Fairgoers poured onto buses before pouring into the Midway over the first weekend of the Minnesota State Fair.
As of Sunday, nearly 80,000 customers had boarded Metro Transit's express State Fair buses or used regular route service to get to the fairgrounds. That’s up about 3 percent compared to the same time period of last year’s State Fair.
In all, about 14.5 percent of fairgoers used Metro Transit to get to the Great Minnesota Get Together over the first four days of the 12-day event.
Express State Fair buses are running from more than a dozen Park & Ride locations across the Twin Cities metro. Parking is free at the sites and a round-trip fare is $5.
A new Park & Ride site added this year is Northstar Commuter Rail's Fridley Station, where more than 1,800 customers had boarded as of Sunday. Customers can incorporate Northstar into their State Fair commute this coming weekend with a Northstar Family pass - an $11 to $20 roundtrip fare good for two adults and up to three children ages 6-17 (children under 5 ride free).
The most popular express bus location has been the Park & Ride at I-394 & County Road 73, in Minnetonka (pictured above). Nearly 14,000 people boarded at that location over the first four days of the State Fair. The Bloomington Park & Ride, near Mall of America connection between the METRO Red Line and METRO Blue Line, has seen nearly 13,000 customer boardings.
> Metro Transit: The fast and friendly way to the State Fair
> Star Tribune: Transit agencies ready for State Fair
> State Fair Express service
> Regular Route bus service