How is Metro Transit changing the way people travel across the Twin Cities, and what can riders expect in 2027? Adam Harrington, Director of Service Development at Metro Transit, joins us to answer those questions and explore the future of public transportation across Minneapolis, St. Paul and the surrounding region.
Adam explains how the network has evolved, why the METRO Blue Line connection to Mall of America matters and how first-time riders can plan a trip and use Go-To Pay. We also look ahead to the METRO Green Line Extension, the Gold Line extension to Minneapolis and other improvements expected in 2027.
Plus, get a preview of Metro Transit at the Mall, a free, hands-on event September 19 in the Huntington Bank Rotunda at Mall of America. Guests can explore transit careers, sit in a bus driver’s seat, meet Skip Traffic and enjoy a Metro Transit Police K9 showcase.
0:55 — Meet Metro Transit: More Than Just a Ride
5:22 — Metro vs. Metro Transit: What’s the Difference?
11:02 — Making Transit Safer for Everyone
12:45 — Meet the People Helping Riders Along the Way
14:05 — How Metro Transit Keeps the Twin Cities Moving
18:08 — What’s Next for Metro Transit?
20:38 — Metro Transit Comes to Mall of America
Visit: https://www.metrotransit.org/
Visit: https://www.mallofamerica.com/events/view/38014
Guests: Adam Harrington, Director of Service Development at Metro Transit
Hosts: Daniel Jasper
Presented by Bloomington Minnesota Travel and Tourism the official destination marketing organization for the city of Bloomington, Minn.
00:00 --> 00:04 Mall of America. It's home to world-class shopping, great dining,
00:04 --> 00:08 and amazing attractions and events. And these are our stories presented
00:08 --> 00:12 by Bloomington, Minnesota Travel and Tourism. Welcome to this episode
00:12 --> 00:16 of So Much More. I am your host, Dan Jasper. I'm excited because
00:16 --> 00:20 today we are going to address that age-old issue. It goes
00:20 --> 00:24 all the way back to Fred Flintstone— how to get efficiently and effectively
00:24 --> 00:28 from point A to point B. We're going to talk transportation today.
00:29 --> 00:32 And we're talking all things Metro Transit with Adam
00:32 --> 00:36 Harrington. Adam is the Director of Service Development at Metro
00:36 --> 00:40 Transit. We're gonna break down the Metro system, the difference between Metro Transit
00:40 --> 00:44 and Metro, GoToPay, what's changing in 2027,
00:44 --> 00:47 and what the exciting expansions ahead. Adam,
00:47 --> 00:50 welcome to the show. It's good to have you here. Yeah, thank you, Dan.
00:50 --> 00:53 Thanks for having me. Yeah, we had a chance to connect a little bit yesterday.
00:53 --> 00:56 I'm excited to hear about everything First of all,
00:57 --> 01:00 Metro Transit, I think we all have this generic idea
01:00 --> 01:03 of what it is. Give me a brief understanding of what Metro Transit is
01:03 --> 01:07 and how it impacts the community. Sure. So Metro Transit provides
01:07 --> 01:11 transit service, fixed route transit on buses and trains throughout the 7-county
01:12 --> 01:15 metro area in 66 communities. So we operate
01:16 --> 01:20 101 routes, including 8 BRT lines and 2 light
01:21 --> 01:25 rail transit lines. And On those lines, the BRT and LRT,
01:25 --> 01:28 they carry about 40% of our ridership in the entire system.
01:28 --> 01:32 So it's a real focus for our service, but it connects into
01:32 --> 01:36 the whole network across those 66 communities, and it
01:36 --> 01:39 takes about 8 bus stops to access all those
01:39 --> 01:43 locations across the Metro. So we have a really big footprint. We work with
01:43 --> 01:46 other transit providers in the region as well that also provide service.
01:46 --> 01:50 So it's a big service area, and we have a lot of partnerships
01:50 --> 01:54 to make it all happen. So using transit to connect the greater
01:54 --> 01:57 metro. Right. Right. And working with our partners as well. Exactly.
01:57 --> 02:01 I got to ask you, because I've been at Mall of America for a long
02:01 --> 02:05 time, and you've actually been at Metro Transit longer
02:05 --> 02:09 than I've been here. Tell me about your career path, how you got started,
02:09 --> 02:12 some of the different roles, and what you do now day to day.
