Star Tribune
Twin Cities tourism biz braces for Uber impact
Visitors who pour by the thousands into Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport have long been able to take for granted that fleets of rideshare drivers will be ready to pick them up at the flick of a smartphone and ferry them around the Twin Cities.
In a month’s time, that option could disappear. It’s got local tourism industry leaders more than a little nervous.
“It’s just crazy to think about,” said Angie Whitcomb, CEO of Hospitality Minnesota, a nonprofit group that represents restaurants, lodging and resorts throughout the state.
Minneapolis hospitality and tourism agencies are anxiously contemplating a future without rideshare services, even as they remain hopeful for a resolution to the dispute between the Minneapolis City Council and two rideshare giants over driver pay that has Uber and Lyft vowing a May 1 departure from Minneapolis.
That would leave a big hole in the local transportation system and inflict even more harm on an already struggling hospitality industry, especially hotels, said Adam Duininck, president and CEO of the Downtown Council and Downtown Improvement District.
“We need to build up businesses and not lose more businesses,” he said. “We need to look for more ways to move people around downtown, not less.”
In 2023, there were nearly 1.9 million stays at Minneapolis hotels, an increase of 15% over the year prior, according to Meet Minneapolis. This year is off to a busy start for travel, with 49,190 people passing through Transportation Security Administration checkpoints on March 21 — the second-busiest day at MSP since the start of the pandemic. The busiest day in that period was during MEA week last fall.
The hospitality industry itself is supported by many workers who rely on rideshare access to get to and from work after late shifts. “Our businesses operate on extended hours and at 2 in the morning you can’t be guaranteed there’s going to be public transportation at the front door of your place of business to get you safely home,” Whitcomb said.
Many of Lyft’s top pickup and drop-off locations are hospitality and tourism locations like Hilton Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Convention Center, Hyatt Regency-Minneapolis, and the Hewing Hotel, according to data shared by the rideshare company. While Lyft says it intends to only depart the Minneapolis market, Uber says it will pull out of the Twin Cities entirely.
Duininck decried the Minneapolis City Council’s decision without a plan in place if Uber and Lyft follow through on the promises to leave.
“That is like if the airport shut down Delta and said we can find you rides on American or Spirit,” he said. “It’s irresponsible and it will affect our city, events and tourism.”
Large-scale events rely on ridesharing options for attendees. Ensuring seamless transportation is essential to enhance participants’ overall experience and make Minnesota a premier travel destination, Lauren Bennett McGinty, executive director of Explore Minnesota, said in a statement.
“Ensuring a diverse range of transportation choices is paramount for Minnesota to remain competitive, particularly in major metropolitan areas like Minneapolis,” she said.
A lack of options could potentially jeopardize the millions of dollars the state has invested in the revitalization of downtown Minneapolis post-pandemic and post-George Floyd’s murder, just as some momentum is building toward recovery, Whitcomb said.
“We’re finally having meeting planners from across the country really look at Minneapolis for their events and conventions, but they’re looking at the cost from a holistic perspective,” Whitcomb said. “And if rideshare’s going to be hard to get, or it’s going to be the most expensive in the country … that’s going to impact their decision to come here.”
Hope for statewide rideshare plan
Still, industry leaders are holding out hope for fair wages and assurances that travelers and industry workers will have transportation options that meet their needs.
“We are hopeful that a solution can be found so that any impact to rideshare users — including out-of-town visitors, convention attendees and tourism and hospitality workers — is negligible,” Kathy McCarthy, a Meet Minneapolis spokesperson, said in a statement.
The hospitality industry will never be on the wrong side of wanting people to have the ability to make a living wage and take care of their families, Whitcomb said: “It’s just unfathomable to imagine that we’re solving a problem we think we’re solving and OK with causing so many other problems.”
