Metro D Line (Minnesota)

The Metropolitan Council, the metropolitan planning organization for the Twin Cities, completed a 2030 Transit Master Study for the region in 2008 which identified arterial bus network corridors and encouraged further study of arterial bus rapid transit projects. The study identified some corridors that the potential for high ridership but lacked the necessary space for dedicated running way for transit. Those 11 routes served 90,000 riders per weekday, which was close to half of the total ridership for urban routes. Ridership on implemented routes was predicted to increase 20 to 30 percent after the first year of opening. Corridors were evaluated on capital and operating costs, potential ridership, and travel time savings. At the time, an opening for the first BRT line was hoped to open in 2014. The A Line was selected as the first corridor for study in 2012 with the line opening in 2016. The Chicago Avenue corridor was one of the original 11 corridors identified in the Arterial Transitway Corridors Study but it did not include the northern section of Route 5 which travels from downtown Minneapolis to Brooklyn Center Transit Center via Emerson and Fremont Avenues. While the original Arterial Transitway Corridors Study was ongoing, the Metro Blue Line Extension project was undergoing planning stages that could have placed the LRT line on Penn Avenue. The Penn Avenue corridor was determined to be too narrow and not possible without significant right of way impacts so the Metro Blue Line Extension alignment was moved to along Olson Memorial Highway and the BNSF freight corridor. This alignment would avoid most of north Minneapolis but the city of Minneapolis agreed to the decision in exchange for moving two bus rapid transit projects that travelled through north Minneapolis to Brooklyn Center Transit Center to the top of the development schedule. The Penn Avenue corridor was identified as the C Line and in 2014 became the second arterial bus rapid transit project to start development after the B Line project was postponed so the corridor could undergo study as the Riverview Corridor. The C Line opened in 2019. The D Line became the third project to enter planning stages and in 2017 hosted open houses where Metro Transit estimated construction could start by 2020 if funding was secured. Governor Mark Dayton included $50 million for the D Line in his bonding bill request in 2018. Funding was again supported by Governor Walz and regional leaders in 2019 but did not secure funding in the state budget. In October 2020, the project received full funding from the Minnesota Legislature with an anticipated opening date of late 2022. The $26 million contract to construct the line was approved in February 2021 by the Metropolitan Council. Construction began April 5, 2021, with an informal groundbreaking at Chicago and Franklin Avenues. Testing of transit signal priority and training for bus drivers operating the route were ongoing by early November 2022. The D Line opened on December 3, 2022, coinciding with the quarterly service change. ==Service==

The D Line runs every 10–15 minutes on all days of the week. While Route 5 offered 24-hour a day service prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the D Line only runs from 4:00 AM to 1:30 AM daily. Reduced frequencies are offered in early mornings or late evenings. Underlying service via Route 5, which continues to stop at every current bus stop, is still be offered even though 75% of riders currently board within one block of a station. Route 5 currently runs the length of the corridor but reduced in frequency to every 30–60 minutes and contract in length to just between Brooklyn Center Transit Center to the north and 56th St to the south. While the underlying service on the Green Line, A Line, and C Line was eventually suspended due to bus driver shortages, Route 5 will still be offered for at least the first few years of D Line service. Service will be retained to maintain travel options for those with limited mobility and to better understand ridership changes as Metro Transit expects most current riders of Route 5 to shift to the D Line. Branches on Route 5 that serve 26th Ave N and schooldays service to 44th and Penn Ave will be eliminated. A service equity analysis was completed as part of a Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 analysis found that the majority of residents in the area would receive an increase in transit service and that BIPOC residents would receive a greater increase than white residents. ==Route==

installed in 2021, just like this C Line bus. The D Line would travel north from Mall of America to downtown Minneapolis via American Boulevard, Portland Avenue, and Chicago Avenue. While in downtown Minneapolis, the route would travel on one-way pairs of 7th and 8th Streets, before traveling along 7th Street to Plymouth Avenue in North Minneapolis. From there, the route travels on the Fremont and Emerson Avenues one-way pairs before reconnecting on Lowry Avenue and continuing on Fremont Avenue. Once the route reaches 44th Avenue, it travels west and eventually follows the route of the C Line to Brooklyn Center Transit Center via Brooklyn Boulevard. The line would largely replace Metro Transit's Route 5 which in 2017 provided 19,500 weekday rides. With over 120 northbound and southbound trips daily on Route 5, 23 buses were required to serve the line during peak periods. ==Infrastructure==

The route primarily operates in mixed traffic but there are some segments with bus-only lanes. Northbound through downtown Minneapolis the route travels on 24/7 bus lanes on 7th Street which were created in 2021. A bus-only lane installed in 2019 also exists on Chicago Ave just north of Lake Street. Plans for adding transit signal priority to 19 intersections on the north portion of the route and 12 on the south end were unveiled in 2017 with a planned opening in 2018. Construction of the D Line added to this total so by opening over 50 intersections have transit signal priority. Most intersections with transit signal priority are on the main trunk of Emerson Ave, Fremont Ave, or Chicago Ave. Signals extend green signal length or shorten red signals but do not preempt signals as emergency vehicles do. Stations on the line have modular shelters with heat and light. Other features at stations are real-time transit information, and safety features like emergency phones and security cameras. Customers pay for their fares offboard buses using Go-to card readers or ticket vending machines at stations. Travel times are expected to be up to 25% faster than the Route 5 service the D Line primarily replaces. ==List of stations==