02:12 --> 02:16 Sure. I started back in the '90s as
02:16 --> 02:19 a transit planner. And over time, I was able
02:19 --> 02:23 to take on new projects here and there and take on larger projects
02:24 --> 02:27 and manage the department and ultimately direct the division that I'm in.
02:28 --> 02:32 And what we do in service development is we plan and schedule
02:32 --> 02:36 all of the service of those 101 routes. So that includes
02:36 --> 02:39 what time, the timetable that goes into it, how many buses
02:40 --> 02:43 it takes to deliver that service, how many operators does it take to deliver that
02:43 --> 02:47 service. So it's a lot of the day-to-day and quarter-to-quarter
02:47 --> 02:51 adjustments with our workforce. We've got about almost 1
02:51 --> 02:54 bus operators to deliver all that service between bus
02:55 --> 02:58 and rail. And right now, we're in the phase
02:59 --> 03:02 of planning our next big investments in 2027
03:03 --> 03:06 as well. So we kind of manage things every quarter and every week and every
03:07 --> 03:11 day, but we're also planning for the future. Wonderful. And we're going to get back
03:11 --> 03:14 to kind of 2027 a little bit later because I understand there's some exciting
03:14 --> 03:18 things coming, There are. Which I can't wait to hear. And I think our listeners
03:18 --> 03:22 will really enjoy hearing that as well. You talked— how many operators
03:22 --> 03:26 do you have? We're roughly between 1 and 1.
03:26 --> 03:30 That's a lot of people. Right. Now, beyond that, you also have people that work
03:30 --> 03:33 on the lines and engineers and people in the offices. Right. How many people does
03:33 --> 03:37 Metro Transit employ roughly? 3 people. Wow.
03:37 --> 03:40 So that seems like a big number compared to operators, but we have a
03:41 --> 03:44 lot of things to maintain— systems, stops, stations,
03:44 --> 03:47 buses, trains. Facilities, a lot of work goes
03:47 --> 03:51 into both supporting that as well as communicating what we're
03:52 --> 03:55 doing. Absolutely. It's so funny when we do events here at Mall of America,
03:55 --> 03:58 and we're going to talk about a special event coming up this coming Saturday as
03:58 --> 04:02 well on the 19th. But when we do events, people think
04:02 --> 04:05 they just happen. They don't just happen. There's a whole team
04:06 --> 04:09 of people, right? And that's what you're talking about as well. I know that
04:10 --> 04:14 occasionally, and I think it happened this spring again, where the light rail line
04:14 --> 04:17 between the airport and the mall gets shut down because they're doing service. They have
04:17 --> 04:21 to fix the routers, and the rails, and stuff. It's maintenance that has to be
04:21 --> 04:25 done. And then you do a bus bridge on those routes. I mean, that takes
04:25 --> 04:28 a lot of people to organize that and to do the work. Yeah, that's a
04:29 --> 04:33 very big undertaking. And of course, a lot of customers are seeing that.
04:33 --> 04:37 It's highly visible when the Blue Line is shut down. This year, we had
04:37 --> 04:40 one of the biggest shutdowns we've had in order to maintain the service. Now,
04:40 --> 04:43 remember, back in 2000 is when it opened. So this
04:44 --> 04:46 line is 26 years old. We want to make sure we can maintain it and
04:47 --> 04:50 extend its longevity and make sure we're providing that reliable service.
04:51 --> 04:54 And I found it incredible when I spoke with you earlier that you said you've
04:54 --> 04:57 been to, I think, all of the light rail stop openings
04:58 --> 05:01 and the expansions and everything, right? Right. They happened to correspond with the
05:01 --> 05:05 birth of our 2 sons each one of those times. So— I love
05:05 --> 05:09 it. It was a fun event both in August 2000 and in June
05:09 --> 05:12 2020, 2004. I love it. Yeah.
05:13 --> 05:16 And in 2004, what opened then? Green Line. Yep.
