Northstar phase-out leaves riders with uncertainties
Metro Transit is planning on phasing Northstar service out of the north metro. As service plans to shift from rails to new bus lines, Metro Transit held an informational open house on April 29 at Anoka City Hall — but the session left visitors frustrated with unanswered questions.
“We were notified back in March and told that buses will be the solution,” said Sara Otto, a Wright County resident who frequently rides the Northstar out of the Big Lake station. “There’s been no detail for those of us outside of the Metropolitan Council, they’re not addressing anything at all. We’re supposedly one of the two biggest stations. There’s nothing being done about a solution.”
Otto brought up the concern of many visitors to the open house. Many of them came from outside of Anoka County, but still utilize the Big Lake, Elk River or Ramsey stops on the Northstar route.
Metro Transit’s current plan is to replace the Northstar with bus routes serving the same areas. But the Met Council, which oversees Metro Transit, does not have the authority to run buses in Sherburne and Wright counties, which several concerned riders came to represent.
“I feel like they don’t care,” said Michelle Trevisan, another Wright County rider. “If they cared about our opinion, they would have had people who make these decisions here to answer our questions.”
“It feels like they’re pulling the wool over our eyes, especially the guy who authored the bill,” said rider Diane Lacina, referring to Rep. Jon Koznick, R-Lakeville, and his legislation to end the Northstar line. “Why is it always the southern suburbs that get everything? We get nothing. It took them 30 years to start work on Highway 10.”
Several Metro Transit employees were present at the open house, and directed media to reach out to its communications department for any further information not on the informational boards present. Comment sheets were also present for visitors to write down and share their thoughts.
The information available at the open house included a post-pandemic study of Northstar ridership, breaking down operating costs and falling ridership rates. Wright County rider Renae Cipala saw the move as premature with federal and state agencies recently requiring their employees to return to offices full-time.
“There are possibly other employers that will follow suit,” Cipala said. “They won’t have the number of vehicles to be able to handle that.”
Cipala remembers a time before the Northstar line, when buses would be standing room only to the Twin Cities proper during the morning commute. She has been a Northstar regular ever since. That ridership has been affected, however, with limited pandemic era train scheduling remaining in place to the present day, restricting the times and number of trips the Northstar takes to the north metro per day.
“With the Northstar in general, if it would have been operating at the level that was promised from the get-go, it would have seen better ridership,” Cipala said. “Some people have no flexibility for when they can clock in. I’m not going to get on the 5 a.m. train only to get to work and have to wait outside for two hours.”
Daily commuters were not the only ones present at the open house. Eric Swedberg and his son, Charlie, were both in attendance from Elk River. Charlie takes the Northstar to the Fridley station each day to catch a shuttle bus to Totino-Grace to attend high school. Charlie has autism and is unable to drive himself, making the Northstar the only way he has ever known to get to school.
“My oldest son took the train all four years of high school,” Eric said. “Charlie is a junior. He’s been taking it since he was a freshman. It’s always been here, and they said it always would be.”
There were also riders who were used to taking the Northstar against the flow of workday traffic. Ian R. Buck was there with stress.mn, a nonprofit that shares information about Minnesota’s transportation and land use. He took the Northstar from Minneapolis to Anoka for the open house. Buck frequently takes the Northstar and a Northstar link to make it to St. Cloud — with his bike in tow.
Credit to Elk River Star News
