By Cliff Buchan
Forest Lake Times

A half dozen years ago when a commuter bus route from Forest Lake to the Twin Cities was given a trial run, it failed. Lack of ridership was the reason.

Monday's start of a new bus service from Forest Lake to Minneapolis is not seeing that trend, at least not in the early days of the service.

A total of 262 commuters — at least one coming from as far north as Hinckley — hopped on one of the four staggered routes on Metro Transit Route 288, a one-year demonstration route. The route is designed to provide relief at the crowded 95th Avenue Park & Ride in Blaine and is part of a larger transit response to mitigate the impacts of the I-35W bridge collapse.

Forest Lake resident Barbara Boe was among those who took one of the four buses to Minneapolis on Monday.

For the past six years, she has made the daily drive to the 95th Avenue facility off I-35W in Blaine to catch the bus for her ride to work at Wells Fargo in downtown Minneapolis.

But no more, Boe said.

Boe says she is happy to have the commuter service. The cost is $5.50 for a round-trip fare.

The transit center parking lot was nearly full on Monday, prompting Washington County Commissioner Dennis Hegberg, Forest Lake, to wonder about parking problems. If the Minneapolis route attracts new riders and the Rush Line bus service can be rolled out this spring for St. Paul commuters, it will be a nice problem to solve, he said.

On Tuesday, the morning ridership count was 155.

The first bus of the morning leaves at 5 a.m. with 30 minutes of departure time between each of the remaining buses. The first afternoon bus to Forest Lake begins around 3:30 p.m. in downtown Minneapolis. Some 10 MTC stops are offered in Minneapolis for the morning and afternoon routes, meaning many commuters can leave or catch a bus within easy walking distance of their job. For route and schedule information call Metro Transit's Transit Information Center at (612) 373-3333.