I don’t know about you, but once I was an adult, I felt like I was supposed to know how to do things. And since I had never ridden a Metro Transit bus, not knowing how it works is one of the things that kept me from taking the bus instead of driving.
There are some useful bus lines in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood, connecting us with places we need to go. Now you can join some of your St. Anthony Park neighbors to ride the bus together as part of Meet the Bus, a program created by the Transportation Action Group of Transition Town—All St. Anthony Park.
We have four dates scheduled where we will meet at specific locations, have information on how the Metro Transit prepaid Go Cards work and have bus schedules to share. Once the weather warms up, we’ll do some biking, too.
Here are some dates, times and places where you can meet your neighbors and learn how to ride the bus:
Saturday, April 18, 1 p.m.: Meet at the northwest corner of Raymond and Como avenues (by Salon Ling) to take the No. 87 bus down Raymond to Hampden Park Co-op. If it’s nice, we can sit in Hampden Park for a while, then return on the bus. Bring cloth shopping bags or your own cart if you have one‚ or just come along for the ride. (Anyone within walking distance of the co-op is welcome to meet us there, too.)
Saturday, May 16, 1 p.m.: Take a dry run to the airport. Meet at Doswell and Como avenues (at the northeast corner, kitty-corner from Speedy Market) to take the No. 3 bus to the Blue Line light rail to the airport. This is an affordable way to get to the airport. If you want to, you can split off on the return trip to visit the Mall of America.
Friday, June 19, 1 p.m.: Meet in the park-and-ride lot at Como Avenue and Eustis Street (kittycorner from HealthPartners) to take the No. 30 bus to the Green Line to Surly Brewing Co. in Prospect Park. South St. Anthony Park folks can meet up at the Green Line’s Raymond Avenue Station around 1:25 p.m. We’ll go into the brewery for a snack or a beer and then return.
Saturday, July 18, 1 p.m.: Meet at the community garden on Robbins Street just off of Raymond Avenue with your bike. We’ll take the University of Minnesota Transitway to Dinkytown, then cross the Mississippi on the bike-only bridge, return by the Stone Arch Bridge, and finally make our way back to the neighborhood. We may make a stop for a malt at Annie’s Parlour in Dinkytown, or other ideas are welcome. This is a great trip for families and anyone who wants to understand the bike connections into Minneapolis.
Bus fare will be $1.75 each way for the May 16 and possibly June 19 trips, depending on how long we stay at Surly. The co-op trip should be short enough to allow a return trip on the original fare payment. Exact change will help.
If you are interested in working on transportation, or have any questions about the Meet the Bus events, email Pat Thompson, transportation@transitionasap.org.
Pat Thompson is a member of the Transportation Action Group of Transition Town—All St. Anthony Park.
