Minneapolis, MN – Living in downtown Minneapolis, I do a lot of walking and use public transit frequently. I walk to my job at a hotel just two blocks from my apartment. I prefer transit for most of my other trips, though getting out to the suburbs to visit my grandma is more difficult, so sometimes calling an Uber is my best bet, even though it’s much more expensive. For other trips within the city—like visiting friends or shopping at the more affordable grocery stores—I rely on public transit and it is pretty easy to get around.
Not only is transit convenient for me and many of my coworkers at the hotel, but it’s really the only affordable way to get to many jobs downtown. In my department, which has about 15 people, everyone except our boss uses transit. The only downside is that many of us work less traditional schedules—later in the night and on the weekends—when the transit service is reduced.
I’d like to see more service frequency in the evenings and on weekends so that people could access their jobs and run errands reliably, especially those of us who work less traditional schedules. We could also use more bus stop shelters, bus lanes, and some adjustments to make our schedules more straightforward. And, while the transit within the Twin Cities area is pretty good compared to many other cities in the US, I’d really like to see more regional transit options. There are a number of communities within an hour or two of the Twin Cities that I’d love to visit, but it’s really difficult if, like me, you don’t have a car. I imagine a funding system where a portion of every dollar spent on roads goes towards transit improvements to ensure that people have a variety of ways to get around.