Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
How is Minneapolis' transit system planned better?
We've had this discussion before man. First I'll start with buses. The Minneapolis metro bus system while not perfect, is a lot more useful. You have pretty good coverage in the cities and most suburbs plus a lot of park and ride stations and express commuter buses for people who work downtown. They operate all day, some routes have overnight service, and they go to most important destinations. Now, even you have to admit the DART buses are pretty useless. They go nowhere. All you have to do is look at the mostly empty buses rolling down Spring Creek or anywhere else as proof. Why don't they have coverage in the suburbs?
Second is the rail network. Minneapolis' existing line connects downtown with the airport and the Mall of America. The line that will open next year will connect downtown with the University of Minnesota, The State Capitol, The Midway Neighborhood, and Downtown St. Paul. A third line that will start construction a couple years from now will connect downtown with the chain of lakes area and to the big job centers in the southwest suburbs. Plus all of the big pro sports and college stadiums will be on the lines which brings extra riders on game days. DART's problem is that the lines don't go to any major destinations. They just go from downtown to a bunch of random suburbs. Having suburban lines is important but it's even more important to have a line that connects big destinations to each other, that makes a viable network. You've said before that DART is going to connect with the airport soon so that's a good start. Unfortunately with everything being so spread out in DFW I think that'll be the best they can do. That's not an excuse for previous bad planning though.
Minneapolis has St Paul next door and the Mall of America to compete with. Stop making excuses.
Dallas and Fort Worth are far larger, more powerful, and further apart, thus they do compete more. Its not making excuses, its seeing the obvious. The suburbs in DFW are also far larger and more powerful than in the Twin Cities and so Dallas and Fort Worth compete with them far more.
We've had this discussion before man. First I'll start with buses. The Minneapolis metro bus system while not perfect, is a lot more useful. You have pretty good coverage in the cities and most suburbs plus a lot of park and ride stations and express commuter buses for people who work downtown. They operate all day, some routes have overnight service, and they go to most important destinations. Now, even you have to admit the DART buses are pretty useless. They go nowhere. All you have to do is look at the mostly empty buses rolling down Spring Creek or anywhere else as proof. Why don't they have coverage in the suburbs?
Second is the rail network. Minneapolis' existing line connects downtown with the airport and the Mall of America. The line that will open next year will connect downtown with the University of Minnesota, The State Capitol, The Midway Neighborhood, and Downtown St. Paul. A third line that will start construction a couple years from now will connect downtown with the chain of lakes area and to the big job centers in the southwest suburbs. Plus all of the big pro sports and college stadiums will be on the lines which brings extra riders on game days. DART's problem is that the lines don't go to any major destinations. They just go from downtown to a bunch of random suburbs. Having suburban lines is important but it's even more important to have a line that connects big destinations to each other, that makes a viable network. You've said before that DART is going to connect with the airport soon so that's a good start. Unfortunately with everything being so spread out in DFW I think that'll be the best they can do. That's not an excuse for previous bad planning though.
First of all DART serves 12 suburbs and to be apart of DART, a city has to vote on a one cent sales tax. A vast majority of the suburbs, including Arlington doesn't want to be apart of DART because of it. The buses in Dallas can take you to anywhere in the city. The trains alone can take you to/near Dallas Love Field, Fair Park, The American Airlines Center, The Convention Center, The Southwestern Medical District, Dallas Market Center, The Dallas Zoo, etc. DART only has rail and bus service to member cities. Like a said a vast majority of the system is totally with the City of Dallas.
Dallas and Fort Worth are far larger, more powerful, and further apart, thus they do compete more. Its not making excuses, its seeing the obvious. The suburbs in DFW are also far larger and more powerful than in the Twin Cities and so Dallas and Fort Worth compete with them far more.
I figured as much. I mentioned that in my previous posts. Coincidentally MSP created the Met Council in the 60's to prevent the very thing you're talking about. It was created to prevent suburbs and other entities from constantly competing and poaching jobs and other resources from each other. This is why all the major amenities and destinations are centrally located and easy to get too which will make any future transit system more efficient unlike in DFW where the airport, universities, businesses, stadiums, and other places are stupidly scattered in random directions which means driving 10 miles out of your way to get to anything. It also prevented businesses from being scattered all over the place, instead the majority of the jobs and company hq's in the metro are centrally located. It also was ahead of it's time back then for preventing farmland from being destroyed to build cheap tract housing. That's way we have an abundance of local and organic farms just 20 miles from the city which is also why we have so many farmers markets and co-ops. Anyway, all this just confirms my point. The Twin Cities are more long term and forward thinking.
I figured as much. I mentioned that in my previous posts. Coincidentally MSP created the Met Council in the 60's to prevent the very thing you're talking about. It was created to prevent suburbs and other entities from constantly competing and poaching jobs and other resources from each other. This is why all the major amenities and destinations are centrally located and easy to get too which will make any future transit system more efficient unlike in DFW where the airport, universities, businesses, stadiums, and other places are stupidly scattered in random directions which means driving 10 miles out of your way everywhere. It also prevented businesses from being scattered all over the place, instead the majority of the jobs and company hq's in the metro are centrally located. It also was ahead of it's time back then for preventing farmland from being destroyed to built housing. That's way we have an abundance of local and organic farms just 20 miles from the city which is also why we have so many farmers markets and co-ops. Anyway, all this just confirms my point. The Twin Cities are more long term and forward thinking.
Even with all that, it's still not growing faster than DFW.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
