Metro Transit (Minnesota)
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| Slogan | Hop On |
|---|---|
| Parent | Metropolitan Council |
| Founded | 1967 |
| Headquarters | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Locale | Minneapolis – Saint Paul |
| Service type |
Transit bus Bus rapid transit Light rail Commuter rail Paratransit |
| Routes | 132 bus 1 bus rapid transit 2 light rail 1 commuter rail |
| Fleet | 547 diesel buses 132 hybrid-electric buses 57 coach buses 169 Articulated buses 86 light rail vehicles 6 locomotives 18 rail coaches |
| Daily ridership | 286,300 (Q3 2014) |
| General Manager | Brian Lamb |
| Website | http://www.metrotransit.org/ |
Metro Transit is the primary public transportation operator in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest operator in the state. The system is a division of the Metropolitan Council, the region’s metropolitan planning organization (MPO), averaging 267,700 riders each weekday, carrying 90% to 95% of the transit riders in the region on a combined network of regular-route buses, light rail and commuter rail. The remainder of transit ridership is generally split among suburban “opt-out” carriers operating out of cities that have chosen not to participate in the Metro Transit network. The biggest opt-out providers are Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA), Maple Grove Transit and Southwest Transit (SW Transit). The University of Minnesota also operates a campus shuttle system of its own, which ranks second in the state, measured by ridership.
In 2011, buses carried over 86% of the system’s passengers. Nearly 13% of ridership was concentrated on Metro Transit’s busiest route, the Blue Line light rail and the remainder rode the Northstar commuter rail service. In 2014, Metro Transit saw its highest ridership in three decades with a total of 84.5 million trips, including 6.5 million on the newly opened Green Line. The single-day ridership record is 369,626, set on September 1, 2016.
Metro Transit drivers and vehicle maintenance personnel are organized through the Amalgamated Transit Union.
The agency was established by the Minnesota State Legislature in 1967 as the Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC). MTC’s operations were moved under the auspices of the Metropolitan Council in 1994, prompting a name change to “Metropolitan Council Transit Operations” and then, in 1998, to Metro Transit. The organization traces its history back to the 19th-century streetcar systems of the region through the acquisition in 1970 of the Twin City Lines bus system from businessman Carl Pohlad. At the time of the acquisition, Twin City Lines had 635 buses: 75% of those were over 15 years old and 86 buses were so old that they were banned from operating in Minneapolis. MTC acquired 465 new buses over the next five years and built many new bus shelters.
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