B Line (Lake Street / Marshall Avenue rapid bus project)

Faster transit is coming to the Route 21 corridor

Metro Transit is planning improvements to the Route 21 corridor with the B Line rapid bus project. The B Line will substantially replace the western portion of Route 21, serving Lake Street and Marshall Avenue between uptown Minneapolis and the Midway area in St. Paul. Rapid bus brings better amenities, faster service and a more comfortable ride.

• Faster, more frequent service
• Pre-boarding fare payment for faster stops
• Neighborhood-scale stations with amenities
• Enhanced security
• Larger & specialized vehicles

Preliminary project schedule

B Line planning will begin in 2018. Metro Transit plans to start detailed engineering on the B Line in 2019. Pending full project funding, B Line construction could begin as soon as 2021. 

Learn more about the rapid bus network

The B Line is one of several planned rapid bus lines that will bring faster, more frequent service to the region’s busiest transit corridors. 

The region’s first rapid bus line, the A Line, opened in 2016 and has boosted corridor ridership by about one third. Construction on the C Line, serving Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center, is underway. Service is scheduled to begin in 2019. The D Line, serving the Route 5 corridor from Bloomington to Brooklyn Center, is currently in planning, targeted for construction to begin in 2020. 

A completed rapid bus network would cover 100 miles and include 400 enhanced stations, directly serving about 20 percent of the region’s residents and more than 230,000 jobs. Rapid bus lines are an essential part of growing bus ridership, with the potential to see an estimated 160,000 average weekday boardings by 2030, representing about a third of total bus ridership.

Learn more at metrotransit.org/abrt.