‘Transit’ Archives
Where Are We Going?
METRO TRANSIT By JOHN CHARLES WILSON Even though our buses and trains are still running on a greatly reduced schedule, Metro Transit is hard at work behind the scenes building and planning for a COVID-19-free future. That said, I wish to interrupt the good news to tell everyone that Cub Foods is running a FREE shuttle bus between its temporarily ruined Lake and Minnehaha location to their Quarry location at 1540 New Brighton Blvd. in Northeast Minneapolis. Buses leave the Lake Street Cub every hour between 10 AM and 5 PM and leave the Quarry store one half-hour later. Each bus will transport up to 20 people, allowing for social distancing and room for shopping bags. Other rules are similar to Metro Transit. Now, for what is in store for us when this debacle is over: The Green Line Extension (Southwest Light Rail) construction is continuing as normal. It is planned to be ready for use in 2023.The Blue Line Extension (Bottineau Line Light Rail) is anticipated to be done [...]
Transit: When Will Normalcy Return?
By JOHN CHARLES WILSON Note: This column was written between the times Governor Walz announced the lifting of the Stay at Home order and the change taking effect. Metro Transit has decided to continue running a Saturday schedule on weekdays and not running buses or light rail late at night, even after the Stay at Home order is lifted, and the restriction to “essential trips only” is still in place. Even though it will be legal to go out for any purpose, you are still not supposed to ride transit unless it is necessary. The only change is that wearing face masks will be required on Metro Transit as of 18 May. However, there will be no enforcement of this rule unless non-compliance becomes a major problem. It remains to be seen whether the schedule change which normally takes place in June will happen this year. With Metro Transit running a limited schedule anyways, they might decide there is no point to it.The transit situation everywhere is dire. It is [...]
Transit and the Coronavirus
By JOHN CHARLES WILSON Last month, I wrote about a restructure of Rochester Public Transit since there was no news about transit in Phillips or the Twin Cities in general. Ironically, The Alley Newspaper submission deadline was just two days before Metro Transit made the first of two major service cutbacks due to the closure of certain businesses and the Stay At Home order. By now, most people should know Metro Transit closes down from 11 PM to 4:30 AM each night, and that most routes are on a Saturday schedule on weekdays. Presumably, normal service will be restored when this crisis is over. Even in normal times, I don”™t get out much anymore, and I”™ve only been for one bus ride since this mess began. That was to help a friend who has a bad memory and gets lost easily going shopping at a location he doesn”™t know how to get to by himself. (Caring for others is a legitimate reason to travel under the order.) One thing I immediately [...]
