To say these are good days for Metro Transit is probably an understatement. The region's largest public transportation agency is enjoying booming ridership, having provided 87.5 million rides last year, the highest in 30 years.
Last year marked the 10th time in 11 years Metro Transit has recorded a ridership increase, something the agency had not achieved since Woodrow Wilson became president in 1916.
In just a decade, passengers boarded the Metro Blue Line for 100 million rides. In just two years, the Metro Green Line has surpassed ridership projections for the year 2030. The new A-line bus rapid transit service along Snelling Avenue has seen ridership grow by one-third. And 13,700 people took trains to U.S. Bank Stadium for a soccer game, the most since Metro Transit began special-events service to concerts and Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Twins and Golden Gophers games.
Metro Transit has installed new shelters and signs at bus stops, launched trip planning tools, added bus service, introduced new ways to pay fares, expanded its police force and beefed up training for operators. Its mechanics have kept buses out of the shop and out on the streets. And it's improved its financial position by turning to solar energy and deploying hybrid buses to cut costs.
The efforts have not gone unnoticed. Last week, the American Public Transportation Association named Metro Transit its system of the year.
"You don't improve a system in one year. You've been doing this for many years and now you've now reached a level that is highly recognized among your peers," APTA Awards chairman and National Transit Director Paul Skoutelas said during the announcement outside St. Paul's Union Depot. "Today you have built an extraordinary system of intermodal services of light rail, commuter rail, the bus system of course, and integrated that flawlessly. To bring all the lines and systems together … is no small feat. We are people serving people and how well we do our job is how well they receive our services. You get an A-plus for that."
Metro Transit has been waiting 140 years for this award, and it plans to live it up. Logos proclaiming it the "2016 Transit System of the Year" will be affixed on all buses and trains. And it will throw a big party Sept. 24 to honor its 3,200 employees, past employees and all those who take rides on its buses and trains. Transit-themed festivities will take place on the Target Field Station plaza before the 6 p.m. Twins-Mariners game.
Metro Transit still has work to do. General Manager Brian Lamb says the agency will try to keep the good times rolling. "We'll all try to do a bit better tomorrow than we did today," he said.
