Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi, Minnesota and St. Croix rivers in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is commonly known as the Twin Cities after the area's two largest cities, Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Minnesotans often refer to the two together simply as "the cities". The area is Minnesota's economic, cultural, and political center.
The Northstar Line is a commuter rail route in the US state of Minnesota. Northstar runs 40 miles (64 km) from Big Lake to downtown Minneapolis at Target Field using existing track and right-of-way owned by the BNSF Railway. Passenger service began on November 16, 2009. The rail line serves part of the Northstar Corridor between Minneapolis and St. Cloud. Planning for the line began in 1997 when the Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA) was formed. The corridor is also served by Interstate 94 and U.S. Highway 10. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 77,100, or about 300 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.
Metro Transit is the primary public transportation operator in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest operator in the state. Although Metro Transit is one of the smallest transit systems for a large metropolitan area in the United States, it has previously been ranked as one of the best. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 38,794,700, or about 138,800 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.
Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) is an independent, nonprofit association where area leaders address regional issues affecting the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland, and Northern Virginia. MWCOG comprises 24 local governments in the Washington metropolitan area, as well as area members of the Maryland and Virginia state legislatures, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. About 300 local, state, and federally elected officials make up its membership. It was founded in 1957 and formally incorporated on May 28, 1965.
King County Metro, officially the King County Metro Transit Department and often shortened to Metro, is the public transit authority of King County, Washington, which includes the city of Seattle. It is the eighth-largest transit bus agency in the United States. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 66,022,200, or about 244,500 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023. Metro employs 2,444 full-time and part-time operators and operates 1,540 buses.
Metro is the regional government for the Oregon portion of the Portland metropolitan area, covering portions of Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties. It is the only directly elected regional government and metropolitan planning organization in the United States. Metro is responsible for overseeing the Portland region's solid waste system, general planning of land use and transportation, maintaining certain regional parks and natural areas, and operating the Oregon Zoo, Oregon Convention Center, Portland's Centers for the Arts, and the Portland Expo Center. It also distributes money from two voter-approved tax measures: one for homeless services and one for affordable housing.
Transportation in the U.S. State of Minnesota consists of a complex network of roadways, railways, waterways and airports. The transportation system is generally overseen by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, a cabinet-level agency of the state government. Additionally, regional governments such as the Metropolitan Council have authority over regional planning for the transportation system and local governments such as cities and counties oversee the local transportation network.
The Metro Purple Line, formerly known as the Rush Line Corridor, is a proposed bus rapid transit service that would run from Union Depot in downtown Saint Paul to the northeastern suburbs of Saint Paul. Along the corridor's 21 proposed stations there are 106,000 jobs within a 10-minute walk. The project is currently in an environmental analysis phase with further development, engineering, and construction expected to take at least six more years. Service would run 7-days a week with 10-minute headways in peak periods and 15-minute service at most other times. The corridor was named the Rush Line because it was originally planned to end in Rush City, Minnesota. After using the color purple since 2017, the route was officially named the Purple Line and became part of the Metro network on July 14, 2021.
The Denver Regional Council of Governments is a nonprofit membership organization of local governments in the Denver region of the US state of Colorado. DRCOG is the designated metropolitan planning organization (MPO) and the Transportation Planning Region (TPR) for the region, as well as the Area Agency on Aging (AAA).
The Metro Red Line is a bus rapid transit line between the Twin Cities suburbs of Bloomington, Minnesota and Apple Valley, Minnesota. The Red Line travels primarily on Minnesota State Highway 77 and Cedar Avenue from the Apple Valley station in Apple Valley, north through Eagan, Minnesota, to the Mall of America station in Bloomington where it connects to the Metro Blue Line. The line has bus rapid transit elements including bus-only lanes, specially branded vehicles, transit signal priority, and dedicated stations.
Burnsville Transit Station is a transit facility located in the vicinity of downtown Burnsville, Minnesota, and is the flagship station of the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA). The station is the busiest park and ride location in the Twin Cities region and offers approximately 1,400 parking spaces. It is also a major transfer hub for routes operating the south of the Minnesota River. The station has indoor climate-controlled waiting, restrooms, lost and found, drinking fountains, vending machines, Go-To card sales, newspaper racks, and transit information. Due to high park and ride demand, MVTA moved some service to the 370 space Heart of the City public ramp about a 1⁄2 mile (0.80 km) south in 2018. The Metropolitan Council's 2021 park-and-ride system report found 267 cars parked at the station compared to 1,116 in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Plymouth Metrolink is the public transit system that serves Plymouth, Minnesota. Metrolink operates fixed-route bus routes Monday-Friday during peak periods with limited midday service. Most routes serve downtown Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota with one route providing reverse commute service from Minneapolis to employers in Plymouth. Demand-responsive bus service is available seven days a week. Most buses are provided by the Metropolitan Council with First Transit operating the fixed-route service.
