Messages from the Council Chair

Looking back at 2024, I am proud of how much and how well we at the Metropolitan Council listened – and acted on what we heard.

Our active, intentional engagement on a wide range of issues was critical – whether we were listening to residents, people who work in local governments, nonprofit advocates, business leaders, or others. Our engagement has strengthened our work to help build a better regional future – and present – for all of us.

With your input, we developed a draft of Imagine 2050, our next regional development guide. It contains the regional policies on land use, transportation, water, and housing that will shape how the region grows in the next 30 years. You may have interacted with us at one of a wide range of venues, from the more traditional forums to our innovative Art + Policy events in the outdoors.

Perhaps you were one of the nearly 500 people who are Black, Indigenous, Latino, or of Asian heritage, or who experience barriers because of disabilities, who attended one of our workshops in your community. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences and ideas about housing, transportation, and other issues.

In addition to all this input, we received more than 1,200 comments from about 500 organizations and individuals during the official two-month public comment period on the Imagine 2050 draft. Our staff and policymakers reviewed each comment, and in many cases, adjusted the proposed policies as a result. We anticipate approving the guide in February.

Critical to the development of Imagine 2050 was our American Indian Advisory Council. While the Advisory Council was formed to help us craft a regional land acknowledgment statement, the group’s work quickly became focused on developing land, water, and people commitments to make the land acknowledgment meaningful. Those commitments will be part of the final development guide.

We made thousands of customer contacts in person and through surveys as we developed Network Now, Metro Transit’s vision for bus and rail investments through 2027. In addition, Metro Transit’s General Manager, Lesley Kandaras, finished her year-long initiative to ride every bus and rail route and talk to customers. The Network Now plan expects to achieve a 35% expansion of transit service, improve frequency on 60+ bus routes, and increase access to jobs by nearly 25% compared to pre-pandemic service.

In December, we connected with more than 100 local government planners and sustainability coordinators to help shape the requirements for climate planning in the next round of local comprehensive plans. We also shared all the tools we have and are developing to assist local governments to do their local climate planning.

These are but a few examples of how we rely on all our local government, community, and business partners to forge innovative solutions that make this region a leader and a place we can proudly call home. We look forward to continuing our work together in 2025.

Charlie Zelle, Met Council Chair