04-26-2000 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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Overview of the Study's Goals and Service Plan The design of public transit service in the seven - county metro area has changed little in recent decades while the metro area has grown, population densities have shifted and new employment sites have been established. In 1998, Metro Transit embarked on an immense task — analyzing all transit service and fundamentally restructuring it based on current need and maximum efficiency. To do this, the metro area was divided into nine geographic sectors. The Transit Restructuring Study for the Northeast Metro Area — also known as Sectors 1 and 2 — are the first two areas to be evaluated; others will follow in coming years. The Northeast Restructuring Study focused on ways to improve existing service to reflect current community needs and goals. The area covered by this study includes 31 cities in the northeast quadrant of the region, generally east of the Mississippi River and north of a line running through downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul. It represents 28 percent of the existing transit system, 38 bus routes, $32 million in service and a total of 13 million annual bus rides. Evaluation of existing service was accomplished in Fall 1998, with staff members riding every trip on the 38 routes in the affected area. After accumulating knowledge of current travel patterns and reviewing estimates on future growth, planners developed an initial proposal based on direction given by community leaders, city representatives and city council members ( "stakeholders "). The proposal was presented for public input in January through March 2000. This document outlines the general goals of this project, and describes the modified plan Metro Transit staff recommends. The modified plan is based on comments from customers and ongoing dialog with the cities within the northeast metro area. Current Service and Performance The study set out to address all general public transit services funded by the Metropolitan Council, including Metro Transit and services sub - contracted by the Council, such as Roseville Circulator and North Suburban Lines. Also included are Dial -a -Ride services that receive Metropolitan Council subsidy: Northeast Suburban Transit, Lake Area Bus and Anoka County Traveler. Analysis resulted in several key observations: • The system is overly complex, with too many variations, branches and other subtleties that often overlap each. This complexity makes the system difficult for users to decipher. It also discourages customers from using the system for new purposes, and limits them instead to the one or two trips they have learned how to complete. • The network design bears the mark of an era when Minneapolis and St. Paul had separate transit systems. This is most obvious in the tendency for both Minneapolis- and St. Paul -based radial routes to end near the Hennepin /Ramsey County line. As a result, it is often difficult to make a short trip that crosses the municipal and county line, such as a trip from 15th & Como in Minneapolis to Como Park in St. Paul. • Inadequate Park - and -Ride capacity limits ridership on some rush -hour express services, which are especially expensive to operate since each trip requires a bus to run empty in the reverse- Page 245