Metro Transit is eyeing a restructure of its local and express bus network as early as next year, as it accounts for pandemic-induced changes to regional travel patterns.
The changes, outlined in a process called Network Now, call for concentrating bus service on some of its heavily-used local and express routes, creating new routes to significantly reduce travel time between suburban locales, as well as support the development of the region’s bus rapid transit and light rail lines.
In the years before the pandemic began, Metro Transit was hemorrhaging ridership and cutting service as riders began driving more to work to take advantage of cheapening gas and parking. Meanwhile, the agency also struggled to recruit and retain drivers.
When the pandemic began in March 2020, ridership plummeted almost overnight, as the agency’s remaining commuters began to work from home. Census data shows the amount of workers who live in the seven-county metro area who worked from home more than tripled in 2023 compared to 2019.
Since the pandemic began, Metro Transit’s bus route ridership has rebounded, slowly but surely. Bus ridership through June was at 16.6 million, an 11% increase compared to ridership at the same time in 2023. It’s a far cry, though, from what ridership was at the same time in 2019, which was at 26.3 million.
Data from Metro Transit shows ridership, which is concentrated on 16 routes serving Minneapolis and St. Paul, tends to peak more strongly in the early afternoon, where riders are more likely to be shopping and running errands than they are commuting to work. Meanwhile, transfers between buses in the two downtowns are also declining, while transfers at suburban transit centers are up. Services in the suburbs that mimic ridehail services such as Uber and Lyft, called microtransit, were some of the first services in the region to recover over 100% of their pre-pandemic ridership.
As a result, Metro Transit is calling for service increases to its busiest routes, while also deploying a network of all-day regional express routes operating from downtown Minneapolis to connect park-and-rides in Minnetonka, Brooklyn Park, Blaine, Maplewood and Woodbury. Local buses or microtransit services would radiate out from those hubs.
The proposal also calls for creating new crosstown connections, reducing travel times between the outlying suburbs. One such connection is a so-called crosstown route connecting the communities of Blaine, Brooklyn Park, and Osseo on Highway 252, 85th Avenue, Brooklyn Boulevard, and Jefferson Highway. The proposal would change what is an over two-hour bus ride today down to about 30 minutes.
East-west routes are what Brooklyn Park officials have sought for years, and the city of Brooklyn Park submitted comments as part of the Blue Line Extension light rail project’s environmental review process requesting planning for such routes happen before construction begins.
Brooklyn Park city councilmember Boyd Morson expressed at a July 29 meeting the importance of east-west bus service serving his community.
“I think this is something that we can implement right now to get our residents east and west side and the central district as well as in and out of our city with opportunities, and whatever the reason may be,” Morson said.
Another such connection includes increasing Route 94 service to run seven days a week for the first time since the Green Line opened, when Route 94 service was cut back. On weekends, service would run anywhere from every 30 to 60 minutes.
Downtown Minneapolis resident Ben Doxtator welcomes the potential changes.
“Plenty of times I wanted to catch (Route 94) on a Sunday or a weekend. Even if it just ran on a Saturday it would be great,” Doxtator said while handling his bike on the Green Line on a recent Saturday evening.
The service improvements come with elimination of other routes, some of which have been suspended since the pandemic began. By Metro Transit’s count, they plan to eliminate 53 routes, which include freeway routes serving south Minneapolis, Richfield, Bloomington, Brooklyn Park, Blaine, White Bear Lake and the communities to the north of Lake Minnetonka. They also plan to eliminate suspended local routes that are or will soon be served by faster, more frequent options, such as the 12, 16, 19, 27, and 84.
Metro Transit staff were supposed to present the proposed changes at the Met Council’s Transportation Committee on Aug. 26, but did not because the committee lacked a quorum. Staff will instead present the proposals at the Transportation Committee on Sep. 9. Transportation Committee chair Deb Barber posted on X.com, the site formerly known as Twitter, that the delay will not result in a delay of implementation.
The transportation committee, as well as the full Met Council, will consider setting a hearing date and releasing the plan for public comment that week. Once approved, the agency plans to solicit comments from riders about the proposed changes until Nov. 15. The agency will then present an updated plan before Met Council for approval in early 2025.
Metro Transit is required by state law and Met Council policy to get feedback from riders about the proposed changes, because some of the changes will result in riders having no alternative service.
“The public hearing will be part of a more extensive public engagement process including five Metro Transit sponsored meetings and other community meetings,” Metro Transit spokesperson John Komarek wrote in an e-mail.
