Needless to say, the Twins baseball plan worked TOO well.
Trains packed with baseball fans pushed ridership on Northstar commuter trains up over 75% last week, according to Metro Transit, the service's operator. In fact, the first baseball special train on Opening Day was so popular, the train was discharge only after the stop at Coon Rapids - Riverdale, meaning the over 100 passengers at the Fridley station were left to ride dedicated buses fron Fridley station to Target Field. This also caused the normal last train outbound on Monday to leave with an estimated 1,000 riders, as the baseball special train operated behind the normal 6:15 PM departure.
Special trains will operate for 53 of the 81 Twins games this season; other weekend games will be covered by Northstar's regular service, the schedule of which has been tweaked to serve home games at Target Field. The new schedule is available now online only; the printed schedules will not appear until early May.
The new schedule will also have a major change to the bus route #889 schedule, the 'Northstar replacement' bus which operates to Coon Rapids-Riverdale and Anoka stations. The new schedule will fill the 'mid-day gap' for those patrons who work only half-days, and beginning May 15th, will leave Downtown Minneapolis at 1:10 PM, as opposed to the current 7:10 PM.
Now, if they'd only run that bus to Elk River and Big Lake...
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Think you'd try transit to a Twins' game?
Good luck to you if you do.
The lack of transit access to Target Field, the Twins' new, half-billion-dollar bet on Downtown Minneapolis, is going to be a major factor in the gridlock that will result, as the spring approaches and baseball season starts. In fact, the lack of transit for about 1/3rd of the Twins' schedule will eventually affect the Twins, as well as other Target Field events.
The lack of any extra transit operating for afternoon day games on weekdays (you'd only need a bus, one-way, from Northstar stations, as an example) will hamper fans from accessing what should be the region's newest jewel in the region's core -- Downtown Minneapolis -- and the fact that most of the connections (except light-rail) are primarily a shanks'-mare connection at best -- and that the area immediately to the south of the stadium, is one of the primary areas for the homeless -- will make it that much more doubtful that fans will attend, once the newness of the stadium wears off.
It is the hope of this blogger that Twins fans will indeed leave their cars at home and try transit into the stadium area. That is the Twins' hope as well. Is it the hope of Metro Transit that fans will leave their cars at home and use transit? Or will it be like everything else they are forced to provide service for? The 'well, we'll do it, but only because we have to, not because we WANT to' attitude?
We'll have to wait and see.
The lack of transit access to Target Field, the Twins' new, half-billion-dollar bet on Downtown Minneapolis, is going to be a major factor in the gridlock that will result, as the spring approaches and baseball season starts. In fact, the lack of transit for about 1/3rd of the Twins' schedule will eventually affect the Twins, as well as other Target Field events.
The lack of any extra transit operating for afternoon day games on weekdays (you'd only need a bus, one-way, from Northstar stations, as an example) will hamper fans from accessing what should be the region's newest jewel in the region's core -- Downtown Minneapolis -- and the fact that most of the connections (except light-rail) are primarily a shanks'-mare connection at best -- and that the area immediately to the south of the stadium, is one of the primary areas for the homeless -- will make it that much more doubtful that fans will attend, once the newness of the stadium wears off.
It is the hope of this blogger that Twins fans will indeed leave their cars at home and try transit into the stadium area. That is the Twins' hope as well. Is it the hope of Metro Transit that fans will leave their cars at home and use transit? Or will it be like everything else they are forced to provide service for? The 'well, we'll do it, but only because we have to, not because we WANT to' attitude?
We'll have to wait and see.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Northstar Twins' schedule announced
Metro Transit, operator of the Northstar commuter trains, have announced their schedule for extra trains for the Minnesota Twins' inaugural season at Target Field.
The schedule will include extra trains for:
Opening series vs. Boston (April 12, 14, 15)
All weekend (Saturday/Sunday) games
All weeknight games in June, July and August
In total, 53 of the Twins' 81 games will have extra Northstar service.
--WRT
The schedule will include extra trains for:
Opening series vs. Boston (April 12, 14, 15)
All weekend (Saturday/Sunday) games
All weeknight games in June, July and August
In total, 53 of the Twins' 81 games will have extra Northstar service.
--WRT
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Ever wonder why...?
OK, now I'm perplexed.
Ever wonder why our Government does things sometimes the way they do? Well, here's one for you in that department...
Recently, during a 3-inch snowfall, I came up alongside a MnDOT snowplow working on US Highway 10 in suburban Coon Rapids. This was mid-afternoon, prior to the afternoon rush hour, so I was surprised when I came up to the plow, that although it was dropping the usual car-eating mixture of sand and salt, the blades were in the UP position, and not clearing the roadway of the quickly accumulating snow which was falling.
I thought that when snow accumulates on the roadway, that the resulting accumulation would be enough to warrant snow removal to begin, not just sand/salt distribution. Any car that tried to change lanes in that particular stretch would have been a great candidate for winding up in either the ditch, nose first, or into one of those oh-so-close wire barriers which the State installed last summer.
In either case, when the plows come out, shouldn't the blades be down when snow is present?
One would think so.
Ever wonder why our Government does things sometimes the way they do? Well, here's one for you in that department...
Recently, during a 3-inch snowfall, I came up alongside a MnDOT snowplow working on US Highway 10 in suburban Coon Rapids. This was mid-afternoon, prior to the afternoon rush hour, so I was surprised when I came up to the plow, that although it was dropping the usual car-eating mixture of sand and salt, the blades were in the UP position, and not clearing the roadway of the quickly accumulating snow which was falling.
