Metro Transit service change with increased ridership

Amid Metro Transit’s round of service cuts that began last December, Route 9 and 645, which connect Minneapolis with the western suburbs of St. Louis Park and Minnetonka, will soon resume operating once every hour and two hours, respectively. Starting June 17, Metro Transit will not only increase frequency times on the 9 and 645 but also on routes 7, 23, 94, and the Orange Line, to name a few, as well as shift service around on some other routes. Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, which operates service south of the Minnesota River, will also make some minor service changes, partly in response to the summer recreation travel.

Nevertheless, the December service cuts weren’t enough to deter East Phillips resident Jonathan Wharton from giving up his car in January, when he began riding both routes to and from work at a bar in St. Louis Park. “I started taking the bus as part of my no-car challenge in January. So far, I haven’t driven since,” said Wharton, on his way home from a meeting last Wednesday afternoon.

With ridership increasing and the agency saying its ongoing operator hiring efforts are successful, Metro Transit feels confident enough to restore some of the service cuts that were made in December.

“We’ve been encouraged by our recent hiring successes, with more than 170 bus operators hired since the beginning of the year,” said Metro Transit spokesperson Drew Kerr, adding that they remain 150 operators short of being able to provide 80 percent of the public transit service the agency provided pre-pandemic. At the same time, ridership continues to increase.

In April, Metro Transit had more than 137,000 riders, compared to close to 119,000 riders a year ago. Still, the ridership remains at 55 percent of pre-pandemic February 2020 levels.

Service on Route 7, 9 and 23, which serve south Minneapolis, will run every 30 minutes during the weekday. On weekday evenings, the 7 will run every 30 minutes, and the 23 will run one hour later. The 9 and 23 will continue to operate once an hour in the evenings, and all three routes will continue to operate hourly on weekends.

Connecting Minneapolis to St. Paul, Route 94 will no longer run on an alternating 30-minute to one-hour service gap. Instead, buses are scheduled to arrive every 30 minutes during the day, and every 20 minutes during rush hour. The F branch to River Park Plaza, across the Mississippi River from downtown, remains suspended. On I-35 W, the Orange Line will once again operate every 15 minutes throughout the weekday.

In the suburbs, the 225 and 227, which serve northern Roseville and Arden Hills, will run every hour on weekdays and Saturdays. They will do the same with Route 615, which connects Ridgedale with downtown Hopkins and St. Louis Park, and Route 804, which connects New Brighton and Mounds View with Northtown.

Route 805, which connects Anoka and Coon Rapids with Northtown, will run once an hour, but only on weekdays. Frequencies on the 645, a limited-stop route operating along frontage roads next to I-394 in western Hennepin County, will increase to every 30 minutes during rush hour and every 60 minutes on weekends. The 645 will also once again serve the Lake Minnetonka communities of Mound, Spring Park, and Orono, after service was cut back to Wayzata last December.

The frequency increases on the 9 and 645 are welcome news for Wharton. “I do like more service being added because I get out [of work] at night. Sometimes I can catch the bus, sometimes it will be too late [for me to catch it],” said Wharton.

South St. Paul and Inver Grove Heights will also see service changes taking effect on June 17. All Route 68 buses will serve Robert Street to as far south as Marie Avenue. The agency will eliminate service on Thompson Street between Oakdale and Robert streets as a result. On weekdays, service to the Walmart in Inver Grove Heights will be streamlined to operate every 30 to 60 minutes in the afternoon, starting after 4:30 p.m. The agency will keep two trips that serve the Inver Grove Heights’ Walmart during the 7 a.m. hour, as well as one trip during the 2 p.m. hour. Service to Walmart would also end later, with the last bus leaving at 11:23 p.m.

Finally, Route 68 service will run every 30 minutes in the evenings between 5th Avenue and South Street in South St. Paul and downtown St. Paul, as opposed to the current schedule, which operates alternately every 20 to 40 minutes. The change, however, will be introduced on Sunday afternoons, as the agency increases service between 5th Avenue and South Street and 75th Street and Concord Avenue, which will alternate every 20 to 40 minutes in frequency, compared to the current once-an-hour schedule.

The suburban express buses will receive a boost as well, with added trips on Route 250, which connects downtown Minneapolis to Blaine, and Route 270, which connects downtown Minneapolis to Maplewood Mall. The 355, which connects downtown Minneapolis directly to Woodbury Theater park-and-ride and bypasses downtown St. Paul, will return with two trips in each direction. The 850, which connects western Anoka County to downtown Minneapolis, will also see more trips.

The agency plans to add back more service in August. In addition to the service increases, several routes will be detoured because of construction. Route 5 and the C and D Lines will detour off of Osseo Road and onto Highway 100 and Lake Drive through the city of Robbinsdale, as Hennepin County replaces the bridge deck over the Canadian-Pacific railroad tracks. Several downtown St. Paul routes, including the 3, 62, 67 and 75, will run on Robert Street because the city of St. Paul is rebuilding Minnesota Street. Metro Transit conducted a survey in 2021, to determine whether or not all downtown St. Paul north-south routes should stay on Robert Street. The agency was unable to comment on its decision by press time.

South of the Minnesota River, Minnesota Valley Transit Authority will also be adding and adjusting service despite their own challenges with hiring and retaining drivers.

The 4FUN bus, an express shuttle connecting Mall of America with ValleyFair Amusement Park, Canterbury Racetrack and Mystic Lake, began making an additional stop at Burnsville Transit Station on June 3, and will also begin running on Thursdays and Fridays beginning June 22. They will increase service on Route 490, an express route that connects downtown Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota with Shakopee’s Southbridge Crossings park-and-ride and downtown Prior Lake, citing rider demand.

In addition, MVTA also plans to realign Route 497 away from the downtown Shakopee commercial corridor, which includes a number of bars, boutiques, a Mexican ice cream shop, a senior living community and the Minnesota River waterfront. The agency is making the change to eliminate delays associated with their buses waiting at train crossings along the railroad tracks on the downtown southern border. Buses will now operate as far north as 4th Avenue and at the same time will also begin serving the Shakopee Police Department.

MVTA will also redirect an existing Route 495 trip departing Marschall Road Transit Station at 10:25 p.m., which will instead start at Mystic Lake Casino at the same time.

For more info, visit www.metrotransit.org/quarterly-service-changes-begin-saturday-june-17.