From Charles Carlson, Director-BRT Projects
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the METRO A and C lines and many of our local bus routes continue to see comparatively strong ridership. Continued demand in these corridors underscores the need to make fast, frequent and reliable service more widely available in our region.
Already, significant progress is being made.
Along Interstate 35W, construction on the METRO Orange Line is well underway. Planning for BRT lines that will substantially improve service in corridors served by routes 5, 21 and 6 continues. And in the East Metro, design work continues on the METRO Gold Line, which will bring a dedicated busway to the I-94 corridor between St. Paul and Woodbury. If full funding is identified, all five of these lines will be operating before 2025.
As these projects advance, we are also looking further into the future.
Based on current ridership, land use and the potential to serve people of color and low-income residents, we have identified 11 corridors where future BRT investments could be made. These corridors are currently served by some of our busiest routes, including the 3, 4, 10, 18, 54, 68 and 74.
After collecting feedback, we hope to identify the three most promising corridors by the end of the year. The next BRT project, the METRO F Line, is expected to be chosen next spring.
As previous BRT and light rail investments have shown, every addition of high-frequency, high-quality transit makes our system more useful and attractive. Imagine what this region would look like with a BRT network providing fast, frequent service on more than 100 miles of our busiest streets.
To support this growing BRT network, we will also complete a long-term vision for improvements to our local and express bus network, known as Network Next. This planning effort will resume in 2021, when we hope to have a better understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on transit needs.
Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. We are excited to build on the progress that has already been made.
Learn more and provide feedback
View the potential BRT corridors & take a survey by Friday, Oct. 9
Learn more about the arterial Bus Rapid Transit planning process
