went up by 0.75% for transportation. 17% of that revenue goes to the individual counties, while 83% goes to the Metropolitan Council. Of the Council’s share, 95% is for transit, while 5% is for walking and biking infrastructure. Officials estimate that $433 million will go to transit in 2024. This may sound inconsequential to some, but that $433 million is already making a difference. That extra nickel or dime on your next fast food meal will continue to bring transit improvements over the next few years. Transit officials will implement schedule improvements on December 7, 2024. Here is a list of changes affecting the alley readership area: The D Line and Routes 2, 5, 21, and 22 will have schedule adjustments to reflect the end of summer construction. The Orange Line will run every 10 minutes during weekday rush hours, and every 15 minutes instead of [...]
Readjusting After COVID: 16 Important Bus and Train Route Notes
from the series Metro Transit... By JOHN CHARLES WILSON As any regular transit user knows, COVID-19 did a real number on Metro Transit service. There is a project called Network NOW, which is the blueprint Metro Transit created to restore service while adjusting it for the new realities of commuting. Metro Transit plans to adjust buses and trains to cater more to all-day, everyday use, and less to traditional rush hour usage, as fewer people are using transit for commuting to jobs at traditional hours. The Phillips Community area will see more frequent buses and trains on heavily used routes, but a lot of minor routes that were given time outs during COVID are going away, permanently. Most people won’t notice much, but individuals with limited mobility may not like it because these minor routes, although not very frequent, brought them closer to their destinations. Changes relevant to the Phillips area will be: Route 2 will run every 10 minutes in the daytime seven [...]
