Customers boarded Minneapolis Metro Transit buses and trains nearly 81.4 million times in 2013, an increase of more than 300,000 rides (0.4%) over 2012. The Northstar Commuter Rail line had a particularly strong year, with ridership up more than 12%.
“Only twice in 32 years has Metro Transit ridership reached this level,” said GM Brian Lamb. “We thank our customers — both long-time and new — for this fourth consecutive year of growth. In 2013, we provided five million more rides than just four years ago.”
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Buses
Customers boarded buses operated by Metro Transit 70.4 million times in 2013. Ridership on urban local routes – the heart of the agency’s all-day service — increased 565,266 rides to 59.3 million. Customers boarded freeway-oriented express buses 9.5 million times and suburban crosstown routes 1.6 million times.
Rail
Ridership on the METRO Blue Line dropped 3.2% to 10.2 million. Planned service interruptions for construction and maintenance projects dampened weekend ridership. Projects included the first-ever smoothing of all miles of track, completion of the junction with the METRO Green Line and accommodating a major rebuilding of the roadway interchange at 34th Avenue and I-494 in Bloomington. Average weekday ridership on the region’s first light-rail line continues to exceed projections for the year 2020 by more than 25%.
“We know that many weekends of construction and maintenance on the METRO system wore on our customers last year,” said Lamb. “This year, we intend to repay that patience with the results — improved reliability and comfort on the Blue Line and the opening of the METRO Green Line.”
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Meanwhile, customers boarded Northstar trains 787,239 times in 2013, the highest number in the line’s four-year history. This overall 12.4% increase is attributable to a fare reduction made permanent in April and the addition of a station in Ramsey in November 2012. Average weekday ridership — the line’s primary commuter market — increased 17%.
“Although trains served more special events than ever before, new weekday commuters drove the strong gains in Northstar ridership,” said Lamb. “The line’s weather-proof reliability, comfortable ride and new onboard Wi-Fi service offer an increasingly attractive package for work travelers.”
What truly drives the cost of a paratransit fleet? Beyond the purchase price, seven operational factors quietly determine maintenance frequency, downtime, and long-term service reliability. This whitepaper explores how these factors shape lifecycle cost and what agencies should evaluate when selecting paratransit vehicles.
In this conversation, TBC’s Executive Director Ed Redfern, President Corey Aldridge, and Washington Representative Joel Rubin outline the coalition’s key policy priorities, the challenges facing transit agencies, and how industry stakeholders can work together to strengthen the voice of bus transit at the federal level.
Originally introduced in 2023 as the Bus Line Redesign, the effort has evolved into a more targeted update that maintains familiar routes while improving reliability, frequency, evening and weekend service, and connections across Allegheny County.
S3 will connect communities along SR 522 with fast, reliable, battery-electric bus service from Shoreline South Station to Bothell via Kenmore and Lake Forest Park.
The configuration uses Ster Seating's Gemini seat platform to create a family-friendly floor layout specifically engineered to accommodate parents traveling with young children.
The Renton Transit Center project will relocate and rebuild the Renton Transit Center to better serve the regional Stride S1 line, local King County Metro services, and the future RapidRide I Line.