05:16 --> 05:19 I love that. Yeah. So I have to ask,
05:20 --> 05:23 it takes a lot of people to operate this system, but you've talked a little
05:23 --> 05:26 bit about Metro and Metro Transit,
05:26 --> 05:29 and I'm not clear on what that difference is. Can you help me understand that
05:30 --> 05:33 a little better? Sure. Metro Transit is the overall agency and
05:33 --> 05:37 service that we provide. Metro is a brand within our service offering,
05:37 --> 05:40 and it really focuses on delivering higher quality
05:41 --> 05:45 service. So the bus rapid transit, BRTs, the light rail transit,
05:46 --> 05:50 LRT, and they're really designed to help move people fast
05:51 --> 05:54 and conveniently and safely. I mentioned earlier there's 8 bus stops
05:55 --> 05:59 and there's nearly 200 BRT stations, and that's really the front door to
05:59 --> 06:03 our service. So we try to make sure that for those high-volume routes
06:04 --> 06:07 that are Metro lines, that we can provide the best service we can. So that's
06:07 --> 06:11 where there's station platforms with shelters and lights and heat
06:11 --> 06:15 and ticket vending machines and security cameras and all those things that
06:15 --> 06:18 make it a nice, convenient, safe place to access our service around
06:19 --> 06:22 the region. The other element to it is the buses are a little bit different.
06:23 --> 06:27 They're designed to accommodate easy on and off. You pay your fare
06:27 --> 06:30 before you get on the bus, so it makes things faster. And the whole goal
06:31 --> 06:33 is to be fast and reliable with the service that we offer. And again,
06:34 --> 06:38 we're focusing on those high-volume, streets and corridors. And so that's
06:38 --> 06:42 how we end up providing 40% of our ridership on those routes. So when
06:42 --> 06:46 I'm driving up Cedar Avenue or 35W and I see those big—
06:46 --> 06:49 that's for BRT, correct? Bus Rapid Transit, correct? Yep.
06:50 --> 06:54 And that makes it easy. And they intersect with local buses as well.
06:54 --> 06:57 So if I need to get off and transfer. And then we all know what
06:57 --> 07:01 the light rail is because the State Fair was recently here and we
07:01 --> 07:04 all take light rail or buses and stuff, right? To make it easy. Yeah.
07:05 --> 07:08 I actually really enjoy taking light rail. I love it because
07:09 --> 07:12 I say the number one stop is at Mall of America.
07:12 --> 07:15 So it starts here and it ends in the other downtowns, but that's my
07:16 --> 07:19 perspective. But it makes it really easy, right? To hop on there and you can
07:19 --> 07:23 connect to the airports or connect downtown and connect
07:23 --> 07:27 to St. Paul as well. Yeah, it's one of our top destinations is the Mall
07:27 --> 07:31 of America. And as a transit center where there's 10 routes that connect to LRT
07:31 --> 07:35 at the Mall of America Transit Center really helps provide that access to other
07:35 --> 07:39 places. But Blue Line itself is really fantastic because it connects
07:39 --> 07:43 the mall and the airport and the destinations in between into downtown Minneapolis.
07:43 --> 07:47 And I know we're gonna talk about the expansion in
07:48 --> 07:50 a little bit here, but how did we come up with the name Blue and
07:50 --> 07:53 Green? How did that whole naming system work?
07:54 --> 07:57 Because the BRT is named after colors as well, correct?
07:57 --> 08:01 Well, it's a little bit complicated. Okay. So we've got colors
08:01 --> 08:04 for either the exclusive right-of-way. Okay.
08:05 --> 08:08 Like the rail. Yep. And for the highway BRTs or
08:09 --> 08:12 where we have exclusive right-of-way, like on 35W is the MnPASS lane,
08:12 --> 08:15 lanes, and we have the exclusive station access for buses only.
