Kare11
Metro Transit ridership rises, but still below pre-pandemic level
The Twin Cities, like many other major metro areas across the U.S., are confronting lower ridership and crime concerns.
ST PAUL, Minn. — For Kristen Ahart, public transportation is part of the routine.
Each morning, she takes the bus from St. Paul to Minneapolis for work, and then returns on the opposite route at the end of the day.
“I have noticed that it is packed every morning on my way to work, which I personally love,” Ahart said. “It definitely brings a sense of community back to the bus instead of being a solo bus rider.”
Indeed, Metro Transit ridership numbers by light rail and bus have increased significantly since the start of the pandemic, hitting a peak of nearly 150,000 average weekday rides on all modes of transportation during the busy fall season in 2022. Currently, in early 2023, those numbers sit around 120,000 per weekday, a Metro Transit spokesperson said.
However, according to Metro Transit’s year-to-year ridership graph, usage numbers remain much lower than pre-pandemic totals. For most of the summer and fall of 2019, and even parts of early 2020 before COVID hit, total weekday rides hovered near or above 250,000.
With lower ridership, Metro Transit cut back on some bus service this winter, but at the same time continues to move forward with major expansion projects. That includes the Gold Line, which will run from St. Paul to Woodbury starting in 2025. The $500 million project received another approval from the St. Paul City Council on Wednesday and will be the first bus route in the state to primarily use bus-only lanes. Metro Transit also recently opened the new “D Line” last year, enhancing service from the Mall of America to Brooklyn Center.
“Our hope is that in 2023 the [higher ridership] trend continues,” Metro Transit spokesperson Drew Kerr said. “Bus rapid transit lines like the Gold Line, the D-Line, are a big part of that. What we’ve seen in these corridors, is a recovery that’s faster than what we see in other corridors with regular route bus service. On the D Line corridor, ridership has increased about 50 percent compared to this same month last year, December ’22 to December ’21, and we are expecting that to be the case on future BRT corridors as well.”
Meanwhile, Metro Transit is also confronting issues of crime near or at transit stations, including two recent shootings in St. Paul and Minneapolis.
“We have what we call a safety and security action plan — a 40-point plan that describes all the actions we’re taking to improve public safety on transit,” Kerr said. “Everything from recruiting and hiring more police officers. That’s probably the biggest thing we need to do right now is getting more people out on the system.”
Many other major cities across the U.S. are also dealing with issues of transit crime. In New York City, the NYPD began flooding transit areas with hundreds of officers on overtime beats, in an effort to improve public safety.
Whether it’s the perception of crime, general pandemic trends, or other factors, the nation’s largest public transportation systems are clearly struggling.
“Some of the transit systems are limping back to the pre-pandemic levels, but none of them are close to what they were in 2019,” said Dr. P.S. Sriraj, the director of the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Illinois Chicago. “Many of the transit entities, at least in the large urban areas that I’ve been tracking, they are hoping they will hit 80 percent of the 2019 levels by 2025. So, that tells you a little bit about the mindset within the industry as to what is happening with ridership.”
Sriraj said that ridership trends have declined as far back as 2014, around the time that ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft became more widely available.
“But the pandemic really bottomed out the ridership,” Sriraj said. “Transportation is at a crossroads, if you will. The future of transit has yet to be written.”
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities in our YouTube playlist:
EDINA, Minn. — The Edina football team fell just a few yards short of winning the Minnesota State 6A Football Championship last season.
Coach Jason Potts and his team are off to a great start again this fall — and hoping to make it back to US Bank Stadium.
But at the end of the day, the Hornets said it’s the journey of one of their teammates that inspires them to keep moving forward.
“All of the doctors that I’ve had in the past doubted me a lot. It felt good to finally put on pads for the first time,” said Edina junior John Liddicoat.
Friday nights in the fall illuminate the beauty of a dream being achieved.
“I love the feeling of Friday night. Looking at the student section right before running out the tunnel, getting that adrenaline rush,” said Liddicoat.
For Liddicoat, Fridays at Kuhlman Stadium transform into a canvas of joy, inspiration and bravery.
“He’s one of the most brave guys that I’ve ever coached,” said Potts.
Pushing limits is something John has done since day one.
“John was diagnosed with Williams syndrome when he was 5 months old,” said Mary Liddicoat, John’s Mom.
“It was devastating. We were devastated. We’d never heard of the syndrome, and he was super little and it was super scary,” she added.
Williams syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that impacts many parts of the body, including cognitive delay, speech and motor skills.
“The day he was diagnosed, the geneticist said he’ll never ride a bike, and I think we both made a mental note: We’ll see,” said Liddicoat’s dad, also named John. “He can ride a bike; he didn’t learn at 3 like his brother, but he learned at 10 and he says it’s his mode of transportation now.”
John handled the handlebars… up next? A bigger challenge to tackle.
