My wife and I got two of the last seats northbound around 7:30 a.m. at the 46th St. station this morning. She'll be a regular rider on her way downtown and I'll use it to and from the airport on a regular basis. About 7 folks were lined up to get their fare cards when a train approached ... the staff said, here "for today, is a one-trip pass, we don't want you to miss the train."
I was honestly surprised how many people were on the train even considering the fact it probably the biggest rush time. As a frequent subway/train user in other places, it was excitingly odd to watch a half dozen people converge _in my hometown_ from various sidewalks around 46th St and 34th Ave on their way to the station. Around the Riverside stop, we even had a bit of entertainment when someone from B96 radio went live on radio via his cell phone trying to find people in the car who had heard of the station. As homeworker, I simply needed to stop a Kinko's. Since moving out of Uptown last month, the train makes the one downtown pretty convenient. On the way home, I stopped by the family-owned Hamlin's Coffee Shop <http://www.citypages.com/bestof2002/restaurants/bestof1715.asp> for a little breakfast. The discussion around the lunch bar was all about the weekend light rail opening ... someone showing off their paper model train from the weekend as well. I let the waitress know I was their first official new light rail delivered customer. On the way home around 9:30 a.m., I bought a ticket just fine. I watched a blind woman go down the track and get a bit perplexed when her cane bumped into a camera man on the ground trying to get a shot of the train from track level. We both hurried to the far end of the platform and easily made it on to the train. It was obviously much easier for someone with sight issues to get on a train than a bus. Also, it was clear how important those little bumps on the yellow edge are to help people from falling off of the platform. On the way home, I happened to speak with a Channel 5 reporter at length. She mentioned that earlier, going south, lots of people (Somali's, etc.) from Riverside were headed to the airport via the bus connection. I am not sure if I'll go to the airport before the train goes all the way through though. Sincerely, Steven Clift P.S. My wife wants to know who to call about getting a cup of coffee at 46th St. and 34th Ave. The nifty Minnehaha Cafe is a couple blocks across the vast Hiawatha Ave. and I doubt the Sunrise Bar won't be adding early morning coffee. :-) 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
