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Transportation panel approves plan for a Metro Transit takeover of suburban routes

By Rob Hubbard

On Feb. 18, the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee learned about the Twin Cities area’s most expensive transit routes. The members heard about 28 bus lines that had been recommended for restructuring or elimination based on ridership figures that showed the state was paying between $23.83 and $110.30 per passenger.

On Wednesday, the committee’s co-chair, Rep. Jon Koznick (R-Lakeville), presented an option for cutting these costs.

He sponsors HF4111 that would consolidate all of the Twin Cities metropolitan area’s transit operations under the umbrella of Metro Transit, which is overseen by the Metropolitan Council.

Such a proposal would mean Metro Transit taking over the operations of the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority — 18 of the 28 lines recommended to be cut are part of that system — SouthWest Transit, Plymouth MetroLink and the bus system of Maple Grove.
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