By 2040, the metropolitan area
will add about 700,000 new residents, and related transit demand increase of 80%.
To provide additional bus storage, operations, and maintenance space to support
Metro Transit's continued growth in ridership demand and upcoming service
expansion, the Council is amid plans for a new bus garage at the Minneapolis
Heywood facility. The project will be on a 10-acre site on the edge of the
North Loop just west of downtown Minneapolis.
The new bus garage will operate a
fleet of 186 buses and help alleviate operational overload at the current
Heywood bus garage.
As the core of the region's
transit network, expanded bus service is essential to minimizing the number of
vehicle trips in the region. Increased bus service will connect people to
education and employment opportunities, recreation, shopping, and other
activities. Providing reliable, timely service is critical to attracting and
keeping transit riders. Metro Transit needs adequate operations/service
facilities to meet that expectation by having buses pull out each day on time
and in good working order.
The new bus garage would also support
sustainable energy goals – its target will be net zero energy. Through the
design process we are using past strategies and newer technology, controls, and
potentially a two-megawatt solar system to make this our most efficient garage.
The annual utility consumption in the new garage could be half of the adjacent
current Heywood garage that was built in the early 1980s.
This new bus garage is
projected to provide more than 400 living wage jobs with benefits.
Partial funding for this
project was included in the Gov. Mark Dayton’s bonding proposal at the
beginning of this legislative session. The new facility will provide key
support to our transit system as it is expanded to meet the needs of our
growing region.
Heywood Bus Garage Expansion Video
Steve Chávez
Council Member, District 15
|