Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 29, 2008
METRO TRANSIT OFFERS FREE TRANSIT PASSES, SHUTTLE SERVICE TO I-35W BRIDGE COLLAPSE EVENT
MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL – (July 29) – Metro Transit will offer free transit passes to a memorial service marking the first anniversary of the collapse of the I-35W bridge.
The passes can be downloaded from Metro Transit’s website and will allow citizens to travel free to the 4:30 p.m. memorial service on Aug. 1 at Gold Medal Park along the Mississippi River. The memorial service includes a procession to the Stone Arch Bridge at 5:30 p.m. and a moment of silence at 6:05 p.m., the time the bridge collapsed a year earlier.
The free transit passes are valid for bus and train trips between 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
In addition to the free passes, Metro Transit will offer free shuttle service from two locations to the Gold Medal Park memorial. Bus service will begin at 3 p.m. from both Dunwoody College of Technology and from the park-and-ride lot at I-35W and Industrial Boulevard. Service to the event will operate every 15 minutes with the last trip at 4:30 p.m. Return service following the memorial will continue for one hour after the Stone Arch Bridge procession.
“The shuttle service could help suburban residents avoid traffic and parking challenges on Aug. 1 as people compete for nearby parking for the memorial service, a Twins game, Guthrie play and other downtown activities,” said Brian Lamb, Metro Transit general manager.
In addition, Lamb said ample parking and frequent light-rail train service to the memorials will be available from the new parking ramp at 28th Avenue Station. Parking also is available at the parking lot at 29th Avenue and Como Avenue for customers using Metro Transit Route 3.
For information on the transit passes and shuttle service, visit metrotransit.org and click on the Bridge Memorial link. Trip planning services to both events is available on line or by calling a transit information representative at 612-373-3333.
Metro Transit is a service of the Metropolitan Council. Customers boarded Metro buses and trains 77 million times last year, the highest annual ridership in 25 years.
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(Editors: For information call Bob Gibbons, director of customer services, 612-349-7509 or via e-mail at robert.gibbons@metc.state.mn.us)
