Met Council bets on transit, housing

Metropolitan Council chair Susan Haigh on Wednesday announced the first major regional housing plan by the agency in decades.

Citing a need for more lower-income housing to deal with changing demographics in the Twin Cities, Haigh said the agency would begin by spending $32 million to preserve homes and spur growth along transit lines. The funds will come from a program not fully used during the economic downturn, Haigh said.

How much of the money will go for low- and moderate-income housing and how much for other residences wasn't immediately clear.

She said the housing initiative is needed to deal with the growing number of senior citizens and minority members in the Twin Cities. U.S. census trends forecast slower population growth with smaller households and more seniors, and that 45 percent of residents of the region will be racial minorities by 2040, she said.

"That's a dramatic shift for us," she said. "Our region has to embrace this rapidly growing diversity. ... It's not just the right thing to do, it's a smart business decision."

Haigh outlined the agency's new focus during her "state of the region" address at an annual meeting with local and state officials and business leaders. She acknowledged her dual interests as the chair of the Met Council and the head of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, which builds low-income housing.

"I'm 100 percent committed to developing affordable housing in our region," she said. "In virtually every community in our region, we need more."

Haigh applauded the transit under construction in the Twin Cities and promoted plans for the Southwest Corridor light-rail line between Eden Prairie and Minneapolis.

Her speech came as Metro Transit officials released an annual report for 2011 showing gains in ridership.

Highlights of that report include:

• Overall transit ridership rose by 2.7 million in 2011 to 80.9 million. Urban bus routes provided 72 percent of all rides, suburban and express service 14 percent, the Hiawatha light-rail line 13 percent and the Northstar commuter line 1 percent.

• Bus ridership was up across the board: Urban bus rides increased by nearly 4 percent, or 2.2 million. Freeway express service rose by 479,000 rides, and suburban crosstown routes grew by 114,000 rides. Metro Transit General Manager Brian Lamb credited some of the increase to the electronic Go-To fare card and real-time departure information on the Web or smartphones that "make riding the bus more predictable."

• The Northstar line between downtown Minneapolis and Big Lake saw an increase of 7 percent in daily commuter ridership. But the 82-mile route, which opened in 2009, saw a 1 percent drop in overall rides, primarily because of a freight train derailment near Fridley that halted service for several days. Special event riders also dropped.