‘Transit’ Archives
Be Glad For the B Line
By JOHN CHARLES WILSON The Metro Transit bus service changes on 14 June 2025 were a real boon to the Phillips neighborhood, as I can guess many alley readers already know. The centerpiece of transit improvements, the B Line, replaced the infamous Route 21. Going 20 percent faster and without the time-consuming jog through Midway Shopping Center on the way to Saint Paul, this modern version of Selby-Lake goodness will make life easier for a lot of us. Other bus routes that were improved at the same time: Route 2 (Franklin Ave) now runs every 10 minutes during the day and every half hour at night.Route 11 now runs every 15 minutes during the day, even on Sunday, and every half hour at night. All trips now go as far north as Columbia Heights.Route 27, which was suspended for COVID, came back to parts of the 26th/28th Street one-way pair, providing a less congested alternative to Lake Street for people in the residential areas nearby.People going to downtown Saint Paul can [...]
New Bus News
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 [...]
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 [...]
