Tim is correct, the bus strike is a metro-wide issue. I looked at the roads on which Metro Transit Busses run and found that the bus strike is substantially a SUBURBAN issue! Suburbanites should be rioting in the streets due to the loss of Metro Transit Service. I suppose that they would if they were not too busy walking to work and finding other ways to get around.
Some facts about metro transit routes: There are 5,385 miles of road on which Metro Transit busses operate in the metropolitan area. Only 1,521 miles (20%) of these are in the city of Minneapolis, and less than 500 miles are in the city of St. Paul. 72% of the road-miles covered by METRO Transit busses are in the suburbs. Moreover, commuting in general is a metro-wide issue. In Mr. Searles' Waconia township, many of his neighbors commute into the city of Minneapolis each and every (work) day. In fact, according to 2000 census data, the city of Minneapolis ranks 7th as a commuting destination for Mr. Searles' neighbors in Waconia township. A question was also raised how our transit (bus) system compares with other cities. The metro council has done a large amount of the research for us. The Metropolitan Council published a transportation system audit in 2001: http://www.metrocouncil.org/planning/transportation/Audit2001/ExecSumm.pdf Some of the Met Council�s key findings: *Twin Cities congestion is increasing substantially faster than congestion in other regions. *In 1999, Twin Cities citizens experienced 38,445,000 hours of delay due to the volume of traffic on the roadway system. *From 1982 to 1999, per capita delay in the Twin Cities increased more than twelve-fold whereas for the peer cities it increased about five-fold, and the large city averages increased about sixfold. *For the past three years, Twin Cities residents cited congestion as the biggest problem in the region by an annual study conducted by Metro State University. *The region has seen substantial transit ridership growth. *Metro Transit has provided the largest amount of ridership growth in the region over the last six years. *In 1997, the Metropolitan Council set the goal of doubling overall transit ridership by 2020. At the end of the year 2000, the Council was approximately four million rides per year ahead of this goal. *Gross cost per passenger increased at a rate lower than the rate of inflation from 1996 to 2000. *From 1996 to 2000, passengers per revenue hour for peer systems increased 2.5% while they increased 15.1% for Twin Cities systems overall. As a result, the Twin Cities systems moved from 79% to 89% of the peer average � a remarkable achievement. *The Twin Cities cost to provide was 9.4% less expensive than the peer average on a cost per hour of service basis. *Twin Cities operating costs per passenger are on par with its peers. *Twin Cities total operating funding per capita is 15% lower than the average for its peers or $17.90 less per capita than the average for the region. The region would have to spend almost $45 million per year more to reach the average for its peers. *The Twin Cities ranks high in the percentage of costs recovered from fares. Fare recovery is 31% higher than the average for the peers. *Twin Cities subsidies per capita are 23% lower than average for its peers. Randall Cutting Seward ||Tim Erickson|| > In the interest of facilitating a metro wide discussion of the bus > strike, I've agreed to help out in the E-Democracy TC-METRO ISSUES > forum, at least through the strike. > > NOTE: We are looking for a list manager for this list. > > To participate in a Metro-wide discussion of the bus strike, please join > us at: > > http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/tcmetro > > The bus strike is a Metro-wide issue and deserves a metro wide > discussion. > > Best wishes, > > > -- > Tim Erickson > List Manager > St. Paul Issues Forum > http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ > Hamline Midway Resident > 651-643-0722 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > St. Paul Links - http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/links.html > > "The St. Paul Issues Forum is a interactive e-mail discussion on > important issues about St. Paul public policy. Participation is free > and open to anyone. We currently have about 350 concerned citizens and > community leaders subscribed to our discussion." > REMINDERS: > 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the > troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. > > For state and national discussions see: > http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: > http://e-democracy.org/mninteract > ________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn > E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
