Met Council pushes rewind on Northstar fares

Article by: Star Tribune
Updated: September 25, 2008 - 9:45 PM

Regional transportation officials scrap three public hearings on Northstar rail line rates.

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Saying that the proposed fares for the Northstar rail line are too low, regional transit officials have scrapped three public hearings set for next month on the rates.

Instead, at its meeting Wednesday, the Metropolitan Council directed staff members to reopen discussions with the Northstar Corridor Development Authority and others to reexamine the fares, which initially ranged between $7.50 and $3.25 in cash depending on the length of the trip along the 40-mile corridor between Big Lake and downtown Minneapolis.

Council members said they believe customers should pay more of the line's annual operating cost. At the prices initially proposed, fares would cover 18 to 24 percent of projected operating costs in 2010, the Northstar line's first full year of service. For other bus and train service in the Twin Cities region, customers pay about 35 percent.

This summer a joint committee with representatives from Anoka, Hennepin and Sherburne counties, the authority and Metro Transit studied fare options and proposed these weekday one-way fares to or from downtown Minneapolis: Big Lake $7.50; Elk River $5.50; Anoka $4; Coon Rapids $4 and Fridley $3.25. For a rider not traveling to downtown, the proposed fare was $3.25 between any two stations.

Once new proposed fares are developed, the public hearings will be rescheduled.

PAUL WALSH