St. Paul ‘Arterial BRT’ Could Be Faster, Cost Less Than Streetcar

A new proposal for an ‘arterial bus rapid transit’ (aBRT) line that would connect downtown St. Paul with the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport could cost a billion dollars less than a proposed streetcar alternative, reports Janet Moore in the Star Tribune. “The so-called Riverview Corridor would join a growing stable of aBRT routes throughout the metro, a popular service that features heated and well-lit stations, payment-before-boarding, and 10-minute service during peak hours.”

This form of rapid transit would run in traffic but receive signal priority and include pre-paid fares, heated and well-lit stations, and 10-minute headways at rush hours. aBRT would use existing infrastructure, contributing to the project’s much lower cost. The county also estimates the streetcar would be roughly five minutes slower than aBRT. “The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is expected to pay about half of the cost of the streetcar project, with Ramsey and Hennepin counties paying the rest. The bus would be funded mostly with state and local money.”