The Riverview Corridor is a transit corridor connecting Downtown Saint Paul and the Mall of America in Bloomington via the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. The corridor serves an area from the Saint Paul Union Depot to the Mall via a route along West 7th Street, which runs southwest from Downtown Saint Paul. The corridor creates a triangle connecting opposite ends of the Blue Line and Green Line.
The Metro Orange Line is a bus rapid transit line in the Twin Cities, Minnesota operated by Metro Transit. The line operates primarily along Interstate 35W from downtown Minneapolis through Richfield and Bloomington before terminating in Burnsville, Minnesota. The Orange Line provides access to 198,000 jobs with roughly a quarter of them outside downtown Minneapolis. The route serves a mix of stations located in the center of the highway, stations near highway exits, and on-street stations. The line has features typical of bus rapid transit systems with off-board fare payment, articulated buses with extra doors, stations with improved passenger amenities, and transit-only bus lanes on portions of the route.
Nora Bayly Slawik is a Minnesota politician, previously serving as Chairwoman of the Metropolitan Council, Maplewood Mayor and Minnesota State Representative. From 1997 to 1998 and 2001–2012, she represented District 57A, and from 2003 to 2012, she represented District 55B, which includes portions of Ramsey and Washington counties and the cities of Maplewood and Oakdale in the eastern part of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. As Mayor of Maplewood, first elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2018, she oversaw economic redevelopment, increased public safety, and expansion of Maplewood's public outdoor spaces. In 2018, she was appointed by Governor Tim Walz to serve as head of the Metropolitan Council, where she worked until stepping down in November 2019. She also has a history of community service before her time in office, including her development of Juniper as their Project Manager for the Metropolitan Area Agency on Aging from 2016 to 2017.
The Dan Patch Corridor is a proposed commuter rail line that would serve a region which runs from Minneapolis to Northfield, Minnesota. The corridor consists of the tracks on the former Minneapolis St. Paul Rochester and Dubuque Electric Traction Company lines, which came to be known as the Dan Patch lines. It was proposed as a passenger rail line in 2000 after being identified as a "Tier One" corridor in the Minnesota Department of Transportation's 2000 Commuter Rail System Plan before being given a study ban during the 2002 Minnesota legislative session. It sat in relative silence until 2008, when bills were introduced in the Minnesota State Legislature to potentially revive discussion. On May 21, 2023, the Minnesota House of Representatives and Minnesota Senate passed an omnibus transit bill that removed the study ban for the Dan Patch line.
Metro is a transit network in Minnesota serving the cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. It also provides service to some suburban areas. As of 2022, the system consists of two light rail lines and five bus rapid transit (BRT) lines all of which are operated by the local public transit company: Metro Transit. The five lines connect Downtown Minneapolis and St Paul with the Bloomington, Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport, Roseville, Richfield, Burnsville and Brooklyn Center.
A public transportation benefit area, abbreviated as PTBA, is a type of public-benefit corporation for public transit operators in the U.S. state of Washington.
Regional Development Commissions are regional governments in Minnesota made up of a board of local elected officials from counties, cities, schools boards, public interest groups and transit systems that provide cooperation and coordination on broad regional issues. The Regional Development Commissions, commonly abbreviated as RDC, were established by state law in 1969 to provide a variety of governmental assistance to local governments. They are a type of regional planning organization that have responsibility to provide technical assistance to a broad multi-county area of the state, and their functions are similar to the metropolitan planning organization in urbanized areas. As their intent was to support local governments, they frequently provide a coordinating role and generally do not exercise any type of binding authority over local matters.
The Metro D Line is a bus rapid transit line in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, Minnesota. The 18.5-mile (29.8 km) route primarily operates on Fremont and Chicago Avenues from Brooklyn Center through Minneapolis to the Mall of America in Bloomington. As part of BRT service, the D Line features "train-like amenities" including improved station facilities, off-board fare payment, modern vehicles, fewer stops, and higher frequency. The current alignment would substantially replace the existing Route 5, the highest ridership bus route in Minnesota.
