Metro Transit to expand on-demand ride service to Roseville and Woodbury

Peter Rickmeyer doesn’t own a car and using traditional public transportation isn’t always convenient. But with on-demand rides, he is always able to get where he needs to go.

Rickmeyer uses a mobile app about 100 times a month to arrange rides on Metro Transit Micro, the agency’s curb-to-curb service that debuted about 1½ years ago in north Minneapolis. Micro is meant to fill the gap and connect riders like Rickmeyer who live far from bus stops with fixed-route transit lines or take them to places buses do not go.

By the end of the year, the popular service will expand to the suburbs of Roseville and Woodbury, said Adam Harrington, Metro Transit’s director of service development.

Harrington said Metro Transit chose to bring Metro Micro to Woodbury to make it easier for those who live or work in the east metro suburb to access the Gold Line, the new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line that will run along Interstate 94 between downtown St. Paul and Maplewood, Oakdale, Landfall and Woodbury, starting in 2025.

Customer demand was part of Metro Transit’s decision to start service in Roseville. The Rosedale Transit Station and the A-Line are popular destinations, Harrington said.

Service boundaries for the two cities will be established in the coming months, he said.

As part of its Network Now initiative to meet changing transportation needs, Metro Transit “is investing in suburban locations to tie into the transit network,” Harrington said.

Network Now is a framework the agency is using to determine where current and future service should go by considering criteria such as ridership, geographic coverage, service frequency and expanded hours.

“Lots of communities would like to have Metro Transit Micro,” Harrington said.

Some are likely to get it. Metro Transit is eyeing bringing Micro to the area around the Opus Campus in Minnetonka when the Green Line extension opens in 2027. The agency is looking at bringing Micro to Bloomington to tie in with the Orange Line BRT’s 98th Street Station, the Starlight Transit Station in Brooklyn Park, the Northtown Transit Station in Blaine, Maplewood Mall and parts of Dakota County.

Micro operates similarly to suburban on-demand ride services such as Southwest Transit’s Prime, Maple Grove Transit’s My Ride and Minnesota Valley Transit Authority’s Connect. Riders use an app to schedule a pick-up at the location of their choice. Riders pay the same fare as those using traditional buses and light-rail trains.

For Rickmeyer, Micro is the way to go.

“It gives me choices,” he said, noting he can take the mini blue bus up to Lowry Avenue or over to West Broadway and connect to Route 32 or Route 14 to get to Hy-Vee in Robbinsdale or Cub Foods in north Minneapolis. And “I can stay at home until the bus comes.”

Kaelin Braziel, of north Minneapolis, said she uses Micro because it is easy.

“Convenient,” she said on a recent Thursday as she took a 3-mile trip from her north Minneapolis neighborhood to her mother’s barbershop and salon on Washington Avenue. “It comes right to my front door.”

Micro operates between 5:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on weekends. Riders who do not have a smartphone can call 651-602-1170 to book a trip.

Quick Ramp repairs limit parking

Travelers using MSP Airport’s on-site, value-priced Quick Ride Ramp will need to make a reservation through Aug. 30 and from Sept. 9-20. Maintenance at the ramp will limit capacity. Drive-up parking will not be available. To book ahead, go to onlineparking.mspairport.com.