Will more riders use expanded bus service?

On a dark, frigid Wednesday morning, a couple dozen folks filed through a bus shelter at the 95th Avenue park-and-ride lot in Blaine. They climbed aboard a tandem bus marked "250 Express," as more commuters jogged across the lot. With a sigh, the bus rolled off to join traffic whooshing south on Interstate 35W, and more commuters entered the shelter.

Construction bids are due Friday for a 513-space, $10.5 million parking ramp that Metro Transit plans to build on an adjoining site north of the park-and-ride, increasing its capacity to about 1,500.

These days, the 95th Avenue park-and-ride doesn't quite fill up; on a recent post-rush hour visit, the southern quarter was relatively empty. That's partly because usage went down when a Forest Lake lot, served by the Route 288 express, came online in January.

But the hope is that with the increased service that will come with increased capacity, more commuters will forsake their cars to opt for the convenience of mass transit. The three-level ramp is meant to accommodate growth in Blaine and beyond until 2030, said Craig Lamothe, Metro Transit manager for facilities planning. The footings are meant to be strong enough to allow expansion of at least one more level.

Donna LeClair, waiting to catch the 7:08 bus, said she was concerned whether Metro Transit will be able to handle increased demand.

"If they want more people, that's great, but sometimes there's a line going halfway down this block," she said. "It's great to see the ridership, but they've got to keep up."

The ramp is only one of 11 Met Council projects made possible by a $133 million Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) grant. The UPA is a federal billion-dollar initiative to reduce traffic congestion on urban thoroughfares. Twin Cities projects include park-and-ride additions and improvements, HOV lanes and a fleet of 27 new buses.

Transit use was up to 77 million rides in 2007, the highest in a quarter-century. The system is on pace to reach 82 million rides this year, said Metro Transit spokesman Bob Gibbons. That's even with a 25 cent fare increase that also took effect in October.

"People do have an appetite for public transportation," he said. "Some of that is stimulated by higher fuel costs, and a lot by traffic congestion. ... We're in motion at all times, when traffic is not."

Funding fell in place

The ramp project has been in the pipeline for about five years, Lamothe said. A series of events recently came together to get the ball rolling: Federal funds became available in August 2007; the state's $50 million match for the whole UPA list came in May and the property became available in September. All of the UPA projects -- including the ramp -- must be completed by the end of next year.

The city of Blaine has reviewed the plans, and has been involved in issuing building permits and acting as a liaison with the Rice Creek Watershed District to set up a conservation easement to deal with wetlands on the property.

For their part, the city hopes that the ramp and increased service will bring more opportunities such as those offered at nearby Medtronic and Wells Fargo offices in Mounds View and Blaine, respectively; folks do a "reverse commute" to those office buildings from downtown via Route 250. There also are plans to build a walking/biking path connecting the transit center to Parametric Technology's new offices, recently opened about a mile away.

Commuters Wednesday didn't have strong feelings about the new addition. None of those interviewed waiting for three different buses around 7 a.m. said they'd ever had trouble finding a parking spot.

Nicole Moeller, of Blaine, has been taking the bus for the 14-mile trip to downtown for two years. Her main concern is about disruption. The ramp is a fine idea, "as long as I can still park when they're doing construction," she said.

Others said they were concerned about the logistics once the ramp is built. Doug Hordyk, of Circle Pines, has been taking the bus to Minneapolis City Hall for about 10 years.

"I'd rather be on a flat lot, but I could see being out of the weather in the winter," he said.