Jeanne Massey wrote: I am a supporter of LRT and am excited by it's initial success. I can't say the same for a friend of mine who is transit dependent. He is nearly blind and depends solely on the bus to get to and from work and other places. He does not live close enough to an LRT station to use it. According to him, the change in his bus (#14 running n/s on Bloomington Ave S. and e/w on 38th, now) to and from work is a halving in the frequency going n/s, from every 15 to 30 minutes, to allow the rerouting of the line to run e/w on 38th to feed LRT).
Mark Anderson response: It's interesting that you wrote this. The #14 is the bus I take to go downtown, so I've already looked at the changes. When I first heard that the #14 was going to intersect the LRT, I got really ticked, and thought that the MTC was doing something really stupid. After investigating it some more, I realized that it wouldn't affect me, or many others, too severely, so I calmed down. I still think it's a stupid move, but it doesn't hurt too many people. I guess your friend is one of the few it does hurt. The #14 historically started at 54th St and Bloomington on the south side of the route, moved up mostly Bloomington Ave. to downtown, then continued north, and ended up near North Memorial Hospital on the north side of the route. When I've been on the bus, it has emptied out significantly as it moved south, and was pretty empty for the southern 15 blocks of the route. So in June the MTC decided to make half the #14 buses turn at 38th St. instead of going down to 54th, and then take a circuitous route, mostly down 42nd St., and end up at the 38th St LRT station. I can see why the MTC cut off that little used southern 16 blocks of the route. On the other hand, I can think of almost no one who would purposefully take the #14 from Bloomington Ave. to the LRT station. There is already a good bus route down 38th St., so that isn't needed. There are much better routes from downtown to the 38th St. station than the new #14. Most people who live along the #14 route and want to get to the train would be better off taking an East/West bus than using the 14. I think the MTC wanted to show as many routes as possible intersecting the LRT, so they took a little used portion of the 14, and sent half the route's buses that way. It won't be carrying many folks, but it does serve to benefit the bus company for political purposes. Mark V Anderson Bancroft 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
