Buses Still Stopping at Local Park-and-Rides—For Now

Bus service at Lake Minnetonka park-and-rides remains on schedule, so far unaffected by the shutdown of state government. Wayzata, Orono and Mound all have park-and-ride locations, used by hundreds of people each day.

Mound resident Greg St. Peter is no longer able to drive due to a medical condition, so he depends on the Metro Transit buses.

After running a few errands in Wayzata on Friday afternoon, St. Peter waited for the 1:13 p.m. eastbound bus. Heading to Minneapolis to visit a friend, he proudly showed off his tickets to tonight’s Twins vs. Brewers game.

“I don’t follow the news or politics much, but I was paying attention to this shutdown business yesterday because I wasn’t sure if I would even be able to make it to the ballpark tonight if the buses weren’t running,” he said. “It was a relief.”

While state government officially shutdown at 12:01 Friday morning, St. Peter and the tens of thousands of other commuters who use Metro Transit, the Hiawatha light rail line and the Northstar commuter rail can expect service to continue uninterrupted—though not indefinitely.

"All transit service will continue operating as normal beyond the potential shutdown date,” said Metro Transit spokesman John Siqveland.

The Met Council, which operates most transit systems in the metro, is a political subdivision, not a state agency, and can run independently to some degree, with its own administration and reserve funds. However, nearly a fifth of funding for regional transit through the Met Council comes from the state general fund, according to Siqveland. By using reserves, the Met Council can continue to operate services for several weeks.

“The goal is that all transit, the transit network, will operate as-is for that entire period,” Siqveland said.

However, reserve funds will not last indefinitely without a state transportation budget resolution.

“It’s not known exactly how long (the funds will last) because we don’t know exactly what the different forces are going to be changing over the next few weeks,” Siqveland said.

A specific plan for what would happen if reserves are tapped has not yet been worked out, Siqveland added, and will be developed over the next few weeks, if necessary.

The size of cuts to emerge from any budget negotiations is unknown, but fare increases and service reductions would occur in response to any major reductions.

A series of public hearings on the proposed transit cuts is scheduled to begin next Wednesday, July 6.