“It’s kind of a big dream of mine when I was younger to play football,” said John.
“More than any other sport, he’s always wanted to play football. Every year, when I would drive him to school, and the register for tackle football youth football signs would go up, and John would look at me in the car and say, ‘Mom, I want to play football!’ And I would say, ‘We’re not sure that’s a safe option for you,'” said Mary.
Safety concerns gave way to John’s bravery and a coach who refused to say “no” to a kid’s dream.
“One of my goals is to have access to a football program for everybody, and I didn’t want any excuses for someone to not play football, and that’s why I’m here at Edina, is to help young people chase their greatest potential,” said Potts.
“Putting on pads for the first time. Putting on a helmet for the first time. Just getting on the field, seeing my buddies, it was just a wow moment. Like, wow, I’m in pads and cleats, I’m playing football!” said John.
For the past three years, John has played football alongside his brothers, like QB Mason West.
“I’ve known him since probably first grade, and ever since, he’s just been a really smiley and happy dude. It’s honestly really fun to be around him. All of my friends love him, and it’s so good having him as part of this team,” said West.
“Just to have him on the field in the program is something special, and what he accomplishes, I don’t think he understands what he brings to the program,” said Potts.
John’s enthusiasm radiates along the sidelines every Friday night, starring in his role, encouraging teammates and coaches alike.
“You know, I might get down on myself and maybe I made a bad play call or geez, it’s raining — what do we do? And all of the sudden, you bump into John, and he just kind of flips you. And he does that to other players as well. When things get tough, it’s like you bump into John, and he’s there to lift you,” said Potts.
Lifting and inspiring others to achieve their dreams as well.
“I like to play for the other kids with disabilities that can’t do much. For me, I see kids with worse disabilities than mine, and I always feel like I need to show the world that not only can kids with disabilities do stuff, but they can play high-impact sports like football or wrestling or whatever sport they want to do,” said John.
MINNEAPOLIS — There’s a new hi-tech way for visitors to learn about downtown Minneapolis.
City officials on Wednesday cut the ribbon on new kiosks called “IKE.” They’re loaded with information so users can search for restaurants, small businesses, bathrooms and events in the area.
Unlike using a major search engine like Google, this is all tailored for Minneapolis.
“Each kiosk is going to organize based on proximity. So unlike traditional search engines that you might work with, you can’t pay for optimization. So when you select eat and drink here, the businesses in the immediate proximity end up being featured. And we hope that this functions as a way to help people discover those businesses that make Minneapolis truly unique,” said Jibran Shermohammed of IKE Smart City.
Five kiosks are live now, including one on Nicollet Mall and 20 will go live will go live by spring next year.
More than 100,000 travelers will fly out of MSP Wednesday and Thursday, but thousands more are planning a ‘staycation’ over MEA break.
LAKEVILLE, Minn. — At MSP airport, officials say Wednesday and Thursday will be the two busiest days for departures during MEA break this year. More than 49,000 travelers are expected to fly out of MSP on Wednesday, and more than 52,000 are expected to depart on Thursday. Airport officials say Thursday could become the 5th busiest travel day ever.
Meanwhile, countless families in Minnesota are planning “staycations” closer to home. At Applewood Orchard in Lakeville, workers are preparing for a busy week.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing the turnout,” employee Jackson Cox said. “If the turnout is a little lower than we think it’s always better to be prepared for more.”
The Cox family recently acquired the apple orchard, so this will be their first time hosting visitors during an MEA break.
“We’re pretty much extending all of our weekend activities to every day this week. We’re selling mini donuts, tractor rides, and more food, because we are hoping a lot of people will stop by,” Cox said.
One visitor who stopped by Wednesday was Natasha Apple from Apple Valley. That’s right, the word apple is in her name, the city she lives in, and the place she visited Wednesday afternoon.
“You really can’t make that up,” Apple laughed. “Me and my husband get it all the time. We’re the Apples and we live in Apple Valley, and we love apple orchards.”
Apple was visiting the orchard with a mom’s group from Apple Valley.
“There are eight of us here I believe,” Apple said. “It’s still stinking beautiful out so we are taking full advantage of the weather.”
And they weren’t alone at the orchard. Jenny Yohnke from Lakeville stopped by the orchard with her three boys.
“With three boys they have a lot of energy, so I brought them to the corn pit to have some fun,” Yohnke said.
She has big plans for the rest of MEA break.
“We’re heading out to the zoo tomorrow and then we have some friends with school kids, my friend from work coming to visit on Friday. We have a busy week of fun,” Yohnke said.
Other parents at the orchard said they are planning to stop by a pumpkin patch later in the week to buy their Halloween pumpkins.
Another common “staycation” idea was to enjoy a nature hike to see the fall colors, or to go to the movie theater to see a movie, or stop by the local library.
So, if you’re looking for a fun and affordable activity to get your family out of the house there are several options to choose from.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings