Minnesota's future: A metropolitan transit philosophy for the 21st century

Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes a mix of national and local commentaries online and in print each day. (To contribute, click here.) This article is a response to Star Tribune Opinion's June 4 call for submissions on the question: "Where does Minnesota go from here?" Read the full collection of responses here.

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This session's public transit legislation brings to mind the story about the airline pilot who proudly announced to the passengers that the flight was enjoying a 200-mph tailwind; the second piece of news was that they were lost.

Legislators can be proud of this session's accomplishments; but until they get their bearings and determine what a 21st-century transit system should look like, they will be going nowhere fast.

There are a lot of people eager for those bearings to be announced. First in line are the potential passengers, those who can't drive, shouldn't drive or who would prefer not to drive. All three are large groups, far bigger than what you may count today. This is because our downtown-centered hub-and-spoke transit system is a hundred years out of date. Most people — more than 90% — simply don't go downtown.

Over the last 70 years we have built a metropolitan area with dozens of "downtowns" and orders of magnitude more of health service, educational, sports, entertainment, public service, religious, governmental, business, food service, commercial, parks and recreation, retail, factories and many other destinations that people want to get to throughout the urban service area. You can drive to them in a reasonable amount of time, but don't try to reach them by public transit without a tent, a compass and three days of food. These days, there is a lot of talk of transit justice, but the real issue is transit injustice: "You can't get there from here."

With a 21st-century transit system, you should be able to "get there from here" in a reasonable amount of time, because it would be built for the region and not just the two downtowns. It will comprise networks of autonomous vehicles, ride-share, buses, bus rapid transit and light-rail transit operated together as a system. Implemented intelligently, it will provide the frequent, fast and scalable service that will be a pleasure to ride, wherever you are in the urban service area. The two main downtowns will always be part of this system, just not the object of the system.

A regional system requires regional planning, development and operation; this is what assures both responsibility and accountability. Given the right mandate and assigning both responsibility and accountability to the Met Council will get it done right — from the start, because there is no one else to point fingers at. The pieces will fit together the first time. The Met Council is the only agency with the regional perspective over many urban subjects and 50 years' experience implementing regional solutions.

The legislative mandate must also clarify that a 21st-century transit system ride is door-to-door and not station-to-station or bus stop to bus stop. Riders have to get safely from their door to transit and from the last transit segment to the door of their destination. This must be implemented by the units of government that are already responsible for planning, zoning, street crossings and sidewalks — the individual cities; no other entity is as well-equipped as our cities to do this.

The legislative mandate must require ongoing opportunities for the public to provide input and receive thoughtful and honest answers from the folks working on the system, both local and regional.

Finally, it should go without saying that passenger and staff safety must never be compromised. We need clearly defined transit safety areas demarcated by fare zones with an appropriate code of conduct, visible safety officials and meaningful penalties. There may come a time when an honor system can be implemented, but not now.

One thing we know about the 21st century is that competition between metropolitan areas will be intense and we have to win that competition. It will require real investment in real public services that make life in winter and summer appealing. We are already a quarter-century into the 21st. There's a lot to do; let's get busy.