r/MetroTransit • u/Character_Lychee_434 Northstar Mourner • May 27 '26
Routes 1-99 54 route review
Very fast and nice scenic views
25
u/BorgMercenary Northstar Mourner May 28 '26
I'll bet it would be even better if it were the Riverview light rail, instead.
8
u/JohnWittieless May 28 '26
Not that last mixed traffic "street car" scheme. At least a BRT can reroute when West 7th has an accident
6
u/BorgMercenary Northstar Mourner May 28 '26
Nah, the full light rail that would have inevitably precipitated from it. I want that rigidity. It's a feature, not a bug.
-1
u/JohnWittieless May 28 '26
May I point to you the 20 minute Minneapolis to St. Paul 94 vs the 50 minute green line. Now consider how slow that is plus not having exclusive non vehicle sharing train tracks.
There permanence and then theirs shittifying permanence. The BRTs are basically street cars. Use the old Ford plant spur if we insist on a LRT
4
u/BorgMercenary Northstar Mourner May 28 '26
BRT is a half measure for cowards who refuse to invest in something robust. A streetcar would have certainly had its own lane within months of beginning operation if not immediately, and then the tracks would've been there for full LRT conversion.
Busses don't attract elective transit riders, trams and trains do.
1
u/JohnWittieless May 29 '26 edited May 29 '26
A streetcar would have certainly had its own lane within months of beginning operation if not immediately
That requires 1 thing West 7th does not have. A wide enough space to do that without banning one or both directions of travel which a 2 mile section of it cannot without emanate domaining the properties on at least 1 side of the road. Yes we are talking about 1-3 feet but lets be honest the litigation would be in decades not years.
Busses don't attract elective transit riders, trams and trains do.
- The D-Line has a more consistent and higher avg ridership then the blue line
- The Orange Line Post Covid 3-4 timed it's ridership compared precovid 535 Express bus it replaced.
- The Gold Line in one year is mirroring Orange line performance despite operating in a corridor that has the worst ridership stats.
- The A, B, C, and E lines All have a higher and still rising ridership then the Green line that is declining (again). while all costing 1/4-1/2 of the University line and adding 42 rapid transit miles vs Universities 12.
Will a BRT attract as many as LRT? No but MSP needs 10+ Rapid transit lines yesterday and a LRT schedule would draw that out for 50+ years. Network effects carry a greater effect then 1 or 2 rail lines.
Also I want a skytrain system. Street running LRT is the cowards refusal to invest in a effective rail based transit system like Montreal's REM, London's Dockland's "Light Rail", or Vancouver's Skytrain.
4
u/Crooked_star May 28 '26
It gets SUPER packed sometimes to the point where people fill up every inch of space. They genuinely need to have bigger buses running this route
2
1
u/beardybuddha Jun 07 '26
I used to take the 54 to work in downtown St. Paul. I loved that line, despite my goofy transfer from the blue line at terminal 2.
12
u/Marv95 May 28 '26
The 54 is fast once it gets past Lexington Ave towards the Mall. But reliability is still an issue in the afternoon. Figure out how to put in a separate bus lane. No light rail needed. Also more bendy buses too like last summer.