Pawlenty today on MPR decided to start complaning about how Metro Transit has too many busses with too few people in them -- this is even though they beat the average of their peer group for passengers per revenue hour.
So, this brings around that Pawlenty wants a new, effective kind of transit system -- simply doing better than those who have similar situations isn't good enough. It's too bad that he isn't willing to work with Minneapolis to start this new kind of system -- one where transit is part of the infrastructure building and operating costs.
The problem with this city is not unwilling riders, it is the lack of useful (ie: the kind of service flexible enough for citizens to put into their daily schedule) commuter service in many areas.
Minneapolis is aiming high to a doubling of transit users in the corridor 10 years faster than Pawlenty and the Metropolitan Council are looking for over the entire metro area. The State either needs to "put up or shut up" on transit issues, so we stop getting lots of talk and more true action. We've seen this inaction with the Northstar Commuter Rail project, and I think Minneapolis is unwilling to let it happen to them.
