Faster transit is coming to the Route 5 corridor.
Metro Transit is planning improvements to the Route 5 corridor with the D Line rapid bus project. The D Line will substantially replace Route 5, running primarily on Chicago and Emerson/Fremont Avenues. 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
> The D Line Fact Sheet has details on these features.
Final Station Plan approved
The Metropolitan Council approved a Final Station Plan for the D Line on July 25, 2018. This final plan identifies locations for enhanced D Line stations as the project moves into the engineering phase.
In its action to approve the plan, the Council also directed staff to continue planning and community engagement activities related to the planned station at 48th Street and Chicago Avenue. Following this work and through a future action, the Council will confirm or revise the planned station at this location.
Preliminary project schedule
Stations and other improvements will be designed in 2018-2019. Construction would begin in 2020 or 2021, pending full project funding.
Learn more about the rapid bus network
The D 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.
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/rapidbus.