08:16 --> 08:20 For arterial bus rapid transit, those are the lettered lines. So those run
08:20 --> 08:25 on regular streets, and we have dedicated stations in various locations,
08:25 --> 08:29 but it doesn't have the same street right-of-way dedication that
08:29 --> 08:32 the color lines are. Okay. And,
08:32 --> 08:36 uh, for somebody— we have some people in the greater metro
08:36 --> 08:40 area that rely heavily on transit. I know a lot of workers
08:40 --> 08:43 at Mall of America, both on our team as well as our tenants,
08:44 --> 08:47 use— they rely on Metro Transit,
08:48 --> 08:51 whether that's local lines, local bus lines, or they're using LRT, whatever,
08:51 --> 08:55 to get to work. But a lot of people throughout the Twin Cities do
08:56 --> 08:58 as well. But for those who don't use it regularly,
09:00 --> 09:03 what's a couple of tips you could give them? And then where's the best place
09:04 --> 09:06 to get information? Do you have an app? Do you have a website? What's the
09:06 --> 09:09 best way to find out more? Right, so there's a couple ways to get information.
09:09 --> 09:13 I'll start there because our website, which is metrotransit.org,
09:13 --> 09:17 has all of this information. If you want to try riding or you're
09:17 --> 09:20 adept at wanting to figure out and navigate where you wanna go,
09:20 --> 09:23 downloading the Transit app is a really great resource.
09:24 --> 09:27 It's a map on your phone and it shows you when the real-time arrival of
09:27 --> 09:31 buses and trains are. It's a really good tool. So I would start there.
09:31 --> 09:34 Okay. To get information about it. There's also information about
09:35 --> 09:38 how to pay your fare using a GoTo Card or paying cash.
09:38 --> 09:42 And that can be done either on a regular bus or at a ticket
09:42 --> 09:45 vending machine at any one of those Metro lines. Again, the Metro lines
09:45 --> 09:49 is where those off-board fare payment processes
09:49 --> 09:53 are. Talk about the GoTo Pay Card, how that
09:53 --> 09:56 works, and can I load credits or dollars on
09:56 --> 09:59 my app or on my phone and use that when I go? Yeah,
09:59 --> 10:02 we're in the process of developing that right now. But right now we have a
10:03 --> 10:06 card called the GoTo Card that you can load value on. Okay. You can get
10:07 --> 10:10 them at a number of different retail locations that are listed on our website.
10:11 --> 10:14 There's several Cub Foods stores, for example, but also at our number
10:15 --> 10:19 of service facilities that Metro Transit has. And then you can add value either
10:19 --> 10:22 online or at a ticket vending machine at any one of those Metro
10:23 --> 10:27 stations that has a full-service ticket vending machine. And then if I, if I
10:27 --> 10:30 jump on transit, then do I tap it or something? You do. There's a little
10:30 --> 10:34 pad that you tap your GoToCard on, and then We
10:34 --> 10:38 have agents on all of our trains right now, and we're expanding into the bus
10:38 --> 10:42 rapid transit lines where they will check the fares all along the route on
10:43 --> 10:46 a random basis. By the way, for listeners, I know that you tap it on
10:46 --> 10:50 a little post. I've ridden LRT, but I'm asking that for you. But the
10:50 --> 10:53 agents on all the LRTs right now, I didn't know that. So if I'm on
10:53 --> 10:57 there and I've tapped my card, how do they check that I paid my fare?
10:57 --> 11:00 They have scanners that can scan. So they look at my card? Yep. Oh,
11:00 --> 11:04 awesome. Right. Okay. So let's say
11:04 --> 11:08 I'm from a suburb and I'm old, right? And intimidated by transit
11:08 --> 11:11 or going downtown or anything like that. Sometimes we have fears,
11:12 --> 11:15 right? Is it safe? Is it going to be clean?
11:15 --> 11:18 Right? All those things. I'm guessing you've heard that
11:19 --> 11:22 from some folks. Tell me about the process
11:23 --> 11:26 of riding either light rail, bus rapid transit, or regular buses
11:27 --> 11:30 and how you address those issues and what your perception is. Sure,
11:31 --> 11:35 yeah, there have been those perceptions and some realities as well. And so I
11:35 --> 11:39 would ask people to try us again because things have changed a lot
11:39 --> 11:43 in the last 3, 4 years. We have our own dedicated police force
11:44 --> 11:47 at Metro Transit. We have for more than 10 years, but we've really been able
11:47 --> 11:50 to expand and have a good presence on all of our vehicles and at
11:51 --> 11:54 stations as well. The Transit Ambassadors are
11:55 --> 11:58 also out on the line that can help people and navigate those situations.
