Longer trains are being added before Target Field's opening, and Bloomington will get a fourth station.
By KEVIN DUCHSCHERE, Star Tribune
Last update: August 26, 2009
Construction to equip all of the Hiawatha light-rail stations to handle longer trains -- as well as build another station in Bloomington -- is ahead of schedule and should be finished by the end of the year, Hennepin County Board members learned Tuesday.
That means that trains with three articulated cars, rather than just two, will be on the tracks and pulling into the new ballpark station by the time the Twins inaugurate Target Field in April, Metro Transit engineer MarySue Abel told the board.
Why the need for longer trains? Because the five-year-old light-rail line, which connects downtown Minneapolis with the airport and the Mall of America, has become a hugely popular transit option.
Last year the line topped 10 million rides, 12 percent more than in 2007. An average of 37,000 commuters rode the trains daily during weekday rush hours.
"The success of the line has really proven that we need to accommodate more ridership," Abel said.
So Metro Transit, using funding from federal and local sources, is lengthening the platforms at nine stations, adapting two downtown stations for the longer trains and replacing scores of bumpy yellow warning strips dislodged by the annual freeze-thaw cycle.
Signals at track crossings are being upgraded to permit trains to run more efficiently in reverse when needed.
The agency also is building a new station that had been planned years ago but was dropped because of cost overruns. The new stop, at American Boulevard and 34th Avenue, will be the fourth station on the line in Bloomington.
The total cost of the expansion projects is about $13.5 million. Extending the platforms costs $9.3 million, while the new American Boulevard station is $2.2 million, Abel said.
Most of that money comes from federal coffers, with additional funding from the Metropolitan Council, Hennepin County and Bloomington.
Questions from board members centered on the artwork for the expanded stations. Abel said that it will mostly extend and duplicate what's already in place, but some commissioners were disappointed to learn that the original artists were from outside the area.
With all the local art communities, Mike Opat said, it seems "ridiculous" to look outside the Twin Cities for people to decorate the stations. Mark Stenglein suggested that the county seek local artists for the proposed southwest light-rail line, and Peter McLaughlin said that most of the artists selected for the Central Corridor line are local.
When the Hiawatha line opened in 2004, seven of the then-17 stations were built long enough to handle three-car trains. With all stations now being readied to accommodate them, new trains will be purchased for use by 2012, Abel said.
Work on the stations began in April. Light-rail service has been interrupted periodically since then because of construction, and there may be one more such shutdown before the job is finished, she said.
The station at Cedar-Riverside will be closed over the weekend for platform work.
Kevin Duchschere • 612-673-4455
Showing posts with label Metropolitan Council. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Metropolitan Council. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Seniors may face bumpier dial-a-ride
Picture caption: Senior Marie Drew gets assistance from DARTS bus driver Bill Trenter to her apartment building after she got a ride from the nearby John Carroll building where she had her hair done. The Met Council plans to restructure the dial-a-ride services across the metro.
Rach's note: Dial a Ride is also called paratransit or door to door service. Not only senior citizens use that service, disabled people like myself do use this service (I am more of bus person but I do use paratransit sometimes). Metro Mobility website
Some pickups will end, others will take people to the nearest transit stop.
By KATIE HUMPHREY, Star Tribune
Last update: July 19, 2009
There may be more senior citizens hoofing it to the bus stop next year.
That's one side effect, likely an unpopular one, of plans to revamp the minibus system that shuttles seniors and other needy people across the metro area.
The Metropolitan Council launched the overhaul of the dial-a-ride network in February to standardize and stitch up holes in the patchwork system. A series of audits had revealed unfair and, in some cases, illegal practices by many of the contracted providers.
The new system would extend coverage to the entire seven-county metro area, but also remove it from places that are deemed too close to a regular bus route or light-rail line -- within a quarter-mile in the winter months of November through March, and within a half-mile the rest of the year.
And in many cases, riders accustomed to getting picked up at one address and dropped off at their destination would instead be picked up and dropped off at the nearest regular bus or light-rail line that can take them where they're going.
"It's a fundamental shift," said Mark Hoisser, president of DARTS, the nonprofit dial-a-ride provider in Dakota County.
