Region making progress toward improved transit

"We are no longer behind our peers," Bell says

The Metropolitan Council is making “great progress” toward achieving its transit vision, building ridership and slowing the growth in traffic congestion, says Council Chair Peter Bell.

Speaking Feb. 1 at the Council’s 2010 State of the Region event, Bell said recent milestones include:

Opening the region’s first commuter rail line in the Northstar Corridor.
Moving toward construction of the region’s second light-rail transit line in the Central Corridor.
Completing the first phase of bus rapid transit (BRT) improvements in the I-35W and Cedar Avenue Corridors.

Six transitways are now in place or under development,” Bell said. “When completed in 2014, we will have a total of 115 miles of transitways.”

The region's multi-modal transit system is no longer behind its peers across the country, Bell said in his State of the Region address.

Bell also noted that since 2003, the region registered significant gains in transit ridership, park-and-ride spaces and its nation-leading system of bus shoulder lanes.

“We no longer are behind peers such as Denver, Dallas, Portland, Salt Lake City and St. Louis,” he said. “Our transit system is growing faster, is more productive and has a lower subsidy per passenger than most of our peers.”

Despite recession, region has competitive strengths

Bell addressed a crowd of about 200 legislators, local officials and community leaders at the event, held at Silverwood Regional Park in St. Anthony.

He said that the region has felt the effects of the “worst recession in more than 60 years,” including high unemployment, record numbers of foreclosures and a record low in housing starts in 2009.

Still, Bell said, the Twin Cities metro area has many competitive strengths, including high workforce participation, home ownership, educational attainment and per-capita income. Moreover, he said, it is still adding population – unlike many urban areas in the northern tier of states.

Bell reflects on seven years at Council helm

Council Chair Peter Bell reflected on the Council’s successes and what he has learned during his seven-year tenure.

Bell, the longest-serving chair in the Council’s 43-year history, also discussed some of the lessons he has learned in seven years on the job. Among those he listed:

The Council needs to strike a careful balance between “local control” and efficient use of regional infrastructure, saying both are important values.
The Council, the Governor and Legislature need to explore ways to involve the adjacent counties in regional planning, since the metro area clearly is larger than seven counties.
The Council should be the lead agency for planning both transit capital investments and transit operations, saying you can’t divorce one from the other.
The region is blessed by many outstanding local elected officials who work hard to do what’s best for their communities and avoid the partisan rancor that affects other levels of government.

Debate should occur on Council make-up

During the question-and-answer session following the speech, Eagan Mayor Mike Maguire asked about Bell’s thoughts regarding the make-up of the Council. Bell said he sees several possibilities. One is the reinstatement of staggered terms, with the same appointment process, that would bolster the institutional memory of the Council and “depoliticize the Council a bit.”

“Another idea that I think bears exploring is to have a mix of elected officials and appointed officials on the Council,” Bell said. “We have that on the TAB; that works fairly well.” He acknowledged that the Council is sometimes criticized that by virtue of the size of its budget it is the fourth or fifth largest government unit in the state, with taxing and regulatory authority, “all without an election certificate. [That criticism] does not fall on deaf ears with me,” he said.

However, Bell said, he is concerned that an elected Council would become “hyper-politicized and polarized,” and that its decisions would be characterized by a “you get your park if I get my bus stop” mentality. That would “jeopardize the relatively high regard we are held in.

“Yet I think there are legitimate concerns about the power and authority of the Council without having an election certificate,” he said. “One way of addressing that, perhaps, is to have nine representatives appointed by the governor and approved by the Senate, and one representative from each of the county boards.”

“But I think it is time after about 42 years that we in this region…that an open, honest, candid debate should take place,” Bell said. “I’m not apologetic about the Council. I think we have served this region well. But I think all of us…should not be afraid of scrutiny, we should not be afraid of the hard questions.”