the line was cut off at the knee caps before it was built.
It was suppose to go to Saint Cloud.
It also was never built to be profitable, services usually are not, Never asked the city here in coon rapids if our 48 parks are profitable.
Or many of the other services provided around the state
Oh fun, mass transit whine time on IDO!
These projects were not all created equal. The original blue line was pretty successful at one time. I know it made a huge difference in my life when I was younger. When I had my first job downtown in 2005 I was making peanuts, we had one vehicle and the wife was using it to drive to Shoreview every day. LRT saved me at least 30 minutes per trip compared to the bus options and my monthly pass was a fraction of the cost of parking downtown. At that time they had metro transit cops checking tickets and passes every single day. Trains were packed during the commute hours.
Early days of the green line I had decent experiences as well. My sons girlfriend rides every day from union depot to UMN and yet you grown men are too traumatized by the crime?
[/
Cmon man…you know there are issues so don’t take cheap shots. You’ve had your own documented run ins you posted about on this site on the river. You should understand the crime issues in the cities as well as I do.
The crime on the light rail from 2020-2023 was out of control and that is well documented. Metro transit had to significantly increase officers. There were multiple shootings on both the green and blue line.
Crime has gotten better in 2024 as the amount of officers increased. I’m glad your son’s girlfriend feels safe on the light rail…maybe that means the crime issues have abated.
I’ve occasionally use the light rail from Mpls to the airport or vice versa for 16 years, except during the peak of the pandemic. I’ve been using it again more frequently, mostly during normal business hours. The increase in transit cops is very noticeable both on the trains themselves and at stations. The last time I used it I saw almost as many transit cops as riders.
Lake Street is probably the worst spot for crime. There were 8 transit cops there. I counted.
Are there people riding it and not paying? Absolutely. I see people get on at one stop and get off at the next one. Probably a lot of non payers doing exactly that.
It’s $1.25 one way from Mpls to the airport. Much quicker to use it during peak rush hour too than sit in traffic.
I can’t comment on the crime during non business hours. At night time I’m sure it’s worse. I’ve never felt unsafe on it even though there’s some sketchy characters present at times. I’m sure others might disagree depending on other factors.
Matt, I’m not saying there isn’t crime. There’s crime. My own brush with one wackjob hasn’t changed the way I live. After a couple of weeks I pretty much went back to my normal routines because the criminals and drugged out crazies are the exception not the rule.
If folks don’t feel safe they should make their own decisions. my comment about my son’s 18yo girlfriend is just her reality with a little bit of poking the bear. Cheap shots are pretty common around here and this one was fairly light-hearted.
Matt, I’m not saying there isn’t crime. There’s crime. My own brush with one wackjob hasn’t changed the way I live. After a couple of weeks I pretty much went back to my normal routines because the criminals and drugged out crazies are the exception not the rule.
If folks don’t feel safe they should make their own decisions. my comment about my son’s 18yo girlfriend is just her reality with a little bit of poking the bear. Cheap shots are pretty common around here and this one was fairly light-hearted.
Maybe I had my sensitive meter too high yesterday…
I think the fact the Blue Line and Northstar at one point in time had much higher ridership, is even more evidence to be totally done with rail. As those lines show where people live/work/recreate changes, and rail, quite obviously, cannot change. Run buses down all of them and it’d be a far better system. Instead of thousands of people waiting on a few trains after a full stadium event, there could be a hundred or more buses. Or no one commuting into the city at 7 am, pretty easy to adjust a bus schedule or volume.
I never had a problem with the crime. Its been awhile since I rode the light rail in the cities but the only problems I had then was people trying to sell me CDs and they were original music and not even bootlegs. Cops got on at any stop that people who looked suspect were also getting on. But the subsidization of a rail system with state dollars by an unelected commission is pretty scary. And they do it alot. Your savings can be at least partially attributed to the taxes collected on roadside cow and rock stands from people who have no input and no choice but to pay.
AMEN – that’s to the point – another un needed project to get elected upon
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
