Minnesota’s first rapid transit line mostly on a bus-only lane opens Saturday
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If you’ve ever been stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Interstate 94, you may have wished you were speeding down a car-free lane beside the highway.
That lane soon will be a reality for the Gold Line, Metro Transit’s sixth rapid transit route opening Saturday. Metro Transit says the Gold Line will be Minnesota’s first bus rapid transit line that primarily uses a bus-only lane on about 70 percent of its route.
The route will link downtown St. Paul to Woodbury via 16 stations. It’s designed to run buses in both directions about every 10 minutes on weekdays and approximately every 30 minutes on weekends during daylight hours. Unlike the other BRT lines, it’s largely not hampered by traffic jams.
“The travel time is very consistent. It doesn’t have the disadvantage you’d have in your vehicle, for example, on Interstate 94,” Alicia Vap, the Gold Line BRT project director said. “Sometimes that commute is an unpredictable time.”
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Other Twin Cities BRT lines like the Orange and Red have small sections of bus-only lanes but mostly rely on carpool lanes to beat traffic. Customers paying before boarding, accessible bus designs and traffic signal priority help make the trips “rapid.”
The Gold Line was budgeted to cost $505 million in state and federal funds, about three times more than the south metro’s Orange Line.
Almost half of the budget was covered by the Federal Transit Administration. Ramsey and Washington Counties split most of the remaining expenses.
Dedicated bus lane confuses some
On its way to Woodbury, the line crosses through Maplewood and Oakdale. Stations have on-demand heat. Screens display live bus updates.
Drivers headed west on I-94 can spot the bus-only lane north of the interstate, sometimes separated by a narrow grassy strip. The Gold Line shares the road with cars on some Woodbury streets.
The bus’ dedicated lane is hard to miss because it’s painted bright red and emblazoned with the words “BUS ONLY.”
Despite this, people who work near the lane said they’ve witnessed numerous cars driving through it. Raffiné Bridal & Formal Wear is located in a business park across from the Tamarack BRT stop in Woodbury. Co-owner Jody Heiser said she thinks the bus lane could be dangerous for individual drivers.
“Some of them will realize it once they’re in and they’ll back out, but they’re not necessarily looking at who’s coming behind them,” she said. “Some of them don’t realize it and they just keep going straight through.”
Vap said Metro Transit is prepared to deal with wayward cars. If a bus driver encounters one in the bus lane, they can call the transit control center which will notify the police. She said live camera feeds are at “strategic locations” on the line.
Angie Preiner works at Arrow Cabinet Gallery near the bridal shop. She said she’s worried about bus-only lane safety but looking forward to the jobs the line could bring to Woodbury.
“It’s bringing people into this area that normally can’t get here or wouldn’t get here,” Preiner said. “So, I’m hoping it’s a good thing, and I appreciate the upgrades to the roads.”
Attracting jobs and new businesses was one of the main reasons for building the Gold Line. Metro Transit’s website said there are over 90,000 jobs within a half mile of Gold Line stations.
New businesses have already popped up along the line in Woodbury, including a Top Golf, an entertainment center, a Washington County service building. There also are multiple new apartment complexes.
Janelle Schmitz, the community development director for Woodbury, said officials hope the line will bring job-seekers into the city to fill open positions.
“We feel transit is one of those things that some businesses look for,” Schmitz said. “This will hopefully help if they have employees with transportation barriers.”
Anna Lomnicki already commutes from Woodbury to St. Paul on the express bus, which doesn’t have other stops along its route. She said she’s looking forward to trying the Gold Line, especially if it’s faster.
“I don’t have to pay for parking downtown,” Lomnicki said. “I can do some work on the bus or I can just get those 20, 30 minutes back in the day and just play on my phone if I’m being honest. I love the bus.”
The express bus runs only during rush hours. Lomnicki drops her car off at the park and ride by the Woodbury 10 Theatre before getting on the bus. Metro Transit plans to scale back express bus service between Woodbury and St. Paul after the Gold Line opens.
In addition to new development, the Gold Line has led to some infrastructure improvements. The Bielenberg Bridge over I-94 was completed in 2023. It has both car and bus-only lanes.
The other BRTs
Before the pandemic, Metro Transit spokesperson Laura Baenen said the organization predicted the Gold Line would carry 6,000 on average each weekday. Over the last five years, bus and light rail ridership numbers plummeted and haven’t fully recovered.
The Orange Line has seen steadily increasing ridership since it opened in 2021.
Using Interstate 35, it carries about 1,800 riders between downtown Minneapolis and Burnsville every weekday.
Beside needing to zipper merge onto I-35W, the Orange Line is similar to the Gold. The stations at I-35W and 98th Street Park & Ride in Bloomington stand out from other stops because they’re larger, with sloped roofs and wind screens.
Like other BRT lines, the Orange and the Gold connect to other transit routes.
Gold Line riders can continue to Minneapolis on the Green Line at Union Depot. Metro Transit also is planning a $20 million Gold Line extension connecting St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis. Two other BRT routes, the B and the E, will be opening later this year.
Metro Transit is planning to construct a total 12 BRT lines by 2030.