Popular Minneapolis Bus Route to Get Big Upgrade

The Twin Cities are in the process of adding bus rapid transit, starting with the A Line in St. Paul, which opened in June 2016 and has since outperformed ridership projections. "Now comes BRT No. 2 — its construction, at least. A ceremonial groundbreaking Tuesday will kick off building of the C Line, which, once completed, will begin at the Brooklyn Center Transit Center and travel down Brooklyn Boulevard, Penn Avenue and Olson Memorial Highway before terminating at Hennepin Healthcare (formerly HCMC)," Peter Callaghan writes. The C Line will increase frequency and speed up trips with suite of improvements.

"The C Line has a $37 million budget and includes the construction of stations and purchase of new buses, including eight electric buses, purchased with a federal grant," Callaghan writes. But, more buses are just part of the plan—these buses should also move more quickly, with bump outs buses won't have to pull in and out of traffic. "Roth said the agency estimates that travel times on the C Line will be 20-25 percent faster than on the current bus line. Faster boarding helps. BRT buses permit exiting and boarding from all doors because tickets are purchased at the station, similar to light rail ticketing," Callaghan reports.

Besides spending less time at stops, buses should spend less time at red lights. "And the buses are equipped with automated signal priority systems that communicate with traffic light controls and might either keep a green light shining longer or get a red to change sooner than it might otherwise," Callaghan reports.