Transit Operations Plans Report Prepared for: Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority Prepared by: Connetics Transportation Group Under Contract To: Kimley-Horn and Associates TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 1 2.0 Existing Service Characteristics ......................................................................................................... 2 2.1 Bottineau Project Area Facilities ........................................................................................................ 2 2.2 Urban Local Routes ............................................................................................................................ 2 2.3 Suburban Local Routes ...................................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Limited Stop and Express Routes ...................................................................................................... 8 2.5 Routes operated by Maple Grove Transit ....................................................................................... 12 3.0 NO-BUILD ALTERNATIVE .................................................................................................................. 18 3.1 No-Build Operating Requirements .................................................................................................. 19 4.0 BASELINE ALTERNATIVE .................................................................................................................. 21 4.1 Baseline alternative Transit Facilities ............................................................................................. 21 4.2 Baseline Bus Routes ....................................................................................................................... 22 4.3 Background Bus Service Plan ......................................................................................................... 23 4.3.1 Urban Local Routes ...................................................................................................................... 23 4.3.2 Suburban Local Routes ................................................................................................................ 24 4.3.3 Limited Stop/Express Routes ...................................................................................................... 25 4.3.4 Maple Grove Routes ..................................................................................................................... 26 4.4 Baseline Operating Requirements .................................................................................................. 26 5.0 LRT BUILD ALTERNATIVES ............................................................................................................... 31 5.1.1 LRT Service Plan ............................................................................................................................. 33 5.1.2 Background/Feeder Bus Service Plan ......................................................................................... 35 5.2 A-C-D2 Alternative ............................................................................................................................ 41 5.2.1 LRT Service Plan ........................................................................................................................... 41 5.2.2 Background/Feeder Bus Service Plan ......................................................................................... 42 5.3 B-C-D1 Alternative ............................................................................................................................ 45 5.3.1 LRT Service Plan ........................................................................................................................... 45 5.3.2 Background/Feeder Bus Service Plan ......................................................................................... 46 5.4 B-C-D2 Alternative ............................................................................................................................ 52 5.4.1 LRT Service Plan ........................................................................................................................... 52 5.4.2 Background/Feeder Bus Service Plan ......................................................................................... 53 5.5 LRT Operating Requirements .......................................................................................................... 53 5.6 Bus Operating Requirements .......................................................................................................... 53 Bottineau Transitway DEIS Page TOC-1 May 2012 Transit Operations Plans Report (Final) TABLE OF CONTENTS 6.0 BRT Alternative ................................................................................................................................ 59 6.1 BRT Service Plan .............................................................................................................................. 60 6.2 Background/Feeder Bus Service Plan ............................................................................................ 56 6.3 BRT Operating Requirements .......................................................................................................... 65 6.4 Bus Operating Requirements .......................................................................................................... 65 Appendix A – Route Modifications by Alternative Appendix B – LRT and BRT Operating Plan and Travel Time Assumptions Appendix C – LRT and BRT Station-to-Station Travel Times Appendix D – Bus Route Connections to LRT Stations by Alternative Appendix E – Route-Level Operating Statistics by Alternative Bottineau Transitway DEIS Page TOC-2 May 2012 Transit Operations Plans Report (Final) 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Bottineau Transitway project area extends approximately 13 miles northwest from downtown Minneapolis through the neighborhoods of north Minneapolis, and into the communities of Golden Valley, Robbinsdale, Crystal, Brooklyn Park, and Maple Grove in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Transitway alternatives that are being evaluated as part of this Draft Environmental Impact Statement (Draft EIS) are light rail transit (LRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT). This report presents proposed bus and rail operating plans for the Bottineau Transitway project alternatives. This report begins with a description of existing transit facilities and bus routes that operate in the Bottineau Transitway study area. Service plans are then presented for the following alternatives: ■ No-Build alternative ■ Baseline alternative ■ LRT alternatives ■ A-C-D1 ■ A-C-D2 ■ B-C-D1 ■ B-C-D2 ■ BRT alternative All alternatives have been defined for the Horizon Year 2030. Transit operators that are affected by the project alternatives include Metro Transit, Metropolitan Council-funded routes, and Maple Grove Transit. Route alignments and service frequencies have been defined to the level needed for coding in the travel demand model’s transit network. Service statistics are presented for each alternative for purposes of cost estimation. Scoping Decision and Alternatives to be Studied in the Draft EIS Since the initial development of this report, the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority (HCRRA) has made additional decisions regarding the alternatives to be studied in greater detail in the Draft EIS. Based on the findings from the technical analysis completed to date, along with the public and agency input received during the Scoping phase, the following alternatives will be studied in more detail in the Bottineau Transitway Draft EIS: ■ No-Build alternative ■ Baseline/TSM alternative ■ 4 LRT Build alternatives: A-C-D1, A-C-D2, B-C-D1, B-C-D2 Following the technical analysis conducted and public input received during the Scoping process, the HCRRA determined that the BRT alternative will not be studied in the Draft EIS process. Additional information reagarding the decision not to carry the BRT alternative forward is documented in this project’s Scoping Decision Document, available on the project website at www.bottineautransitway.org. Although the BRT alternative will not be carried forward for study in the Draft EIS, the details of its operations plans are included in this report for the purpose of fully documenting the assumptions that were included in the alternative. Bottineau Transitway DEIS Page 1 May 2012 Transit Operations Plans Report (Final) 2.0 EXISTING SERVICE CHARACTERISTICS The Bottineau Transitway’s transit service area is generally defined by the Mississippi River to the north and east, Highway 55 (Olson Memorial Highway) to the south, and I-494 to the west. This area is served by several Metro Transit urban and suburban routes, Maple Grove Transit, and routes operated by contract operators through Metropolitan Council funding. Following are general descriptions of transit facilities and routes that operate within the Bottineau Transitway project area. Figures 2-1, 2-2 and 2-3 at the end of this section illustrate urban local, suburban local and limited stop/express routes that operate in the project area, in addition to locations of existing transit facilities. 2.1 Bottineau Project Area Facilities There are several existing transit facilities located within the defined Bottineau Transitway project area. Existing transit facilities are