11:58 --> 12:03 We've also made a big investment in maintaining our buses and our stations
12:03 --> 12:07 and bus stops. The cleanliness at them and maintaining whether there's vandalism
12:07 --> 12:11 or something on a shelter that's there, trying to get out there quickly to
12:11 --> 12:14 repair them and replace glass and things like that is noticeable.
12:14 --> 12:17 So I would encourage people to give it a try.
12:18 --> 12:22 Come to the mall, go to downtown. You'll be pleasantly surprised
12:22 --> 12:25 in downtown Minneapolis if you haven't been there in a couple years. It's very clean
12:25 --> 12:29 and nice. Easy to get to. So I would encourage people to just give it
12:29 --> 12:32 a try. Sometimes that fear of the unknown, right? We don't do it. And it's
12:32 --> 12:35 really, we need to experience it and try it for ourselves.
12:36 --> 12:39 As I said before, I actually enjoy light rail. I think
12:39 --> 12:42 it's really convenient. I like taking it. I've taken it to the airport several times
12:43 --> 12:47 from the mall, but also downtown. What I
12:47 --> 12:50 didn't know about the Ambassador Program, talk a little bit about that
12:50 --> 12:54 and how you utilize them to help guests. Right,
12:54 --> 12:58 so they're called trip agents, and we have these agents that ride on
12:58 --> 13:01 LRT primarily to really help both the enforcement of the
13:02 --> 13:06 fare payment system, which has really made a noticeable difference in terms of the security
13:06 --> 13:09 environment on the trains, but also to be able to notify maintenance if
13:10 --> 13:14 there's problems on the vehicle or at stations so that those can be addressed right
13:14 --> 13:18 away. And just having that additional presence that's not an officer
13:18 --> 13:22 is really helpful to give people the confidence they need to know that they're
13:22 --> 13:26 gonna be safe It'll be a reliable service. Sometimes an officer
13:27 --> 13:30 in uniform can be intimidating, right? It also gives some comfort. We deal
13:30 --> 13:33 with this at Mall of America as well. We have a— and in fact,
13:33 --> 13:37 we partner with Metro Transit Police. You guys have a station
13:37 --> 13:39 here as well at Mall of America.
13:40 --> 13:43 But I love the idea of having the ambassadors there. I'm sorry, I'm using
13:43 --> 13:47 the wrong term. Trip agents. Trip agents. Are they— how are they identified?
13:47 --> 13:50 How would I recognize them if I'm on a light rail train? Yeah, great question.
13:50 --> 13:54 They're wearing blue, like royal blue shirt, either a polo or
13:54 --> 13:56 long sleeve shirt, and you'll see them. They have a little patch that says TRIP
13:56 --> 14:00 on it, and they'll ask people to show their fare.
14:00 --> 14:04 And they're a really good resource for people to access when they're out
14:04 --> 14:08 riding the system. Can you give me an idea? I know Metro Transit
14:09 --> 14:12 has a large number of employees, and you have a big impact.
14:13 --> 14:17 Oftentimes, we don't think in terms of government entities
14:18 --> 14:21 as having an impact on our economy. Right? We oftentimes,
14:21 --> 14:25 as a consumer base, we oftentimes think of them as spending tax
14:25 --> 14:29 dollars when in truth they can really boost the economy. And I know without
14:29 --> 14:32 transit, that makes us— with transit, it makes us so much more efficient.
14:33 --> 14:37 But do you have any idea, like, what's your overall ridership numbers or
14:37 --> 14:41 some of that impact that transit has on the greater Twin Cities? Right,
14:41 --> 14:45 well, it's been very dynamic, as you can imagine, over this last 6 years.
14:45 --> 14:48 Yes. So when you look at 2019 to compared to today,
14:48 --> 14:52 in 2019, the largest trip purpose was
14:52 --> 14:56 people commuting to work, wherever it was, whether it's in a downtown or out here
14:56 --> 14:59 in a suburb. Now, that mix has changed quite
15:00 --> 15:03 a bit, and remote work has had a big impact on that. Right. So now
15:03 --> 15:07 what we're seeing is people using transit more for all-day purposes,
15:08 --> 15:11 whether they're going to the store or an appointment or an event or out to
15:11 --> 15:15 the bar or restaurant. And that's really increased over the past few years.