I thought that when snow accumulates on the roadway, that the resulting accumulation would be enough to warrant snow removal to begin, not just sand/salt distribution. Any car that tried to change lanes in that particular stretch would have been a great candidate for winding up in either the ditch, nose first, or into one of those oh-so-close wire barriers which the State installed last summer.
In either case, when the plows come out, shouldn't the blades be down when snow is present?
One would think so.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Cities vs Suburbs for Transit Funds
Well, Minnesota has indeed joined the 'big leagues' of transportation. There's infighting amogst the populace on who's transit ox is being gored.
On one hand, we have the outer suburbs, many of whom split off from the rest of the Twin Cities Metro area in order to start up their own transit services, which would more closely adhere to the needs of their own communities, as opposed to the 'one size fits all' Metro Transit, which is operated by the Metropolitan Council.
On the other hand, there are the core cities and inner-ring, older suburbs, who have the needs and the lack of resources of most large-city transit systems, despite the 2006 constitutional amendment dedicated the sales tax from the purchase of automobiles to the transit funding pool.
The outer suburbs, mushrooming with growth, want to expand their services, but say the needs of the core cities are stunting their growth. The inner cities are saying that any decrease in their funding will mean service cuts for people who, for whatever reason, are more transit-dependent than their suburban neighbors.
'Making do' has been a mantra for Minnesota transit for about 40 years. When the Met Council took over the old Twin City Lines in the early 1970's, most of the bus fleet dated from 1954, when they discontinued streetcar service. It took the better part of 10 years to upgrade the fleet with buses (not all of which were air-conditioned) which actually had parts available. The bus fleet now inclues transit versions of motor coaches for longer-haul routes, as the suburban operators do. To screw all of this up over a 'he said, they said' arguement would be transit suicide. The future of transit is in alternative modes (read: rail) not the local, all-stops on every corner bus route.
It is hoped that some semblance of order could be made out of this chaos; look at cities which finally got it (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas/Fort Worth) and who have flourishing transit systems. They understood that cooperation is the key. They cooperated. And everyone benefits because of it.
Get it?
On one hand, we have the outer suburbs, many of whom split off from the rest of the Twin Cities Metro area in order to start up their own transit services, which would more closely adhere to the needs of their own communities, as opposed to the 'one size fits all' Metro Transit, which is operated by the Metropolitan Council.
On the other hand, there are the core cities and inner-ring, older suburbs, who have the needs and the lack of resources of most large-city transit systems, despite the 2006 constitutional amendment dedicated the sales tax from the purchase of automobiles to the transit funding pool.
The outer suburbs, mushrooming with growth, want to expand their services, but say the needs of the core cities are stunting their growth. The inner cities are saying that any decrease in their funding will mean service cuts for people who, for whatever reason, are more transit-dependent than their suburban neighbors.
'Making do' has been a mantra for Minnesota transit for about 40 years. When the Met Council took over the old Twin City Lines in the early 1970's, most of the bus fleet dated from 1954, when they discontinued streetcar service. It took the better part of 10 years to upgrade the fleet with buses (not all of which were air-conditioned) which actually had parts available. The bus fleet now inclues transit versions of motor coaches for longer-haul routes, as the suburban operators do. To screw all of this up over a 'he said, they said' arguement would be transit suicide. The future of transit is in alternative modes (read: rail) not the local, all-stops on every corner bus route.
It is hoped that some semblance of order could be made out of this chaos; look at cities which finally got it (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas/Fort Worth) and who have flourishing transit systems. They understood that cooperation is the key. They cooperated. And everyone benefits because of it.
Get it?
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Riding the Storm out: 500 new Northstar riders in Dec. storm
During a Dec. 9 snowstorm that snarled Twin Cities metro traffic, the Northstar commuter trains pulled in another 500 people on that day alone, according to Metro Transit, the operator of the service, in comments made to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
The five round-trips that day carried nearly 2,800 passengers, or about 20% above what the normal daily average (2,400) has been in the service's first 5 weeks of operation.
The trains operate between Big Lake and Downtown Minneapolis, and operate over trackage owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
The five round-trips that day carried nearly 2,800 passengers, or about 20% above what the normal daily average (2,400) has been in the service's first 5 weeks of operation.
The trains operate between Big Lake and Downtown Minneapolis, and operate over trackage owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Northstar Miscellany
Two things to note about Minnesota's commuter train:
1. Ridership for the second half of November, 2009 was slightly below estimates. The report did acknowledge the fact that Thanksgiving day (a day where no trains operate) did indeed occur during the time period. Ridership average 2,207 per day, slightly under the 2,460 estimated daily average. The release from Metro Transit, operator of the service, says that ridership patterns will not emerge until after the first of the year.
2. Metro Transit has leased a MP36 locomotive from the Utah Transit Authority, operator of the Salt Lake City-Ogden-Brigham City 'FrontRunner' commuter trains. The engine is intended to be a spare for the Northstar locomotives currently in service. The locomotive is undergoing repaint and refit at Northstar's Big Lake repair/servicing facility.
1. Ridership for the second half of November, 2009 was slightly below estimates. The report did acknowledge the fact that Thanksgiving day (a day where no trains operate) did indeed occur during the time period. Ridership average 2,207 per day, slightly under the 2,460 estimated daily average. The release from Metro Transit, operator of the service, says that ridership patterns will not emerge until after the first of the year.
2. Metro Transit has leased a MP36 locomotive from the Utah Transit Authority, operator of the Salt Lake City-Ogden-Brigham City 'FrontRunner' commuter trains. The engine is intended to be a spare for the Northstar locomotives currently in service. The locomotive is undergoing repaint and refit at Northstar's Big Lake repair/servicing facility.
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