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Metro Transit is the primary public transportation operator in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest operator in the state. The system is a division of the Metropolitan Council, the region’s metropolitan planning organization (MPO), averaging 267,700 riders each weekday, carrying 90% to 95% of the transit riders in the region on a combined network of regular-route buses, light rail and commuter rail.〔 The remainder of transit ridership is generally split among suburban “opt-out” carriers operating out of cities that have chosen not to participate in the Metro Transit network. The biggest opt-out providers are Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA), Maple Grove Transit and Southwest Transit (SW Transit). The University of Minnesota also operates a campus shuttle system of its own, which ranks second in the state, measured by ridership. In 2011, buses carried over 86% of the system’s passengers. Nearly 13% of ridership was concentrated on Metro Transit’s busiest route, the METRO Blue Line light rail and the remainder rode the Northstar commuter rail service.〔 In 2014, Metro Transit saw its highest ridership in three decades with a total of 84.5 million trips, including 6.5 million on the newly opened METRO Green Line.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Metro Transit 2014 ridership highest in more than three decades )〕 Metro Transit drivers and vehicle maintenance personnel are organized through the Amalgamated Transit Union. ==History== The agency was established by the Minnesota State Legislature in 1967 as the Metropolitan Transit Commission (MTC). MTC’s operations were moved under the auspices of the Metropolitan Council in 1994, prompting a name change to “Metropolitan Council Transit Operations” and then, in 1998, to Metro Transit. The organization traces its history back to the 19th-century streetcar systems of the region through the acquisition in 1970 of the Twin City Lines bus system from businessman Carl Pohlad. At the time of the acquisition, Twin City Lines had 635 buses: 75% of those were over 15 years old and 86 buses were so old that they were banned from operating in Minneapolis. MTC acquired 465 new buses over the next five years and built many new bus shelters.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=A bold experiment: the Metropolitan Council at 40 )〕 Shortly thereafter, a long battle began to return rail transit to the region and efforts for additional lines continue at a snail’s pace. It took 32 years to see the first line implemented. In 1972, the Regional Fixed Guideway Study for MTC proposed a $1.3 billion 37- or 57-mile (sources differ) heavy-rail rapid transit system, but the then-separate Metropolitan Council disagreed with that idea—refusing to even look at the plan—and continuing political battles prevented its implementation. The Met Council had its own plans for bus rapid transit in the Cities. Another system using smaller people movers was proposed in the 1975 Small Vehicle Fixed Guideway Study and gained the most traction with the Saint Paul city council, but was eventually dropped in 1980. In the 1980s, light rail was proposed as an alternative and several possible corridors were identified, including the Central Corridor, for which a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) was drawn up in 1982.〔 However, it was another two decades before the Blue Line light rail line began operation on June 26, 2004, by then, just over 50 years since the last regular-service streetcar ran on June 19, 1954, under the old Twin City Lines. Heavy-rail commuter service began on November 14, 2009, with the Northstar Line. The 2010s decade may finally see several new lines open. Metro Transit does not cover the whole Twin Cities area. Bus service in the suburbs was being cut back in the early 1980s and suburb-to-suburb service was limited (an issue that remains today). In 1986, cities and counties in the seven-county metropolitan area were given the option to run their own bus services and leave the MTC system. About 17.5% of the area which has regular route transit service is served by these six other “opt out” transit systems. About 5% of the system is contracted to private transit providers. In the mid-2000s decade, the system claimed to have a safety record five times better than the national average. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Metro Transit (Minnesota)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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