At a news conference before the A Line rapid bus opened along Snelling Avenue, Metro Transit General Manager Brian Lamb called the new service “historic.”

For this transit commuter, the rapid bus is a welcome addition to my slate of transit choices from my home in St. Paul, but historic? I’m not so sure.

The $27 million A Line opened June 11 amid much fanfare among transit and elected officials. It’s called a “rapid bus” — not bus-rapid transit, which requires a dedicated lane — because it’s more like a super express bus. Metro Transit plans at least a dozen more of these rapid bus lines in the next 15 years.

For passengers, the major difference is that you buy your fare, or swipe your Go-To card, before you get on the bus. The bus, like light rail, is supposed to come every 10 minutes during peak hours. And, there are only 20 stations between Rosedale Center and the 46th Street Blue Line LRT stop in Minneapolis, compared with as many as 80 stops along the Route 84 local bus route.

Metro Transit recorded 36,205 rides on both the A Line and Route 84 routes the first seven days of operation, 30,308 of which were on the A Line. Overall, that’s an increase of 36 percent. However, rides on the A Line were free the first three days.