15:15 --> 15:18 So that's an important part this type of service that
15:19 --> 15:22 we deliver, and we have an eye towards how can we make it more convenient
15:22 --> 15:25 for that all-purpose type of trip. So in 2019,
15:25 --> 15:29 we had a lot of focus on weekday, a lot of service during the
15:29 --> 15:33 rush hour going into the downtowns, and we've made a big investment over these
15:33 --> 15:37 past couple years, in particular, on adding more service on
15:37 --> 15:40 weekends and on evenings, and then the middle of the day so
15:40 --> 15:43 that people can use it for all kinds of reasons that they wanna go
15:44 --> 15:47 from point A to point B. I can attest to that because I will tell
15:47 --> 15:50 you that like on a Vikings home game day,
15:51 --> 15:55 we become like one of the largest park-and-rides in the world. I'll tell you a
15:55 --> 15:58 lot, which we love, right? Because I walk around the mall on a Vikings home
15:59 --> 16:02 game or a Minnesota Golden Gophers home game or something. And there
16:02 --> 16:06 are jerseys from the opposing teams and the home team all over
16:07 --> 16:09 Mall of America. Oftentimes they hop on light rail,
16:09 --> 16:13 From here, it's easy. Go right down to the stadium, watch the
16:14 --> 16:17 game, spend some time downtown, and then come back. So that whole process,
16:18 --> 16:21 you guys make it so easy. Yeah, a lot goes into those too. We provide
16:22 --> 16:26 extra service on those days typically, and there's extra ambassadors where it's Metro
16:26 --> 16:29 Transit staff who volunteer to add a shift to
16:29 --> 16:32 their work to go out and help customers learn how to use the service.
16:32 --> 16:36 And just like the State Fair, it's kind of a gateway into how to
16:36 --> 16:38 ride transit. So you'd asked earlier, how do I, How do we even do this?
16:39 --> 16:42 Well, an event is a really good way to get exposure to it because
16:42 --> 16:46 it's, you know, you're going from here to here and I'm coming back the same
16:46 --> 16:49 way. It makes it pretty straightforward. And then we've got extra staff available to help
16:50 --> 16:53 people to those special events. And of course, the 12 Days of the Fair that
16:54 --> 16:57 just finished, fantastic opportunity to get some exposure. Yeah,
16:57 --> 17:01 I was out at the fair on the first Friday. Ooh boy, that was
17:01 --> 17:05 204 people that day. That was not fun. It was fun.
17:05 --> 17:08 It was fun for my fair friends, but it was busy.
17:09 --> 17:13 You know, I often hear people talk about, like they
17:13 --> 17:16 go to Europe or something and they say, look at the transit and it's awesome.
17:17 --> 17:20 I think oftentimes we just overlook what we have locally.
17:20 --> 17:24 Yeah. Because we're so used to getting into our cars, our private vehicles and
17:24 --> 17:27 going, but we have some, we have a pretty remarkable system here. Don't you
17:28 --> 17:32 think? It's pretty robust. Well, you'll say I'm biased, but I think it's a fantastic
17:32 --> 17:36 system. When we look at the Twin Cities area compared to Denver
17:36 --> 17:39 or Dallas or Portland or other places,
17:39 --> 17:43 We're in the top 10. We're really good performers. We provide
17:44 --> 17:47 a quality service. I often hear that, couldn't we be like Europe?
17:47 --> 17:51 Well, we're not like Europe because of those 66
17:51 --> 17:55 cities that I said we serve. Oftentimes that development pattern
17:55 --> 17:59 of how the city was built, the volume of people in those 66
17:59 --> 18:02 cities in a much smaller footprint. And so they're able to provide a higher volume
18:02 --> 18:06 of service and a lot more convenience in ways that we're just
18:07 --> 18:10 not able to facilitate. So you and your team are
18:11 --> 18:14 looking to the— I mean, you work day to day, week to week,
18:14 --> 18:18 month to month, quarter to quarter, but you're also kind of looking towards
18:18 --> 18:21 the future. So I want to start with next year,
18:21 --> 18:25 2027, because you've implied that some fun things are going to happen,
18:25 --> 18:28 some exciting things from a Metro Transit perspective. Can you share what
18:29 --> 18:32 some of those are with our audience today? Yes, I'd be happy to.
