‘Transit’ Archives
Transit – Safety and comfort, real and perceived, is needed equally for all routes
By JOHN CHARLES WILSON Even though this month is the quarterly schedule change, it”'s a fairly slow month for transit news. In Phillips, only Routes 9 and 19 had any changes, and they were just minor adjustments to make the scheduled bus times more closely align with how long the route really takes. That said, I convinced my roommate to try taking the bus to a May Day volunteer meeting at In the Heart of the Beast Theatre (and he encourages everyone to donate $5.00 to the May Day parade). He told me his story: (more…)
Metro Transit – ABRT “D” Line to travel faster, less stops on Chicago Av
By JOHN CHARLES WILSON Do you, like so many other Phillips residents, ever have occasion to ride Metro Transit”'s “legendary 5”, the Chicago Ave. bus? If so, do you dread the long, slow ride with stops every single block, the overcrowding, the likelihood of having to listen to yet another belligerent commuter who may or may not happen to be drunk or high? Well, the Met Council has a proposal for you! It”'s called the D Line and it promises a 20-25 percent faster ride using all articulated buses with three doors each for more comfort and easier boarding and alighting. Fare payments will work like they do on light rail; you will tap your GoTo Card or buy a ticket before you get on the bus. That means less having to listen to someone argue with the driver about the fare. If they don”'t pay, any confrontation will be with the Transit Police, who usually take the person off the bus or train to deal with them. (more…)
Transit: Public Transit
BY JOHN CHARLES WILSON Metro Transit is planning to run extra service temporarily while the out of town Super Bowl crowd is here to ensure they get around. That”'s nice. However, what would be extra nice is if they would consider making some of the extra service permanent. Here are my thoughts on what parts of the extra service should be kept: Route 94: Extra service every 15 minutes from noon to 7 PM on weekends, and 2 to 7 PM on weekdays. While the weekday afternoon service on this route is adequate, or at least almost so, restoring weekend service would be a boon. Route 94 used to run seven days a week, at pretty much all hours except in the middle of the night. This was cut back to weekdays during the day only once the Green Line was instituted. The problem is, while the Green Line is great for trip to stations between downtown Minneapolis and downtown Saint Paul, it is slower than the 94 for those going all the way from one end to the other. Restoring more hours to the 94 [...]
