Minnesota Valley Transit Authority

Minnesota Valley Transit Authority
Founded 1990
Headquarters Burnsville, Minnesota
Locale Minneapolis-St. Paul (southern region), including:
Burnsville
Eagan
Apple Valley
Savage
Rosemount
Lakeville[lower-alpha 1]
Shakopee
Prior Lake
Service type Bus
Routes 30
Fleet 146
Daily ridership 9,500 (Q3 2012)[1]
Operator Schmitty and Sons[2]
Executive Director Beverley Miller
Website http://www.mvta.com

The Minnesota Valley Transit Authority, also known by the acronym MVTA, is a public transportation agency that provides fixed-route and demand-responsive public bus services between various communities in the southern portion of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, and to select destinations within Minneapolis and St. Paul, located in Minnesota.

The agency's name refers to the river valley along the Minnesota River in the region.

Service area

The MVTA service area currently includes the cities of Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Lakeville and Rosemount in Dakota County; and the cities of Savage, Shakopee[3] and Prior Lake[3] in Scott County.

MVTA also provides service from these areas to key destinations in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, as well as the Mall of America in Bloomington.

Governance and structure

MVTA was created in 1990 through a joint powers agreement between the member municipalities and counties. The agreement was executed under a 1984 Minnesota statute that allowed suburban communities in the metropolitan area to create their own transit agencies independent of Metro Transit, the region's primary public transit provider. MVTA was one of several suburban transit agencies (also known as "opt-outs") that were formed as a result.

MVTA is governed by an eight-member board, each member representing the governing body of a member jurisdiction, plus one at-large member and several ex officio members.

In 2002, the City of Prior Lake withdrew membership from the MVTA.

In 2013, the MVTA starts providing service to Lakeville, even though it is not apart of the company's service party.

In September 2014, the City of Prior Lake re-joined the MVTA and the City of Shakopee had its membership administered.[3]

Service

MVTA's service is designed primarily to transport passengers from the residential suburbs within its service area to job and activity centers in Minneapolis and St. Paul. While the majority of the agency's ridership is concentrated during peak periods of travel (rush hour), MVTA service operates seven days per week and up to 18 hours per day on some routes.

METRO Red Line

The METRO Red Line is a bus rapid transit line running along Cedar Avenue (State Highway 77/County Road 23) from the Mall of America to Apple Valley Transit Station. Due to extreme traffic congestion between Highway 62/Mall of America & County Road 42, enhanced public transit was needed. The METRO Red Line was chosen for the transitway as an alternative for regular driver's who want a faster way across the Cedar Avenue Bridge. Additions for the new service include: The addition of many new stations and park & ride lots, and changes to existing bus routes & the addition of new local and express bus service. MVTA began service on the METRO Red Line on June 22, 2013.

METRO Orange Line

In January 2005, MNDOT released their plans to improve transit service on the corridor in I-35W. They chose BRT as the best option. Changes will include: expansion of Metro Transit Route 535's service from just weekdays to everyday service and coversion into METRO Orange Line BRT with a route extension to Kenrick Avenue P&R. HOV lanes have been extended north to 42nd Street, with a freeway median station at 46th Street. Future MNDOT and Metro Transit plans show a new freeway station located on the American Blvd overpass, HOV lane extensions to Downtown Minneapolis and relocating the Lake St. station to the median of the freeway. Metro Transit will be the primary operator of the line (with the MVTA being a project partner). Construction of stations is expected to start in 2017, with the line anticipated to open in 2019.

Robert Street Transitway

In 2007, Dakota County completed a study on the Robert Street Corridor. The modes of transit considered are Light Rail Transit, Streetcar and Bus Rapid Transit. The MVTA communities of Eagan and Rosemount comprise the south end of the corridor.

BlueXpress

BlueXpress buses prior to 2015.

BlueXpress was a public transit service operated by the two cities of Prior Lake and Shakopee. It consisted of five bus routes, the 490, 491, 492, 496, and 498.