Many agree that moving toward a uniform system with standard fares, hours of operation and defined coverage areas makes sense, but finding a solution that's palatable to everyone isn't easy.
"We looked closely at what is out there today and tried to match that to the greatest extent feasible, but standardize it," said Gerri Sutton, assistant director of contracted transit services for the Met Council.
The Met Council will consider the new operating rules on Wednesday, and if all goes according to plan, the new service will be put in place in phases starting in January.
The $4.7 million system, which grew up piecemeal as communities identified a need, provides 500,000 rides a year. But riders in some areas can call one of multiple providers, while those in other suburbs -- Shoreview, Little Canada and Arden Hills among them -- have no service at all.
Rach's note: Dial a Ride is also called paratransit or door to door service. Not only senior citizens use that service, disabled people like myself do use this service (I am more of bus person but I do use paratransit sometimes). Metro Mobility website
Some pickups will end, others will take people to the nearest transit stop.
By KATIE HUMPHREY, Star Tribune
Last update: July 19, 2009
There may be more senior citizens hoofing it to the bus stop next year.
That's one side effect, likely an unpopular one, of plans to revamp the minibus system that shuttles seniors and other needy people across the metro area.
The Metropolitan Council launched the overhaul of the dial-a-ride network in February to standardize and stitch up holes in the patchwork system. A series of audits had revealed unfair and, in some cases, illegal practices by many of the contracted providers.
The new system would extend coverage to the entire seven-county metro area, but also remove it from places that are deemed too close to a regular bus route or light-rail line -- within a quarter-mile in the winter months of November through March, and within a half-mile the rest of the year.
And in many cases, riders accustomed to getting picked up at one address and dropped off at their destination would instead be picked up and dropped off at the nearest regular bus or light-rail line that can take them where they're going.
"It's a fundamental shift," said Mark Hoisser, president of DARTS, the nonprofit dial-a-ride provider in Dakota County.
Many agree that moving toward a uniform system with standard fares, hours of operation and defined coverage areas makes sense, but finding a solution that's palatable to everyone isn't easy.
"We looked closely at what is out there today and tried to match that to the greatest extent feasible, but standardize it," said Gerri Sutton, assistant director of contracted transit services for the Met Council.
The Met Council will consider the new operating rules on Wednesday, and if all goes according to plan, the new service will be put in place in phases starting in January.
The $4.7 million system, which grew up piecemeal as communities identified a need, provides 500,000 rides a year. But riders in some areas can call one of multiple providers, while those in other suburbs -- Shoreview, Little Canada and Arden Hills among them -- have no service at all.
The new system will spread coverage to areas that lack it but also remove it from areas near regular buses or trains, which the Met Council says is necessary to remove redundancies in the transit system. But that could pose challenges for people who have counted on dial-a-ride in those areas.
Hoisser said many DARTS dial-a-ride clients are senior citizens who are unfamiliar with public transit or unsure of their physical ability to take regular buses or trains.
"We suspect some people would give up and not ride the system," he said.
More may seek certification
Both Hoisser and Sutton of the Met Council ventured that those who truly have disabilities will get certified as disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in order to ride Metro Mobility, a separate service that delivers people door to door.
"There are some people out there today that are eligible for ADA service, but have not had a need to get that level of certification," Sutton said. "I would assume that those people will pursue that under the new [dial-a-ride] system."
To be ADA-certified, people must fill out a self-evaluation and have another filled out by a medical provider.
The committee working on the new dial-a-ride rules is also considering ways to teach wary riders how to use buses and trains, Sutton said.
Other changes to dial-a-ride service are more benign. Fares will be uniform across the metro area, but they will not vary much from those currently charged by providers. The cost each way will range from $2.25 to $6.75.
There will be one central phone number to call for reservations, and all counties will offer a minimum of weekday service from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Tim Kirchoff, supervisor of transit operation and planning for Anoka County, said he's pleased with most of the plans for the new system but expects them to morph a bit more.
"We're trying to take all these oddball pieces and put them into one system," Kirchoff said.
"Once we do pull the trigger and this thing goes forward, there will certainly be some modifications."
Public hearings on fares will be held in September. The phase-in of new dial-a-ride service will start in Scott and Carver counties in January and end in Dakota County in May.
Katie Humphrey • 952-882-9056
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