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Hiawatha Light Rail Transit

Ridership

The 12-mile Hiawatha line, linking downtown Minneapolis, the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport and the Mall of America, provided 10 million rides in 2008, an average of 30,500 per weekday. Ridership on the line already has exceeded the pre-construction estimate for the year 2020. More about ridership.

Customer Satisfaction

A recent survey of Metro Transit customers leaves no doubt that were it not for buses and light rail, many more people would be driving solo on the region's roads and highways. Nearly half of all train riders and a third of all bus riders said they would've driven by themselves if transit were not available. More about the survey.

Development

The Hiawatha line has proven to be a powerful catalyst for development in a corridor that once had large tracts of vacant and underutilized land. Since 2000, nearly 7,700 new housing units have been built along the line, with another 6,750 units planned (as of April 2009). See an April 2009 video update on development in the Hiawatha corridor in our Featured Videos.

Get Metro Transit's Hiawatha line information

See schedules, planning and paying for your trip, and safety around the light-rail line.

What's next

The Council's long-range transportation plan calls for developing additional bus and rail "transitways" in six corridors by 2020. The plan includes construction of the region's second light rail transit line in the Central Corridor between downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis, connecting there with the Hiawatha LRT line and the planned Northstar commuter rail line. See more about the planned transitways.