Metro Transit bus driver Michele Selseth admits it can be a little scary learning to drive a new route and a new vehicle.
Selseth will be driving one of the longest and heaviest buses in the Metro Transit fleet as part of the new Gold Line Bus Rapid Transit service, which will run between downtown St. Paul and Woodbury starting at 5 a.m. Saturday.
On Tuesday, Selseth took a group of reporters and photographers on one of the maiden voyages of the 10-mile Gold Line BRT, which operates in a dedicated lane, called a “guideway,” on nearly 70 percent of the route.
“We have our own road, so we don’t have to deal with the everyday driver anymore,” Selseth said. “We will be able to get from Woodbury to downtown St. Paul a lot faster.”
Priority signals, like the ones used on Metro Transit’s light-rail system, have been installed next to traffic lights at intersections. A vertical line indicates “go,” while a horizontal line indicates “stop,” Selseth explained.
“As the bus approaches, it sends a message to the light, and it will change for us,” she said.
But bus drivers and other drivers still will have to look out for each other: “You have cars on either side of you. We have a light to go, and they have a red light. … They’re going to want to stay with us, so your head is always moving. … We’re crossing over a busy street to get back on the guideway, so it’s been a learning curve for all drivers on this road.”
The Gold Line is the only Metro Transit BRT so far to operate on its own guideway for most of its route; it operates in mixed traffic in downtown St. Paul.
Easier boarding
The interior of a new, 70-passenger articulated bus on the Metro Transit Gold Line in St. Paul. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
The buses on the Gold Line are more than 60 feet long and bend in the middle. They have wider aisles, which allows passengers in wheelchairs to self-secure, and they feature all-door boarding.
There are 16 stations on the Gold Line, and each one features on-demand heat, real-time departure signs, security cameras and emergency telephones, said Adam Harrington, director of service development for Metro Transit.
The stations and buses are ADA accessible and also feature bicycle racks and trash and recycling cans.
“The stations are great,” he said. “There’s a lot of natural light that gets through, and the wood underside of the awning is fantastic.”
Each station has a ticket validator, which makes it much easier to get on and off as a rider, Harrington said.
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“You take your ‘Go To’ card, you tap it outside, the bus pulls up, the doors open, you get on and it goes. It’s much faster than waiting for every individual to pay their fare when they get on the bus.
“That’s really one of the main principles around bus rapid transit is you pay before you get on the bus. That way that stop is much shorter for the bus — and everyone on the bus — and you can keep moving.”
The cost for Gold Line rides is the same as light rail and local buses, which is $2 for ages 13 to 64 and $1 for those who qualify for reduced fares (adults over 64, youth under 13, Medicare card holders and people with disabilities). All day passes cost $4 for ages 13 to 64 and $2 for those who qualify for reduced fare.
Safety and technology
Metro Transit interim Police Chief Joseph Dotseth talks about Gold Line security initiatives during a tour on the Metro Transit Gold Line on Tuesday. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
Transit Rider Investment Program agents will be responsible for inspecting fares, assisting riders and upholding the rules of riding, said Joseph Dotseth, acting chief of the Metro Transit Police Department. They also can provide first aid and information about social services, he said.
The buses and stations also are outfitted with a network of real-time security cameras.
“That’s going to be a game changer for us,” Dotseth said. “We have two operators that are up at the center all the time looking at the cameras throughout the system.”
The goal is to have more than 100 TRIP agents working systemwide by the end of the year; there are currently more than 70 TRIP agents working from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily, he said.
Another perk for riders: Gold Line buses have USB chargers and free wifi.
Stations, park-and-rides
The Gold Line will run seven days a week, roughly 5 a.m. to midnight, serving 16 stations in St. Paul, Maplewood, Landfall, Oakdale and Woodbury.
Buses will arrive at stops every 10 minutes on weekdays and every 15 minutes on the weekends.
“This project is going to provide transit service on the east side of the east metro area,” project director Alicia Vap said. “There hasn’t been this kind of service before.”
The Gold Line’s western terminus is located near the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St Paul. Heading east, the line hits a number of upgraded downtown stops, connecting with the Green Line and other Metro Transit lines. Then it proceeds onto East Seventh Street, which is a long-term detour during reconstruction of the Kellogg Boulevard/Third Street bridge, toward the dedicated lanes beginning at Mounds Boulevard.
Metro Transit’s Gold Line Bus Rapid Transit service debuts on Saturday, March 22, 2025 following three years of construction. The bus line connects St. Paul to Woodbury, stretching 10 miles long. (Courtesy of Metro Transit)
The Gold Line will have four Park and Ride facilities: Sun Ray Station in St. Paul, Helmo Station in Oakdale, Queens Station in Woodbury and Woodlane Station in Woodbury.
Stops along with way will serve 3M Corporate Headquarters in Maplewood and business centers in Oakdale and Woodbury, among other landmarks.
The Gold Line also connects with Woodbury’s new Metro Micro service.
Cost: Under budget. Ridership: TBD
The Gold Line project broke ground in October 2022 with a budget of $505 million, funded primarily by the Federal Transit Administration and Ramsey and Washington counties.
Final project costs have not yet been tallied but a Metro Transit spokeswoman said it is expected to come in under budget.
A Metro Transit Gold Line bus drives past Queens Drive Station in Woodbury. The 10-mile BRT line will stop at 16 stations along the way. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)
The Gold Line will be the sixth active BRT line in the Metro Transit system, joining the Red Line, A Line, C Line, Orange Line and D Line. By 2030, Metro Transit plans to have 12 BRT lines, forming a 165-mile BRT network.
The next to open after the Gold Line will be the B Line this summer, connecting downtown St. Paul and Uptown Minneapolis along Selby and Marshall avenues in St. Paul and Lake Street in Minneapolis.
According to Vap, Gold Line ridership projections of 6,000 rides per day were calculated using Federal Transit Administration guidelines before the pandemic and have not been updated.
For comparison, the A Line, which travels between Rosedale Center and South Minneapolis along Snelling Avenue and Ford Parkway, ranged between 3,000 and 5,000 rides a day in 2024. It was hitting 4,000 to 6,000 rides a day before the pandemic, according to Metro Transit.
“Before the pandemic, a lot of our service was based on the morning peak and afternoon peak,” Vap said. “Our demand has really kind of shifted as people’s travel behaviors and patterns have changed. So the peaks have gotten longer in the afternoons, they start earlier and there’s more of a demand at midday.”
Another comparison: The newer Orange Line, which travels along Interstate 35W between downtown Minneapolis and Burnsville, has been growing from fewer than 1,000 rides a day in early 2022 to nearly 2,000 rides a day in 2024.
Free rides and community celebration
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An opening ceremony and celebration on Saturday will give community members the opportunity to experience the Gold Line for themselves. It will be hosted at the Woodlane Park and Ride, 1100 Woodlane Drive in Woodbury, with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 10 a.m., followed by community celebrations 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sun Ray and Woodlane Park and Ride stations.
“We’ll have a DJ, food trucks, there’ll be the mascots, community tables, food and lots of giveaways,” Vap said.
For the first week of the Gold Line’s debut, Ramsey and Washington County are sponsoring free rides starting Saturday, Vap said (transfers to other lines are not included).
Looking to the future, Metro Transit plans to extend the Gold Line to downtown Minneapolis beginning in 2027, adding close to an additional 10 miles to the route.
For more information on the Gold Line, visit metrotransit.org/gold-line-facts.
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