In September 2014, the two cities reached a deal with the MVTA to merge their services. As of 1 January 2015, all former BlueXpress services and its five routes are now operated by the MVTA.

Bus routes

Routes last effective: May 21, 2016
Next effective changes: August 20, 2016

Notes

Routes 460, 464, 465, 470, 472, 476, 477, 478, 479, 491, and 492 make stops at the I-35W Lake Street/Powderhorn Station

A demonstration route between Dakota County Technical College, Rosemount and Apple Valley is being considered for operation.

Route 436 offers service from the 46th Street METRO Blue Line Station to Ecolab, Boulder Lakes and Thomson Reuters in Eagan.
Route 440 offers rush-hour service to VA Medical Center.
Route 465 offers service from Burnsville to the South Bloomington Transit Center and the University of Minnesota campus.
Route 475 offers direct service to both the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Zoo.
Route 489 offers service from Union Depot in Downtown St. Paul to Ecolab, Boulder Lakes and Thomson Reuters in Eagan.
Route 491 offers service from Cedar Grove/Eagan to Southbridge Crossings in Shakopee.
Route 490 offers service from Marschall Road Transit Station/Shakopee to the University of Minnesota.
Route 495 demonstration route between Mall of America, Burnsville and Shakopee being slated for operation starting on August 20.[4]

Route 420

(Flex Route — Apple Valley to/from Rosemount)

Route 421

(Flex Route — Burnsville/Savage Circular)

Route 426

(Shuttle Route — Burnsville)

Route 436

(Local/Limited Stop Reverse Commute — Eagan to/from Minneapolis)

Route 437

(Reverse Commute — Eagan to/from Cedar Grove)

Route 438

(Local Route - Eagan)

Route 440

(Local Route — Apple Valley to/from Minneapolis)

Route 442

(Local Route — Apple Valley to/from Burnsville)

Route 444

(Local Bus Stop Route - Savage & Burnsville to/from Bloomington)

Route 445

(Local Bus Stop Route — Eagan to/from Cedar Grove)

Route 446

(Local Route — Eagan to/from Minneapolis)

Route 460

(Express Route — Burnsville to/from Downtown Minneapolis)

Route 464

(Express Bus Stop Route — Savage to/from Downtown Minneapolis)

Route 465

(Express/Limited Stop Route — Burnsville to/from University of Minnesota)

Route 470

(Express Route — Eagan to/from Downtown Minneapolis)

Route 472

(Express Route - Eagan to/from Downtown Minneapolis)

Route 475

(Express Route - Apple Valley to/from University of Minnesota)

Route 476

(Express Route - Rosemount to/from Downtown Minneapolis)

Route 477

(Express Route - Lakeville to/from Downtown Minneapolis)

Route 478

(Express Route — Rosemount to/from Downtown Minneapolis)

Route 479

(Express Route — Apple Valley to/from Downtown Minneapolis)

Route 480

(Express Bus Stop Route — Apple Valley, Burnsville & Eagan to/from Downtown Saint Paul)

Route 484

(Express Route — Eagan to/from Downtown Saint Paul)

Route 489

(Limited Stop Reverse Commute — Downtown Saint Paul to/from Eagan)

Route 490

(Express Route — University of Minnesota to/from Prior Lake & Shakopee)

Route 491

(Limited Stop Reverse Commute — Downtown Minneapolis to/from Eagan, Shakopee & Prior Lake)

Route 492

(Limited Stop Reverse Commute — Downtown Minneapolis to/from Eagan, Prior Lake)

Route 493

(Express Route — Shakopee to/from Downtown Minneapolis)

Route 495

(Express Route - Shakopee to/from the Mall of America)

Route 497

(Local Route — Shakopee)

Route 499

(Local Route — Shakopee)

Transit centers / park-and-rides

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ At the moment, Lakeville is not really apart of the MVTA's official service roster, however there is one express route, Route 477, that serves Lakeville Cedar Park and Ride.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/10/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.