18:32 --> 18:36 I'll start back in 2025. Yep. Metro Transit created
18:36 --> 18:40 a plan to implement new service over the course of the
18:40 --> 18:44 next few years. It's called Network Now, and people can go online and look
18:45 --> 18:48 at Network Now on the Metro Transit website. And it shows a number of different
18:49 --> 18:52 improvements that we planned and implemented over the past 2 years now,
18:52 --> 18:56 since 2025 to today. And now we're
18:56 --> 19:00 ramping up for 2027. And actually, we have a public engagement process
19:00 --> 19:04 right now towards the— that will conclude in the beginning of October
19:04 --> 19:09 for customers to give their feedback on some of the route adjustments that we're proposing.
19:10 --> 19:13 And that will lead us to several really big, exciting investments.
19:14 --> 19:17 One is extending Gold Line to downtown Minneapolis.
19:17 --> 19:20 That's gonna happen in March next year. We also have,
19:21 --> 19:24 of course, the Green Line extension that's gonna happen next year as well.
19:24 --> 19:28 And we're going to encourage everyone to come out on the last Saturday
19:28 --> 19:33 of this month at the St. Louis Park Louisiana
19:33 --> 19:36 Station to hear the announcement of when that's going to be.
19:37 --> 19:40 So a little over a week from now, there's going to be a really cool
19:40 --> 19:43 announcement. So make sure that you're there, or you watch the
19:43 --> 19:47 news of that announcement. That'll be exciting. Yep. September 26th at
19:47 --> 19:51 10. And where's that again? At the Louisiana Station in St. Louis Park. Park.
19:51 --> 19:54 It's on Oxford. Oh, I love that. Yeah. So good stuff coming.
19:54 --> 19:57 Yeah. Plus, I know you guys are planning years in advance, right? Right. You're looking
19:57 --> 20:01 5 years out and beyond. Yep. And looking at what are the needs
20:01 --> 20:03 of the, of the metro area gonna be? How do we best serve them?
20:04 --> 20:07 All that kind of thing, correct? Right, right. So I said we have 8 BRT
20:08 --> 20:11 lines now. Yep. We've got several more in the works. We've got 3
20:12 --> 20:14 more that are gonna be coming on over the next, I'll say, 3, 4 years.
20:15 --> 20:19 And then we've just recently identified 2 more BRT lines that Jay
20:19 --> 20:23 And the K Line, which is the Route 54 that goes
20:23 --> 20:26 from the Mall of America to downtown St. Paul, that will become BRT on West
20:27 --> 20:31 7th. And from Bloomington into downtown Minneapolis on Nicollet, that will
20:31 --> 20:34 become BRT. So making it easier to come to the mall. That's right. That's all
20:35 --> 20:38 I'm saying. That's what it's about. Yeah. Yeah. Speaking of the mall,
20:39 --> 20:42 this coming Saturday on the 19th, Metro Transit is taking
20:42 --> 20:46 over the rotunda at Mall of America. We're gonna have a really cool event
20:46 --> 20:50 here. Um, just share a little bit and I'll fill in some details
20:50 --> 20:53 too, but are you excited for this and what are you hoping to see?
20:53 --> 20:57 Yeah, it's really exciting. We've got a number of our employees
20:57 --> 21:00 coming here to showcase what we do. How do we deliver
21:00 --> 21:04 this service? We talked about how many bus operators we have, and they're the ones,
21:04 --> 21:07 the bus and train operators are the ones who are doing the lion's share of
21:07 --> 21:11 the frontline work. But there's a whole bunch of people who get
21:12 --> 21:15 to help develop everything to make that happen. So there will be people from bus
21:16 --> 21:19 maintenance showing how to repair buses. There's going to be people from
21:20 --> 21:23 my department, Service Development, showing how to plan routes. There's going to
21:24 --> 21:27 be people from Customer Information, so learn how to use the system,
21:27 --> 21:31 and a host of other departments are going to be here. I think
21:31 --> 21:33 it's going to be really good. It's going to be fun. I think it's going
21:34 --> 21:36 to be awesome. It's from 10:00 to 3:00, I believe, on that day. But check
21:36 --> 21:40 our website for sure, mallofamerica.com, on the 19th.
