Work on Purple Line bus rapid transit continues, despite Maplewood’s opposition

Twin Cities Suburbs

Work on Purple Line bus rapid transit continues, despite Maplewood's opposition The Metropolitan Council is continuing work on the Purple Line while Maplewood officials support a different kind of transit called arterial bus rapid transit.

The Minnesota Star Tribune October 18, 2024 at 10:51PMCommuters get on the C Line arterial bus rapid transit. Maplewood officials would like similar service in their city, after voting against the Purple Line, which calls for buses to mostly operate in dedicated lanes. Arterial bus rapid transit service, which also includes the A and D lines, operates in traffic. (David Joles/The Minnesota Star Tribune) After a close and dramatic vote last month, the Maplewood City Council decided to withdraw its earlier support of the $445 million Purple Line, a long-planned bus rapid transit project linking the east metro city to downtown St. Paul.

"It's the end of the Purple Line," Mayor Marylee Abrams declared.

Well, not quite.

Last week, a key advisory committee led by the Metropolitan Council acknowledged Maplewood's action, but then calmly went about its business planning the Purple Line, which, at the moment, involves designing the Twin Cities' latest bus rapid transit line that will largely use dedicated lanes for buses.

"We will continue our curiosity, our research and our planning," said Charlie Zelle, chair of the Metropolitan Council, which would build and operate the Purple Line.

The Purple Line Corridor Management Committee, which Zelle leads, did take an important step Monday by eliminating a portion of the beloved Bruce Vento Regional Trail as a possible route for the line, which could open as early as 2029.

Now, transit planners will concentrate on crafting a route for the Purple Line along busy White Bear Avenue north of Maryland Avenue in St. Paul. Service would link Union Depot in downtown St. Paul to Maplewood, although the exact location of the northernmost stop is still being studied.

In an interview this week, Abrams said she and others support a different kind of transit called arterial bus rapid transit (aBRT) for Maplewood, a popular service that operates in traffic, but is quicker and more frequent than local buses.

about the writer Janet Moore Transportation reporter Janet Moore covers trains, planes, automobiles, buses, bikes and pedestrians. Moore has been with the Star Tribune for 21 years, previously covering business news, including the retail, medical device and commercial real estate industries.

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