Transit was the big winner in Tuesday’s election. Community opposition to highway expansion projects in Minneapolis and Saint Paul may have helped tip the balance in the mayoral races and in several city council races in Minnneapolis.

Although Peter McLaughlin was able to claim credit for building the successful Hiawatha LRT line in his televison commercials, he chose to downplay his support for the largely unpopular 35W Access Project which would have added car lanes and ramps in South Minneapolis. Both Scott Persons who lost to Ralph Reminton i the 10th Ward and Marie Hauser who lost to Elizabeth Glidden in the 8th Ward also downplayed their support for the controversial project. Both Persons and Hauser served on the Access Project PAC. Dean Zimmermann may have also lost support by contrasting his “ambivalent” stance on highway expansion to his opponent’s opposition to the Access Project.

In Mineapolis and other cities, Bus Rapid Transit or BRT has been offered by highway builders as a low-cost sugar-coating on the bitter pill of highway expansion. With the phenomenal success of the Hiawatha Light Rail line, it may be time to take a more critical look at BRT.

In an October 14th Star Tribune article, Laurie Blake reported that the proposed Minneapolis-Rogers bus-way was re-routed by Hennepin County. The proposed busway would run between downtown Minneapolis and Rogers through the suburbs of Robbinsdale, Crystal, Brooklyn Park, Osseo, Maple Grove and Dayton along County Rd. 81. Hennepin County engineers predicted the center lanes would by the year 2030, become too congested with cars for the rapid movement of buses. The County are hoping to re-route the bus-way along a railroad right-of-way. Officials are seeking permission from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, but there is a great deal of uncertainty whether the busway will be built at all.