Met Council approves draft Regional Transitway Guidelines for public comment
News from Met Council
The Metropolitan Council recently approved a draft of the Regional Transitway Guidelines for the purpose of receiving public comment – a major milestone in the project that began in early 2010. Comments will be accepted through Nov. 18.
The guidelines were created to document best technical practices and provide guidance for developing transitways in corridors that will be served by commuter rail, light rail (LRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT).
“These guidelines will create an important foundation to help project partners who are planning and devoting resources to corridor development,” said Arlene McCarthy, director of Metropolitan Transportation Services for the Metropolitan Council. “Corridor development begins at the local level, and these guidelines will give local planners a place to begin, so each project doesn’t have to start from scratch.”
The effort to create the guidelines engaged policymakers, transit planners, and transit operating staff from agencies across the region serving on technical committees according to the following areas of expertise:
- Project development process, governance and management
- Runningway infrastructure (e.g., dedicated right-of-way, HOV or HOT lanes, managed lanes, bus-only shoulders or mixed traffic)
- Station spacing
- Stations and facilities
- Service operations
- Vehicles
- Fare collection systems
- Technology
- Identity and branding
- Funding
An advisory committee of policymakers, chaired by Council Member Wendy Wulff, oversaw the effort and recommended approval of the draft guidelines.
“The committees involved the region’s experts in these areas, and the draft guidelines reflect existing business practices and anticipate other areas for coordination,” McCarthy said. “We’re doing a lot of things well in this region, and the guidelines provide an opportunity to share that knowledge gained through our experiences in developed and developing corridors.”
The draft guidelines also provide flexibility so each corridor can develop according to its unique characteristics, McCarthy said.
The region’s 2030 Transportation Policy Plan outlines anticipated transitway development for the next 20 years. The region’s first transitway was the I-394 express bus corridor, now a MnPASS lane, followed by the region’s first LRT line, Hiawatha (Blue Line) in 2004. The Northstar Commuter Rail Line opened in 2009.
The Central Corridor (Green Line) LRT is under construction and set to open in 2014. The Cedar Avenue BRT line (Red Line) and the I-35W BRT line (Orange Line) are in development. The Southwest LRT line (Green Line) recently received approval from the federal government to enter preliminary engineering. And several other corridors throughout the region are being studied for development in the coming years.
The Council will receive public comment on these technical guidelines through the Regional Data Center. Public meetings will also be scheduled to receive stakeholder and public comment.
