Metro Transit, the metro area’s regional public transit authority, pitched a couple of items this week that may be of note to transit and sports fans alike. The Northstar Commuter Rail, which travels to downtown Minneapolis from Big Lake and the northwest suburbs, will service most Minnesota Twins games at Target Field this baseball season, as well as every Minnesota Vikings game at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The full list of Twins games that will be supported by commuter rail in 2024 is online at metrotransit.org/northstar. For cost savings, groups traveling together can purchase a Northstar Roundtrip Family Pass.
In addition to the extra Northstar service, light rail trips will roll out around major concerts and when demand dictates because of large events.
The added departures are a bit of an about-face for Metro Transit, which cut back heavily on services when the pandemic hit in 2020. Northstar lost 67% of its departures and 97% of its ridership in the early days of the pandemic, and building back has been a slow climb.
Still, a new regional sales tax approved last year by state lawmakers is expected to provide a windfall for public transit. Northstar is now entirely funded by Metro Transit, freeing it from dependence on Anoka County and three other former funding partners. Northstar carried 97,000 riders last year, a 26% increase from 2022, but still nowhere near the more than 767,000 riders it carried in 2019.
State Fair Express Bus services will be announced closer to the State Fair, but Metro Transit has said the goal is to offer more buses than in 2023. Overall, Metro Transit ridership climbed 16% last year, and has shown continued growth so far this year, especially on the Green Line light rail and bus rapid transit lines.
Several bus routes are on long-term detours due to construction on Hennepin Avenue South and in downtown St. Paul. Keep in mind there’s free parking at every Northstar Station and the Metro Blue Line’s 30th Avenue and Fort Snelling stations. See MetroTransit.org for more information.
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