Here’s my column from the Sunday paper. If you’ve already read it elsewhere, please skip on down to the comments below. Thanks.

With the State Fair, the Republican National Convention and a Gophers football game, this must be some sort of record holiday weekend for bus and train use in the Twin Cities — and it’s a good time for more talk about parking and riding.

After last week’s column about packed light-rail cars, alert reader Doug called Roadguy with his tale of trying to get home from last Saturday night’s Vikings game. During his wait, a southbound “out of service” train came through the Metrodome station, frustrating fans on the platform — and causing Doug to question whether Metro Transit uses all available cars after a game.

Adding to Doug’s frustration: Some of the special game-day trains went only as far as the 28th Avenue station, not all the way to the end of the line at the Mall of America, which is not a designated park-and-ride.

Metro Transit’s Bob Gibbons says the first few extra trains turn around at 28th Avenue so they can save about 10 minutes and head back downtown for another load. Regularly scheduled trains go all the way to the mall.

Gibbons also said that, while Doug was waiting downtown, sparks started shooting from the wires above a train car near the Humphrey Terminal, so it had to be taken offline.

As for the “out of service” train, Gibbons said that 10:30 p.m. marks the end of a shift for some operators. They can be asked to stay on for another run, but they can decline, and there are limits on how many hours an operator can work in a given period.

So while the cars themselves might be available, they’re not much use if there’s no one at the controls.

SAFETY AT THE PARK AND RIDE

Alert reader Jan worries about leaving her vehicle alone all day:

What is Metro Transit doing to protect our cars at park-and-rides? I had my car broken into twice, and I know others who have cars broken into at the Foley park-and-ride in Coon Rapids as well. Even with cameras, our vehicles are not safe. … Anything you can do to alert the masses and keep people safe?

Sadly, Roadguy’s bosses aren’t going to let him go out on patrol. Such work is primarily the responsibility of the local police, Gibbons said. When a certain lot has a rash of thefts, the transit police can add patrols, issue rider alerts and bring in a mobile surveillance tower, as it did this year in Cottage Grove.

Sometimes break-ins are pure vandalism, but Jan and others can reduce their risk by making sure nothing of value is visible in the car. And some law enforcement folks recommend that you put valuables in your trunk before you arrive at the park-and-ride, in case you’re being watched.

NEW TRANSIT TOOL ON GOOGLE

Gibbons and alert reader Matt e-mailed Roadguy to point out that Google Maps now has transit information as part of its online directions. The site is also testing out walking directions, which are kind of fun to play with — did you know it takes only two days and eight hours to stroll to Duluth?

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 31st, 2008 at 10:23 am and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.