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Red Line BRT
Since transit talk in the Twin Cities tends to focus on light rail, you might not have heard about the region’s next transit line, which is set to open for service in June. The Red Line will provide bus rapid transit (BRT) service in the Cedar Avenue corridor of the South Metro, linking the Mall of America with points south in the suburbs of Eagan, Apple Valley, and Lakeville.
The Red Line will be the second in the region’s METRO system, the planned network of higher speed, higher frequency regional transit lines. The primary goal of the project is to increase mobility and manage congestion in the busy Cedar Avenue corridor, which sees about 90,000 motorists a day and 605,000 express bus riders annually. The Red Line will travel on bus-only shoulder lanes and will operate every 15 minutes during peak travel periods. Buses will serve each station with level boarding, real-time signs, and other transit advantages, much like service on the METRO Blue Line (Hiawatha LRT).
But beyond increasing transportation options in the corridor, planners are hoping that the Red Line will stimulate transit-oriented development in an area mostly known for strip malls and cul-de-sacs. Apple Valley officials hope to see more compact, mixed-use development, with urban design and pedestrian amenities.
However, thus far only one such project has materialized, a 332-unit apartment project by Denver-based Titan Development. Other development activity near Red Line stations is thus far limited to a Chick-fil-A restaurant. As an Apple Valley economic development official noted in a Finance & Commerce article, “not a real home-run project” in terms of the transit-oriented development the City would like to see.
As the line begins service this summer, planners in the corridor will be hoping to see more proposals similar to the project by Titan. But being the first BRT line in Minnesota, the Red Line will be somewhat of an experiment in determining whether bus rapid transit can be as much of a draw to transit-oriented developers as the light rail projects being built in denser areas of the metro.
