Secrets of the City

Does anyone know why the Northstar doesn’t make a stop in Northeast? It’s right on the way…

From the MTV link:

“Minnesota is just that sweet”

Quote of the day.

Does anyone know why the Northstar doesn’t make a stop in Northeast? It’s right on the way…

Too many zombies….

Now run the rail east to Hudson and south to Rochester, then we’re talking

And west to Hutchinson?

Oh, and North to Duluth of course.

Why stop at Hudson? To Chicago!

West to Hutchinson and north to Duluth too. I want a transit system like in Chicago – I could get from Kenosha, WI to Gary, IN on public transit.

North to Alaska, north, the rush is on!

I’m surprised you can’t get a train up to Duluth. I’d been thinking about taking Amtrak up to have a nice classic railway north shore party weekend with some aeriel lift bridge babes, until I learned the awful truth that there is no train. Just a bus!

Also, it turns out there isn’t any such thing as an “aeriel lift bridge babe,” either. Disappointment after disappointment.

Probably to many freight trains to put in a passenger one. And it wouldn’t make sense commuter wise unless it was a high speed train, and it’s a tough sell to get those in the US. I’d love to see a 45min trip to Duluth via Maglev though

Actually, a Minneapolis to Duluth line is seriously being looked at now, from what I hear.

I’d take a train to Duluth. I love Duluth and don’t go as often as I would like.

Fly high Duluth!

Mitch Berg takes a shot in the dark at understanding why people like the big northern cho-cho when David Strom told them not to…

..in the dark, indeed.

I wrote an (as justpbob, not ALAMN Bob) op/ed on Northstar Commuter Rail some years ago for Star Tribune North. Sadly. it has disappeared in the dark corners of the Interwebs.

I am excited about the Northstar. I wonder if it will be cheaper to get downtown and back than the $9 per day that I am currently paying to park the caddy.

I heard the other day that I will be able to catch the train in Coon Rapids, ride downtown and transfer to Hiawatha Line to get to the airport for $2.75 one-way.

Could you imagine the cab fare for the same trip?

I can’t wait to take advantage if it. If I’m gonna be taxed for it I might as well use it. What do you figure the cost will be from Fridley to downtown mpls and back will be?

I would assume it is the same as express busses, which are currently $2.75 each way, unless your employer offers the MetroPass. I pay $12.50 a paycheck and have unlimited rides.

Is building a line to Big Lake productive or counterproductive? It would be serving as an alternate to 169 and 94, corridors that are hotbeds for McMansion-type development from Maple Grove to Elk River to Monticello.

Is the McMansion syndrome really a problem in areas with typically larger lots than, say, Edina?

If a Fridley stop opens (it’s up in the air, I believe) it will be same or less than Coon Rapids, “rail”king. So your daily cost would be $5.50 or less.

Is building a line to Big Lake productive or counterproductive?

Define “productive?” Cars off the road? Pollution outta the air? It will do both.

PS: The Cho Cho may run on biodiesel. We’re working on it…

The Fridley stop is not really up in the air any longer. They are trying to “acquire” the property necessary to build it. There was some contention over who would build the tunnel beneath the tracks that was deemed necessary for some reason. From what I read in the latest city news letter, the state is funding a majority of the project.

In all honesty, I don’t think the train will do much to ease traffic and take that many cars/trucks off the road. What it will do is make my daily commute and parking costs decline considerably.

FYI, there’s a Northstar Commuter Rail update blog.

Whatever works, roadking. I look forward to using it myself.

As for taking cars off the road, it is always hard to measure the unseen.

Shut down the buses and the light rail for a few weeks and you would most certainly notice a difference in traffic, I would imagine, just as many of us see the difference in traffic flow since the bridge fell.

It would certainly be interesting to try. It may go a long way in convincing mass transit skeptics like myself that it actually does work. I would be more impressed if the system could fund itself.

Whatever… I will be riding the train when it becomes available.

The headline from MTV should had been said more correctly: “MN election day registration allows young people to vote unless the candidates are Democrats.”

Go figure….Rock the Vote campaign is nothing more than a euphemism for DINOs to get elected by partisan endorsement. We all know that Hollywood is filled with Democratic stuffers anyway.

I wrote an (as justpbob, not ALAMN Bob) op/ed on Northstar Commuter Rail some years ago for Star Tribune North. Sadly. it has disappeared in the dark corners of the Interwebs.

Funny, that’s where all ours go. You probably didn’t attack Jim Oberstar. That’s the surest way to get in anymore.

btw – BOB, Got forced onto a hybrid bus this morning. DO NOT WANT EVAR AGAN. Hard plastic seats, no pads. UNACCEPTABLE.

Well, that sucks, kev. Although I imagine they did that to make the bus easier to clean, not for any “green” rational. Just trying to save a buck.

That’s what happens when you let Republicans run the Met Council!

Green doesn’t have to be so Spartian — people like their comforts. BTW, you are out of luck. More hybrid buses have already been ordered.

Well I guess it’s an improvement then because the even older buses from the Mondale era have metal seats with no pads. They are getting other new buses with nice thick blue pads with the T circle thing. I’m fine with the blue vynil ones afatg. I also swear the seat backs are angled more, meaning it’s much more cramped. I don’t get why if comfort is so important to getting more riders why the f*ck they are buying buses that are less comfortable than sitting in the Metrodome. Being “green” isn’t a good enough reason for this guy’s boney ass.

Well I guess it’s an improvement then because the even older buses from the Mondale era have metal seats with no pads.

They don’t call him “Iron Butt Fritz” for nothing, you know…

Those hard seats may come back to bite Metro Transit in the ass. If people start equating fuel efficiency and sustainability with sore bums then Metro Transit loses on two fronts.

The cost savings between maintenance and repair of padded seats and hard seats may have been too seductive for them to pass up.

Kevin, be grateful for the metal seats.

Makes it easier to tell where somebody peed.

Like somebody did on my bus today. God, it was gross.