Metro Transit will implement its quarterly service changes starting this Saturday, December 2. 

Among the changes include restructuring the Route 21 bus. The 21 will be extended westward from Uptown Transit Station to Lake Street and France Avenue. 

The agency is making these changes to prepare for upcoming construction on Hennepin Avenue that will require the full closure of the Uptown Transit Station. They are still finalizing detours for other routes at this time.

The extension will also prepare Metro Transit to operate the B Line, which is part of their Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) alphabet-letter cadre of routes that make fewer stops. That route, which will replace most of Route 21, starts service in June 2025, six months later than originally planned. 

B Line BRT buses have a different paint scheme than the buses that run on Route 21. They will allow boarding through all doors, as well as be subject to fare and behavior inspections by its police and security staff. 

Southwest Voices will have a follow-up story on the B Line and what it means for Lake Street in the coming weeks.

Other changes to the 21 include eliminating the D branch to the University of St. Thomas, as well as increasing service to run as frequently as every six minutes on Lake Street between France and 27th Avenue S in Longfellow. 

Metro Transit will also increase fares on its Bryn Mawr-North Minneapolis ridehail service, called micro, , on December 2. Fares charged will be similar to paying for an express bus: $3.25 during rush hour, $2.50 during the rest of the day and on weekends. Planners at a late September Met Council meeting said they have had trouble keeping up with demand for the service, hence the fare increase.

Visit Metro Transit’s website to learn about other service changes Metro Transit is making on December 2.