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Technical Memorandum #1: General Transit Demand Study April 2004 <br /> <br />The purpose of this technical memorandum is two-fold: (1) to provide an estimate of demand for <br />park and ride stalls in the Ramsey Town Center (RTC); and (2) to provide background information <br />on transit services in the Ramsey Town Center and identify both short-term and long-term transit <br />needs. <br /> <br />This memorandum is broken into the following four parts: <br /> <br />Part !: An overview of existing transit services in Ramsey <br />Part Ih An estimate of demand for commuter transit service in the Northstar corridor and park and <br />ride stalls required in the Ramsey Town Center. <br />Part II1: An overview of the short term transit needs recommended in the Ramsey Town Center <br />Part IV: Long term transit needs once the Town Center is fully built out. <br /> <br />Part I: Existing Transit Services <br /> <br />Although currently there are no fixed route services in the City of Ramsey, the following section <br />provides a brief.overview of alt transit services that travel through the city or are provided to <br />neighboring communities. Understanding the existing transit services available to Ramsey <br />residents is important for estimating overall transit demand. <br /> <br />Northstar Commuter Coach (Route 888) <br /> <br />The Northstar Commuter Coach, operated by the Northstar Corridor Development Authority <br />(NCDA), provides express bus service from Elk River to the 5th Street parking garage in <br />downtown Minneapolis. There are a total of eight inbound trips in the morning and eight <br />outbound trips in the evening. Inbound service leaving from Elk River starts at 5:30 AM and <br />continues approximately every 20-30 minutes until 8:00 AM. Outbound service (leaving from <br />downtown Minneapolis) starts at 3:00 PM and ends at 6:00 PM. Six of the eight round trips make <br />a second stop near the Riverdale shopping area in Coon Rapids. The route operates Monday <br />through Friday. <br /> <br />The Northstar Commuter Coach accepts several different fare media: cash, Super Savers, <br />Metropass and the U Pass. One-way fares between Elk River and Minneapolis are $3.50 and <br />one-way fares between Coon Rapids and Minneapolis are $2.50. Transfers from the Northstar <br />Commuter Coach to a Metro Transit bus is free and transfers from a Metro Transit bus to the <br />Northstar Commuter Coach is free to Coon Rapids. Passengers contir~uing on to Elk River, <br />however, must pay an extra.dollar. <br /> <br />One issue with the Northstar Commuter Coach is that service is available only to the 5th Street <br />parking garage on the periphery of downtown Minneapolis. In a passenger survey conducted in <br />2002, some Northstar Commuter Coach passengers commented that it would be more <br />convenient to have service into the heart of downtown Minneapolis. While this would :~e'more <br />convenient for most commuters the Northstar Commuter Coach is a demon~rat(~i'~r~iect that is <br />intended to gauge the demand for service on the Northstar Commuter T[aini;i~hiS~:WoufB provide <br /> <br />Ridership <br /> <br />Because the Northstar Commuter Coach is the only fixed-route transit line that travels through <br />Ramsey, boardings on the Northstar Commuter Coach are a good indication of commuter transit <br />demand in the area. Figure 1 below presents inbound boardings on the Northstar Commuter <br />Coach for two sample days (Wednesday and Thursday) in February 2004. The table presents <br /> <br /> <br />