Star Tribune
Transit ridership up for first two-thirds of 2023 — but still below pre-COVID levels
More than 31 million passengers took Metro Transit buses and trains during the first eight months of 2023, a healthy 17% increase over the same period last year.
Though demand typically slows during summer months, Metro Transit officials were heartened to report strong ridership between January and August, particularly on bus-rapid transit (BRT) and the light-rail lines, during a meeting Monday of the Metropolitan Council’s Transportation Committee.
BRT service performed well, with ridership aboard the popular D Line arterial bus route, connecting Brooklyn Center with the Mall of America, surging by 86% during the period.
Light-rail ridership rose by 20% to 9 million rides, and overall bus service increased by 15%, totaling 20 million rides. All told, local bus service comprises nearly half the service provided by Metro Transit, followed by light rail at 30%.
“This is the heart and soul and bones of our system,” said Met Council Member Deb Barber, who chairs the Transportation Committee.
But ridership was still just 57% of what it was before the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, which decimated the use of public transportation in the Twin Cities and across the United States, partly due to the rise of remote work in response to the pandemic.
“The five-day workweek is not existing anymore in most cases,” said John Harper, contracted transit services manager for the Met Council.
One of the three current arterial BRT lines, the D Line, began service in December. BRT buses operate in traffic, and passengers pay before boarding — saving time — at stations that are heated in cooler weather and feature real-time scheduling information. Metro Transit has big plans to expand the arterial system.
The A Line, the region’s first arterial BRT line, saw an uptick in ridership from fairgoers in August. The line, which links the Blue Line’s 46th Street light-rail station in south Minneapolis to the Rosedale Transit Center, includes a stop at the State Fairgrounds in Falcon Heights, and ridership of 32,111 during the fair’s 12 days was more than double that of last year.
The biggest gain in ridership came from Transit Link, Metro Transit’s shared-ride public transportation used where regular transit service is infrequent or unavailable, and micro-transit service; together they saw 120,585 rides, a 47% increase. Micro-transit service is an app-based on-demand pilot project offering multipassenger public transit in parts of north Minneapolis.
Metro Transit officials pointed to another positive trend: the growth in ridership on express and peak-commuter buses, a mode that was decimated during the pandemic as more people worked remotely and fewer traveled downtown. Ridership in that category rose 8%, with 714,718 rides provided.
Northstar Commuter Rail, which experienced the greatest decline during the pandemic, saw ridership of 57,966, an 18% increase. Service on Northstar, which connects downtown Minneapolis with Big Lake, recently increased from four to eight weekday trips.
Preliminary indications show an uptick in demand for Northstar service, said Brian Funk, Metro Transit’s chief operating officer. “It’s very encouraging,” he said.
Funk said sports and special events have helped bolster ridership this fall, including the Twins, Vikings and Minnesota United, as well as the University of Minnesota’s Golden Gophers — games played at stadiums that are easily accessible using public transit.
While the newest shark at the Minnesota Zoo might be particularly skilled at swimming, she was named after St. Paul’s beloved Olympic gymnast, the zoo announced Thursday.
Suni the zebra shark was born Aug. 17, just after the conclusion of the summer Olympics in Paris, where gymnast Suni Lee earned three medals.
Zoo visitors will be able to spot the striped baby Suni in the shark nursery in Discovery Bay, according to the zoo’s weekly newsletter. Those stripes won’t last forever; by the time she’s one, Suni’s stripes will be replaced with spots.
Visitors may find Suni exploring her environment or lying still, which is normal. Zebra sharks can rest motionless on the bottom and use throat muscles to pump water across their gills.
Zebra sharks are an endangered species, over-hunted for their fins, according to the zoo. The zoo is part of a global program that sends eggs and pups from zoos and aquariums to Indonesia to be released into the wild.
Suni’s mom is Ruby the shark, the zoo’s only breeding female. Ruby is also the mother of 7-year-old female JZ. Mother sharks do not raise their young, unlike many aquatic mammals like dolphins.
Ruby is a genetic match for the shark rehabilitation program and the zoo hopes to provide viable eggs in the future.
We at the Minnesota Star Tribune are committed to continually enhancing our digital products and experience. Earlier this year, we rebooted and upgraded the Minnesota Star Tribune’s website and apps to create a cleaner, crisper, modern platform that we’ll continue to build upon. And today, we’re reaching out to let you know about another upcoming enhancement that will impact anyone who visits startribune.com or our mobile apps.
Starting Friday, Oct. 25, we are making changes to our login and subscription management system. These changes will require you to log back into your Minnesota Star Tribune account on startribune.com and to our apps when login goes live there early next week. We’re sorry for the small inconvenience – but it will be worth it.
Why are we doing this? We are moving subscription management for our digital subscribers to a modern subscription management platform. This platform will level up your subscription management experience, allowing us to serve you in ways that were not possible with our legacy system.
Enhancements you will notice include a modern payment infrastructure and subscription management, including the ability to easily make changes to your subscription right in the platform. You will also see a simplified login flow using your email address (no need to remember a separate username).
If you are a subscriber, or if you have logged into the site over the past two years, you should have already received communication about this via email, and we encourage you read those communications to ensure you are prepared for this change. In addition, you will see messaging on our website and apps notifying you of this coming change.
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ROCHESTER – The biggest venue here will technically have new operators in 2025, though there likely won’t be staff changes.
Experience Rochester has switched operating companies, ending a contract with venue specialists ASM Global and expanding a contract with its food and beverage vendor Oak View Group. The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) revealed Friday that 146 workers would be affected by the switch.
ASM Global notified DEED officials last month that it planned to lay off its staff running the Civic Center. Experience Rochester said in a statement Friday that Oak View Group plans to rehire and retain all employees once it takes over operations in January, “ensuring continuity and a seamless transition for our staff and our guests.”
The Mayo Civic Center has been a Rochester fixture since 1939, though it’s expanded over the years. It boasts almost 200,000 square feet of space, can seat up to 7,200 people in its arena and claims to be the largest event facility in southern Minnesota.
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