We have all been stuck in traffic. It sucks. There is no getting around it. Traffic can cause you to be late for work, ruin your day or just make you mad. A few days ago I was one of the many cars in the long grueling procession that snakes through downtown St. Paul at rush hour. As I sat at a dead stop on highway 35 heading south I got to thinking; why does the Twin Cities not have effective mass transit? Why are there no trains like in Chicago or Atlanta? Why? Why? Why?

      The Twin Cities metropolitan area is home to 3.3 million people. It encompasses 7 counties and is the fifteenth most populous area in the United States. The twin cities metro is unlike any other in the world; within the metro lie to major cities only nine miles apart. The twin cites have recently outgrown the current transportation system and are in desperate need of a new network of mass transit and commuter rail. The twin cites have many highways and roadways but it is time for more. There is always traffic and the current system can’t solve the problem. MNDOT (The Minnesota Department of Transportation) runs hundreds of bus lines all across the cities. Though many people ride buses, they are slow and can’t cope with the amount of people traveling around the metro each day. A light rail line running from downtown Minneapolis to the Mall of America has been constructed but has failed to get to the root of the problem. The twin cities need rail lines that connect the many suburbs to the two downtowns. This is the only way to cut down on traffic and bring effective and useful mass transit to the metro.

      Many other cites in the country have mass transit systems that are successful and useful. Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Boston, San Francisco and many others all have mass transit. It is time for us to catch up to the rest of the country. A corridor from Minneapolis to St. Paul and a line from Minneapolis to St. Cloud have been approved and the latter is under construction. These projects are a good start but a push for more has to be made; at state and local government levels. Even though new commuter rails would cost taxpayer money, I believe that the construction of a metro wide train system should be a priority for the state government and MNDOT. A system of trains in the Twin cities connecting suburbs to cities and workers to their jobs will decrease traffic, save people money and make travel easier as well as help the environment and make the twin cites a better place to live.

      Think about it. Being able to hop on a train at Maplewood mall and ride to Minneapolis on a Friday night. No worrying about traffic, no worrying about parking and no thought about gas money. This would all be possible if the twin cites, like most major metropolitan areas in the country, had a practical and effective public transportation system. It is time for our state government to realize that there is a need for commuter rail, it is time for a real transportation system that is useful and convenient, it is time to stop driving everywhere, it is time for MASS TRANSIT!