The 11-mile, $957 million Green Line light rail rolled into its fourth full day of service on Tuesday, June 17 between downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul. Here’s eight takes from seven riders and a critic who has no plans of riding at all.
A 1-year-old St. Paulite takes in the light rail from the University Avenue patio of Cupcake in Minneapolis
THE FANS
Becky French, who travels from the Fairview station in St. Paul’s Midway, no longer has to take the bus to get to work in downtown St. Paul.
“I thought it was really convenient, and it seemed a little bit faster. The stations are bigger, and have awnings, and my bus stop didn’t,” said French on Monday. “I am very much a happy customer thus far. And all the places I wanted to go, they happen to have a station there, so that’s good for me.”
Geri Steele of St. Paul used to travel everywhere by bicycle, but has to take the light rail to classes in the Midway until her knee heals from surgery. “I like it,” she said Monday. “It’s better than the bus. I know it’s going to get crowded, but it’s faster.”
Nate Roisen used to travel to downtown St. Paul from the University of Minnesota, and the long lines to board the bus at the U struck him as a time drain.
He noticed that the disabled didn’t have it easy, either. On buses, passengers in wheelchairs use a lift operated by the bus driver, who has to leave his seat, ask riders to relocate from their own seats, and then belt the wheelchair into place.
Now, a passenger with a wheelchair, walker, stroller, bicycle or small cart can board the light rail car from a level platform without help, saving time and face for all involved. “It’s a much better experience, I’m sure, for the disabled,” Roisen said.
MIXED BAG
R.J. Duff, who lives near Roseville, enjoyed the comfort and “new car smell” of the light rail vehicles but not the added 14 minutes to his daily commute. He’s among those riders who now have to transfer from a limited-stop or suburban bus route to the light rail to get to downtown St. Paul.
For him, that adds seven minutes in each direction. The Route 65 bus from Roseville no longer stops downtown.
THE CRITICS
Jeff Battey, who has ridden public transit around the world, wrote to Metro Transit on Saturday to say he was disappointed with his overall experience on the Green Line. His chief complaint centered on the station maps, which he noticed are not located inside the covered parts of the stations.
Inside the vehicles, the electronic signage displaying station stops was too small for his liking, he said, and the seats lacked sufficient padding for his taste.
Battey wryly noted that the stations are mostly lined with leaning posts instead of benches, allowing riders to lean against them but not sit down. The “anti-homeless devices” probably won’t deter anyone from sleeping on the platform, he said, but they will make it harder for passengers to have a comfortable wait.
On social media, Twitter users sized up the Green Line without apology. The rides were free on Saturday and Sunday, but some critics were quick to note that construction wasn’t. The $957 million project carries an annual operating budget in the range of $35 million.
Darcy Zimbrick @ZimbrickComm · Jun 16
It was terrific to see all the small markets & biz’s via #metrogreenline yesterday… & so clean! #pride in neighborhoods.Brian @brians__tweets: · Jun 16
NOT FREE – ALOT of tax dollars paid for that money pit service a very small group of people. #wasteofmoneyMaria Vondrachek @vondrachek: · Jun 16
#free is the only way the green line will stay filled.#costover1billion #wasteoftax$
Transferring between transit options may add a few minutes to a commute, but Pam Guthrie is more worried about the impact on her personal relationships.
For 15 years or more, Guthrie rode the limited-stop Route 144 bus up Snelling Avenue and along Interstate 94 to the University of Minnesota. Over the years, she made close acquaintance with fellow riders from throughout St. Paul’s Mac-Groveland neighborhood. The route was discontinued on June 13.
“I found most of my best friends on that bus,” Guthrie said, via text message.
Metro Transit officials say departures on a local bus route that services Snelling Avenue and the light rail — the Route 84 — have been increased. A new Bus Rapid Transit service along Snelling, the ‘A’-Line, will debut in 2015.
After riding the light rail to downtown St. Paul on Monday, Mirian Simpson of Brooklyn Park swore she wouldn’t do it again on a workday, at least not unless an express service is introduced. “It was too slow this morning,” she said Monday. “No, it’s not good. I get up early enough as it is.”
Some critics have no interest in a test ride. “I think these things are oversold,” said 84-year-old Bob Merck of St. Cloud, who has no plans to ride the Green Line, ever.
Merck points out the inconsistency of connecting the two cities and then downplaying the 48-minute-or-more travel time between them. “They say it connects downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul, but when they said how long it takes, they said, ‘well, nobody goes from downtown Minneapolis to downtown St. Paul.’ You can’t have it both ways.”