Met Council: Public Transportation Services Will Run Normally During Minnesota Government Shutdown—For Now

Good news for commuters: Riders of Metro Transit, the Hiawatha light rail line and the Northstar commuter rail can expect service to continue uninterrupted—though not indefinitely—now that the state government officially shutdown at 12:00 a.m. Friday.

With Richfield being at the center of many major throughways and bus lines, many residents along with those of Bloomington, Minneapolis and Edina may rely daily on public transit services and any changes in service could cause some serious headaches.

Other contracted services including Metro Mobility that are operated by the Metropolitan Council are also expected to run without interruption.

"All transit service will continue operating as normal beyond the potential shutdown date,” said Metro Transit spokesman John Siqveland.

The Met Council, which operates most transit systems in the metro, is a political subdivision, not a state agency, and can run independently to some degree with its own administration and reserve funds

However, nearly a fifth of funding for regional transit through the Met Council comes from the state general fund, according to Siqveland. By using reserves, the Met Council can continue to operate services for several weeks.

“The goal is that all transit, the transit network, will operate as-is for that entire period,” Siqveland said.

However, reserve funds will not last indefinitely without a state transportation budget resolution.

“It’s not known exactly how long [the funds will last] because we don’t know exactly what the different forces are going to be changing over the next few weeks,” Siqveland said.

A specific plan for what would happen if reserves are tapped has not yet been worked out, Siqveland added, and will be developed over the next few weeks if necessary.

Transit authorities are also still keenly watching for the outcome of budget negotiations when a shutdown resolution is reached.

In the transportation-funding package passed by the Legislature and vetoed by Gov. Mark Dayton, state general fund support of transit is reduced by $110 million, or 84 percent, according to a statement by Met Council Chairwoman Susan Haigh. The Met Council could deplete other funds to backfill that loss to some degree, according to a report by the Minnesota Budget Project.

By contrast, ridership was reported to be 19.5 million in the first quarter of 2011, up two percent. The rise in gas prices experienced over the past year has likely contributed to increased use of transit.

What size of cuts will emerge from budget negotiations is unknown, but fare increases and service reductions would occur in response to any major reductions.

A series of public hearings on the proposed transit cuts is scheduled to begin July 6.

Richfield Patch will update readers on any schedule changes or cuts as more information becomes available. For a list of all the government shutdown coverage, click .