Whitcomb and Duininck said they are hopeful the Legislature and Gov. Tim Walz can solve the dilemma and keep Uber and Lyft running. Duininck said it’s a truly open question how people, and especially visitors with little knowledge of local routes and regions, will get around efficiently.
“We need to solve this issue,” Duininck said. “It is not good for our city.”
Star Tribune
Falcon Heights, St. Anthony renew police contract that ended following Philando Castile’s killing by police
Years after their contentious split, St. Anthony police officers will once again patrol the city of Falcon Heights.
St. Anthony had policed the neighboring suburb for more than 20 years until the two cities severed their agreement after Castile was killed during a 2016 traffic stop in Falcon Heights.
Ever since, Falcon Heights has been paying the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office to police the small city that surrounds the State Fairgrounds. But Sheriff Bob Fletcher has urged the city for years to find a more permanent arraignment. Sheriff’s deputies do not patrol any of the neighboring towns and suburbs around Falcon Heights, which makes the city difficult to staff with deputies often having to travel long distances to respond to emergencies, the Sheriff’s Office has said.
The city and the Sheriff’s Office first mutually agreed to part ways in 2021, but Falcon Heights couldn’t find another agency take over until now. The city of about 5,000 has long said that it would be impractical to try to create its own police force.
Falcon Heights Mayor Randy Gustafson said he is excited the city will once again have “a community-oriented policing model.”
“That’s something I’ve wanted to see returned and our community wanted to see returned,” he said. “And this gives us that chance.”
The contract will cost Falcon Heights roughly $1.8 million a year. St. Anthony officials estimate the department will need to add nine more officers and will ask for Falcon Heights’ financial help in upgrading its police facilities.
“We want to continue to be a welcoming, inclusive community,” Mayor Wendy Webstersaid. “And at the same time, we know we have a tremendous need for affordable housing.”
Webster and some on the council also said they were worried about project leaders not having immediate plans to build an outdoor playground, arguing that was a necessary amenity for children. And council members said the agreement must include plans to address the environmental condition on the site, which city leaders say has contamination issues.
“The thing I am most careful and concerned about is you are also buying a polluted piece of land. I want to make sure you are safe in your facilities,” Council Member Lona Doolan said, adding that “if it was any other property in our community, I wouldn’t have any hesitation or reservation.”
The council approved the rezoning request with several requirements, including that a playground be constructed within two years, and that the city receive plans for parking, staffing, and added landscaping, as well as environmental reports with proposals on addressing the pollution concerns.
Star Tribune
US confirms North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for training and possible Ukraine combat
WASHINGTON — The U.S. said Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops have deployed to Russia and are training at several locations, calling the move very serious and warning that those forces will be ”fair game” if they go into combat in Ukraine.
The deployment raises the potential for the North Koreans to join Russian forces in Ukraine and suggests expanded military ties between the two nations as Moscow seeks weapons and troops to gain ground in a grinding war that has stalemated after more than two years.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called it a ”next step” after the North has provided Russia with arms, and said Pyongyang could face consequences for aiding Russia directly. His comments were the first public U.S. confirmation of North Korea sending troops to Russia — a development South Korean officials disclosed but was denied by Pyongyang and Moscow.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. believes that at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers traveled by ship to Vladivostok, Russia’s largest Pacific port, in early to mid-October.
”These soldiers then traveled onward to multiple Russian military training sites in eastern Russia, where they are currently undergoing training,” Kirby said. ”We do not yet know whether these soldiers will enter into combat alongside the Russian military, but this is certainly a highly concerning probability.”
Kirby said they could go to western Russian and then engage in combat against Ukraine’s forces, but both he and Austin said the U.S. continues to assess the situation.
Exactly what the North Korean troops are doing in Russia was ”left to be seen,” Austin told reporters in Rome.
He added: ”If they’re co-belligerents, their intention is to participate in this war on Russia’s behalf, that is a very, very serious issue, and it will have impacts not only in Europe, it will also impact things in the Indo-Pacific.”
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