You've heard about the Metropolitan Council's "MUSA line" that supposedly limits how far out sanitary sewer service will extend in the Twin Cities, specifically the 7 county area. MUSA actually stands for "Metropolitan Urban Service Area" which applies to more than sewers, like major highways. Many cities and legislators view this as 1960's Urban Planning, now known as Smart Growth, designed to choke off development beyond some supposed limits that are good for all of us.
One word does not appear in the referenced document: transit. There apparently is no limit here, as evidenced by the Northstar Line that extends into Sherburne County. All transit is good, you understand.
When I drove up 35W to pick up The Late Debate with Jack and Ben last weekend I chanced to see the 95th Avenue Park and Ride. Unless someone knows of a bigger, better one, this is easily the Taj Mahal of such structures. They even have an electronic sign along the freeway estimating car vs bus times.
I dropped by yesterday to see hundreds of cars there, maybe just over half of its open and ramp capacity. They run about 26 morning runs, mostly to downtown Minneapolis, with a few to downtown St. Paul and the University of Minnesota. The last bus leaves before 9 AM other than 4 afternoon rush hour runs. It sits idle all weekend. To handle that crushing load of about 150 departures per week they even paved a little private bypass lane into the I-35W entrance ramp.
And it should have never built. We need a "Metropolitan Transit Service Area" or MTSA. Like MUSA, it would "get the most out of existing infrastructure and create efficiencies that save taxpayer dollars." We might disagree where this line is, like the 494/694 beltline as a starter, but it's hard to imagine this site being within it.
If you watch the rush hour traffic on I-35W you also cannot imagine that two dozen buses over 4 hours make any difference at all as regards congestion - or the environment. No, all that's going on here is that a few hundred commuters are saving gas and parking expenses. Which is fine, but let a private contractor handle it if the volume warrants. This works at the airport, where we have several private park and fly lots that shuttle passengers to the terminals. Why not here? It's not too late, even now. Auction it off!
The Republican budget the Governor vetoed is a bit heavy handed as regards transit, but I see better now what they had in mind. There is a difference between public transit that serves the working rich and mass transit that serves the working poor. The Metropolitan Council should be funded accordingly.
