Skip to Con tent

Metropolitan Council

Photo of a Metro Council news ticker
  • Set text size:
  • aaa
  • Organizations can try out Metropass for as short a time as six months.
  • Many companies have found Metropass to be an important benefit to lure prospective employees.
  • To date, Metropass has enrolled nearly 170 companies with a total of 150,000 employees.

> News+Events > Features > Transit

Metro Transit streamlines employer enrollment in Metropass

Metropass ridership grew 13% in 2007

Metro Transit is making it easier for companies to enroll in the Metropass program, which offers unlimited-ride transit passes to commuters through their employers.

Chart showing growth of Metropass program

The number of Twin Cities area employers enrolled in the Council’s Metropass program has grown steadily since the program’s inception in 1998. At the end of 2007, nearly 170 employers were enrolled with a total of 150,000 employees.

Since the I-35W bridge collapse, the agency has offered ways to lessen congestion in the metro area. Making changes to the Metropass program is one such strategy, said Bruce Howard, Metro Transit Director of Marketing. “By making it easier for employers to offer Metropass, it makes riding the bus or train more attractive to a larger segment of commuters,” he said.

Enrollment process is streamlined

Thanks to the streamlined process, organizations that enroll in Metropass can initially contract with Metro Transit for as little as six months. Also, until now, companies were required to conduct a survey to gauge employee participation before passes were distributed. Employees can begin riding buses and trains as soon as the Metropass agreement is finalized.

Metro Transit will start a Metropass campaign in January that will reach out to employers and commuters through ads on buses and trains, print ads and direct mail. A new Metropass section will also be available on the agency’s website – metrotransit.org.

Metropass offered as employee benefit

More local companies are finding the Metropass program an important addition to their employee benefits packages, according to Howard

Metropass card

Holders of the unlimited-ride Metropass simply pass the card over an electronic reader for quick boarding.

“Metropass can help companies attract potential employees, and current employees can get to work on time and under less stress when they ride a bus or train,” Howard said.

Allina Health Systems is the largest company enrolled, with 16,240 employees eligible for the program. The program isn’t just for large organizations, however; some participating companies have fewer than 100 employees.

Metropass ridership up 13% in 2007

To date, the program has enrolled nearly 170 businesses, schools and government agencies in the Twin Cities region. That’s a 13 percent increase since Dec. 1, 2006. The program is now eligible to about 150,000 commuters regionwide.

The number of passes in use has grown as well. As of Dec. 1, there are 30,367 cards in active use by commuters, up 23 percent or 5,765 Metropasses over the same time last year. Overall ridership by customers using their Metropasses increased an estimated 13 percent this year.