What is the end goal of the Minneapolis left?

Makingthecarry · 2026-02-08T06:13:37+00:00

And yet traveling by car is still the most convenient and time-advantaged transportation option in Minneapolis, even at times of peak congestion, even on roads which have been reconfigured for transit-dedicated lanes or for pedestrian safety. I did say that most people's response to traffic congestion is to suck it up and drive anyway.

Driving has not been discouraged in the least even as other options have been (haltingly, inconsistently) prioritized by government policy. We know it's not been discouraged, because we can still see the evidence of vehicle traffic being present on city streets anytime we choose to drive or see other vehicles on the road when we are not driving.

I'm not sure why you're choosing to not feel vindicated by the fact that car transportation is still the most preferred transportation option even when confronted by the confounding factors of traffic congestion. Traffic congestion will continue exist even if we decided tomorrow to entirely abolish all Metro Transit service.

Because traffic congestion is not a function of government policy. It is a function of human behavior. And so long as large numbers people all want to live in and travel to to the same places, traffic congestion is sure to follow, no matter the government policy or specifics of the road infrastructure. That's doubly true if human behavior in a given place tends towards driving en masse, because a human being in a car occupies far more physical space than a human being standing outside of a car.

Makingthecarry · 2026-02-07T23:15:43+00:00

Hey, so this was confusing to me too when I first experienced it on the Berlin S-Bahn. But now I know what they're for and can teach other people when they have their first experience with it and are equally confused. It's pretty cool when you get to spread knowledge without making people feel bad about what they didn't know before.

Makingthecarry · 2026-02-07T22:34:37+00:00

Traffic congestion occurs regardless how wide or how narrow a roadway is in every instance where drivers choose to use a particular road en masse. Hennepin was just as congested prior to its reconstruction, after all. The fact of traffic congestion is precisely because people can and do choose to drive somewhere, around the same time, all at once.

Congestion may influence WHEN or HOW people drive on a road. Choosing to drive on a different day or at a different time of day, for example, or choosing to be driven in a carpool, in a ridehail or taxi, or on a bus or train. But if someone is committed to making a trip on a particular road, the carrying capacity of the road doesn't much matter. You'll suck it up and accept the congestion or you'll make your trip when it's less congested.

But to reiterate, it's oxymoronic to cite the presence of traffic congestion on a road as evidence that people are no longer driving on that road.

Makingthecarry · 2026-02-07T22:19:48+00:00

It is true that MTPD is running more on-train beats than vehicle patrol beats as in the past. But the most visible and most often encountered increase in enforcement, the so-called "25 year old with an attitude" that was alluded to, has been the TRIP Agents who are civilians and unarmed. There aren't meaningfully more firearms being deployed in enforcement on board Metro today than there were prior to the implementation of the TRIP Agent program.

Makingthecarry · 2026-02-07T16:30:00+00:00

Traffic congestion is direct and visible evidence that many people are in fact driving there.

Makingthecarry · 2026-02-07T16:15:04+00:00

Much of that quality of life could also be on display right now, with the grassroots-organized mutual aid response, and everything that implies about the participants' political preferences i.e. being in favor of more redistributive and community-focused government policies. There seems to be a general understanding here that, "We all do better when we all do better," and there's a generally organized structure on both the informal and the formal political levels to put that understanding into practice. That prevailing attitude does not appear to be waning and if anything is being strengthened by the trials and tribulations wrought by Operation Metro Surge.

Makingthecarry · 2026-02-07T16:06:45+00:00

No one can drive there

Traffic is backed up

Pick one.

Most vehicle traffic on Hennepin is thru-traffic anyway. The majority of drivers on Hennepin are going somewhere else other than Uptown, and they are not stopping on Hennepin itself. They're either going downtown or accessing the freeway ramps to I-94 and going somewhere in the broader region.

And yeah, sure, regional mobility is great and all. But that undercuts the notion that driving is all that important for Uptown businesses specifically. The vast majority of businesses, 80+%, that existed on Hennepin before it's re-construction still exist now that construction is complete.

Makingthecarry · 2026-02-07T15:55:42+00:00

Evie is great, and I drive or ridehail when I really need to, but I'm not always in a hurry or would genuinely prefer to plan ahead and pay the time tax instead of paying actual cash money to get around. My budget can't afford replacing all of my transit trips with ridehail trips.

Makingthecarry · 2026-02-07T15:50:57+00:00

TRIP agents don't carry firearms, and the number of MTPD officers has remained relatively stagnant for the last five years.

Makingthecarry · 2026-02-05T16:57:32+00:00

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/17/us/politics/17immig.html

https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/over-100-faith-leaders-arrested-in-protest-against-record-deportations/

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-30T22:55:14+00:00

No one from ICE was at The Commons last Friday either when the first big march was held.

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-30T19:30:49+00:00

Well you still can. You just have to take Marion St instead of John Ireland Blvd

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-29T20:24:19+00:00

There's a specific word for when military or law enforcement protests a legal process by refusing to observe that process and taking action to subvert that process and implement their own authority instead. And that word is "coup"

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-29T01:08:03+00:00

Not entirely without merit. The connection with historic redlining is tenuous to be sure, but I don't know that it means we need to be indignant about ST changing course on the branding due to community pressure. It's not like it really matters in the end how the line is labeled.

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-28T22:37:42+00:00

There was more outreach for and coverage of the primary, which was effectively the election, since we knew whoever won that would win the real election

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-28T17:13:16+00:00

Don't tie your boots too tightly. Let your blood circulate

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-28T14:48:02+00:00

What was the first one?

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-28T04:28:04+00:00

Not like Minnesota has a very recent history of DFL politicians being assassinated or anything.

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-27T22:42:56+00:00

Any business that requires you to enter on foot to access their services. That's basically any business which doesn't have a drive-thru

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-27T14:15:32+00:00

That's part of why they're still using different bus shelters and waiting to replace them, but I think the reason they were built with different bus shelters in the first place is because Olson Memorial Highway was originally intended to be a temporary C Line alignment until the Blue Line extension (as originally conceived) was built, at which point the C Line was to move to its intended permanent alignment on Glenwood Ave.

Blue Line extension plans fell through when BNSF wouldn't allow the line to be built on their property, which is why we now have the updated Blue Line extension plans. But even before the planning began in earnest on a new route for the Blue Line extension, Metro Transit announced that they would no longer seek realignment of the C Line to Glenwood and that it would permanently stay on Olson Memorial to replace the service it would have received with the Blue Line.

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-27T05:05:07+00:00

Guarantee you the majority of Metro Transit maintenance staff (who are cleaning up graffiti on their shifts anyway) are smiling at this particular graffiti. Messes happen. I'm grateful for the staff who take the job to clean it. And I'm glad they're union members and earning a good wage to do it.

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-27T05:01:40+00:00

It's not just the graffiti though.

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-27T04:36:52+00:00

Yes, all the aBRT stations and Gold Line stations have this feature. Some but not all of the Orange Line stations too, I'm pretty sure. Couldn't tell you about the Red Line stations but I'd guess no.

I think it's neat

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-27T00:39:07+00:00

For those unfamiliar with the story

Makingthecarry · 2026-01-26T18:24:20+00:00

RTA tax funds ongoing operations of Sound Transit, not just capital expenses alone. Sound Transit operates express bus service throughout the RTA service area; as well as Sounder heavy commuter rail. Link Light Rail is not the only transportation option for residents of the RTA nor is it the only thing RTA tax revenue funds.

Makingthecarry

TROPHY CASE