21:41 --> 21:44 And I heard that perhaps some of your security and canine officers might even be
21:44 --> 21:46 here. Absolutely. Doing some demonstrations. And that's always a fan favorite.
21:48 --> 21:51 Guests like to see the canines and learn more about how they keep them
21:52 --> 21:55 safe, right? And that's what your team does. I even
21:55 --> 21:58 heard that there's a potential, I don't know if it's been finalized yet, of having
21:59 --> 22:02 potentially a van or something that shows how you load bikes onto the
22:02 --> 22:05 front of a transit vehicle, because I've seen that on
22:05 --> 22:09 the front of buses and stuff. And I always thought that's really cool because you
22:09 --> 22:13 can ride your bike to a bus stop, load your bike, go most
22:13 --> 22:17 of your distance, unload your bike, finish your journey. So it makes it really customizable.
22:17 --> 22:20 Right, and if you're out on the system, you see people taking advantage of it.
22:20 --> 22:24 So there'll be a bike rack here that people can learn how to use it
22:24 --> 22:28 and load a bike on and off. It's really the new intermodal
22:28 --> 22:31 way that we're trying to encourage all users to take transit.
22:31 --> 22:35 And it's earth-friendly. Right. I mean, that's one thing that oftentimes
22:36 --> 22:39 we look at transit as convenience or
22:40 --> 22:44 a way to maybe save some money or something, but it really benefits the environment
22:44 --> 22:48 as well because it makes us much more efficient and effective ride
22:48 --> 22:52 per person. Right, per mile. I love that personally. I need
22:52 --> 22:55 to do more of it. And I'm just going to try to do myself to
22:55 --> 22:59 do that better. So are you going to be here on the 19th? I unfortunately
22:59 --> 23:01 am not going to be here, but some of my staff are going to be
23:02 --> 23:04 here helping customers. And our guests can stop by and say, hey.
23:04 --> 23:08 Absolutely. And maybe some freebies or tchotchkes or something
23:08 --> 23:10 to give away? That's right. I bet there's going to be a lot of really
23:10 --> 23:14 fun stuff out here. There are. I think there's a— I'm
23:15 --> 23:17 going to call it a bingo card that you can fill out in a way
23:18 --> 23:21 to visit the different stations. And there'll be some prizes. I love that.
23:21 --> 23:24 Prizes are always good. And I also know there's going to be activities for kids.
23:25 --> 23:28 So adults can learn about how to use transit better, but kids can also
23:28 --> 23:32 be introduced to Metro Transit. And I think that's really important.
23:32 --> 23:36 Let's start off young and get them comfortable with this and get them going.
23:37 --> 23:39 Adam, thank you so much for joining me today. I appreciate it.
23:40 --> 23:43 If folks want to find out more about Metro Transit, what's your website again?
23:43 --> 23:47 It's metrotransit.org. And your, and your app is called?
23:48 --> 23:51 Transit App. Transit App. All right. So for those
23:51 --> 23:55 who would like to learn more, make sure you go to their website and also
23:55 --> 23:58 download the app. I'd really encourage you to do that because apps
23:59 --> 24:03 make everything so much easier. And to find out more information on our event
24:03 --> 24:07 on this coming Saturday the 19th, you can go to mallofamerica.com/events
24:07 --> 24:11 and we'll have all the details there for you. I actually
24:11 --> 24:14 am going to come out on the 19th. I think I'm gonna bring my grandkids
24:14 --> 24:18 and we're going to get some free prizes and we're gonna learn more about how
24:18 --> 24:20 to ride light rail. And I encourage all of you to do that as well.
24:21 --> 24:24 Adam, thanks for taking the time. We really appreciate it. And for all of
24:25 --> 24:29 our listeners, our viewers, thank you for joining us on this episode of
24:29 --> 24:32 So Much More. Thanks for listening to So Much More, a Mall
24:33 --> 24:36 of America podcast. Subscribe wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
24:36 --> 24:39 This show is presented by Bloomington, Minnesota Travel and Tourism.