Housing

Regional Planning Objective

Develop plans and policies that guide investment in highways, transit, freight, aviation, and bicycle and pedestrian facilities to achieve regional transportation goal of a safe, reliable, accessible transportation system.

Investment Objective

Secure, align, and track federal, state, and local transportation funding for regional investment.

Council Operations Objective

Operate a regional transit system that is valued by customers and communities because it reliably gets people to the places they want to go, provides a safe and enjoyable experience, and works seamlessly across all services.

 

 

• Continue to pursue administrative citations authority for fare evasion Since 2019, we have sought legislative authority to handle fare evasion citations in-house instead of through the judicial system. This approach would mean people who aren’t police officers could issue citations, and the penalty could be lowered from the current state law that makes fare evasion a misdemeanor charge punishable by up at a $180 fine.
• Adjust fare products to align with changes in travel pattern so fares are simpler and more equitable
• Make progress toward our goal of installing 270 new and replacement shelters through 2026 and develop clear standards for the upkeep of transit facilities: Improve Route 22 through the Better Bus Routes program and develop regional priorities for transit advantages
• The Met Council tapped into a panel of participants from the 2019 household travel survey to study the short and long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These follow-up surveys are helping explain how COVID-19 has changed and is changing regional travel behavior by comparing current behaviors to participants’ behavior in 2018-2019.
• Implement a ride hail service as an alternative to Metro Mobility’s current premium on demand taxi service.
• Make investments that correct ADA infrastructure compliance issues as identified in ADA Transition Plan.

• Address the shortage of operators and other critical transit workers through workforce initiatives.

• We are in the process of buying eight 40-foot electric buses, adding chargers to our new Minneapolis Bus Garage, and returning the METRO C Line’s electric buses to service as soon as possible. We’ll have a plan to continue transitioning our bus fleet to low- and no-emission models completed by next year.  
• A Met Council initiative to create an internal, agency-wide Climate Action Plan is under way. The plan will unify efforts across all Met Council divisions to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to climate impacts, and help us build resilience to potential changes. 

See the full Met Council 2020-2022 strategic plan for all identified strategies.

 

1. Adopt the 2020 update to the 2040 Transportation Policy Plan.

In November 2020, the Council adopted the 2040 Transportation Policy Plan. The update was adopted after extensive public and agency input, receiving over 400 public comments and input from numerous local government agencies.

2. Complete construction and begin revenue service for the METRO Green Line Extension, Orange Line, B and D Lines, and begin construction of the METRO Gold Line and two arterial bus rapid transit lines by 2023.

METRO Green Line Extension

The September 2020 award of the full funding grant agreement is a major milestone for this project. Construction is underway. In January 2021, the Metropolitan Council announced construction delays due unforeseen issues encountered in construction.

METRO Orange Line
SSGA was awarded in 2019 and revenue service is expected to begin in December 2021. Construction is underway.

METRO Gold Line
In April 2021, the FTA approved the Gold Line project to enter the New Starts Engineering phase of the FTA Capital Investment Grants Program Revenue service is projected to begin in 2024.

METRO Blue Line Extension
 In early March, the Blue Line Extension project office shared potential revised route options that serve as a starting point to move the conversation with the community forward. With the release of the revised route options, the project entered a new and more intense phase of community engagement. Project staff are beginning to evaluate potential station locations and to provide more context about how light rail can serve communities. Project staff hope to have a community-supported route identified by the end of the year. 

Arterial BRT 

• D Line – 2020 bonding bill completed the funding. Construction will start in 2021, and operations are expected to start in 2022.
• B Line – 2020 bonding bill completed the funding. Draft corridor plan review underway, anticipate draft plan in Q1 2021. NEPA progressing, anticipate fall 2021 completion. Construction expected to start in 2023.
• E Line – funding gap (~$40M) remains.  Draft plan release anticipated in mid-2021, and engineering could follow pending available funds.
• F Line – Metropolitan Council identified the F, G, and H Lines in their March 2021 adoption of the Network Next Plan. The Transportation Advisory is expected to award $25M in Regional Solicitation funding to the F Line in April 2021.

3. Rebuild transit ridership region-wide once it is safe to do so.

Currently we are experiencing COVID-related decreases in transit ridership and revenue. Significant uncertainty about future. 
 
Metro Transit ridership is down over 60% across the system, though some modes are seeing a greater drop off than others. Specifically, local bus and arterial BRT routes were more resilient.
 
We are adapting transit operational policies, practices and services to reduce COVID risks for riders and employees.

4. Increase on-time performance.

• Bus: 89.5% (2.0 percentage points above goal)
• ·A Line:  92.6% (0.9 percentage points above goal)
• ·C- Line: 87% (0.5 percentage points below goal)
• Blue Line: 89.3% (0.3 percentage points below goal)
• Green Line: 66.1% (13.9 percentage points below goal)
• Northstar: 97.4% (3.4 percentage points above goal)

5. Increase customer satisfaction.

Every two years Metro Transit conducts a robust rider survey to assess customer satisfaction based on surveying a representative sample of riders with both on-board paper surveys and online.
 
In 2020, the regularly scheduled rider survey was replaced by a Listening & Learning effort in response to COVID and community trauma after George Floyd. This engagement did not include an effort to quantify rider satisfaction. A more traditional rider satisfaction survey is planned to be conducted in fall 2021.
 

6. Increase perception of transit as a safe and desirable service for both riders and our employees.

 

7. Fully implement administrative citations for the fare-evasion program, pending legislative authorization and funding.

In 2021 session we are pursuing legislation that would authorize the council to create an administration citation program. The Metropolitan Council also plans to use funding made available through one-time federal COVID relief funds for public transit to fund administrative citations implementation in state fiscal years 2022-2023 if we receive authority to create the program.

 

8. Meet or exceed national standards for Metro Mobility’s on-time performance for pick-ups (90%) and appointments (90%), and on-board time performance (95%).

YTD 2021, Metro Mobility has exceeded national standards in on-time performance for pick-ups (90% target, 96.3% achieved) and appointments (90% target, 95.9% achieved), and on-board time performance (95% target, 99.9% achieved).   

In 2020, Metro Mobility exceeded national standards in on-time performance for pick-ups (90% target, 96.4% achieved) and appointments (90% target, 93.6% achieved), and on-board time performance (95% target, 97.3% achieved).