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Buses are rolling again
by Art Hughes, Minnesota Public Radio
April 19, 2004

Metro Transit buses were back on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis Monday morning, the first day of bus service since drivers went on strike March 4. (MPR Photo/Art Hughes)

Bus drivers and riders both expressed relief with the start of normal bus service in the Twin Cities Monday, after a six-week long strike. As expected, bus stop crowds are light, as some commuters stay with the alternate forms of transportation they turned to during the strike. Metro Transit officials are turning to a variety of incentives to win back riders.

Minneapolis, Minn. — A sign greeting riders on bus fare boxes says "Welcome back." Drivers are also handing out plastic sleeves to hold bus passes -- a sort of token peace offering to the estimated 75,000 Metro Transit bus riders who had to find some other way to get around since March 4. Driver Mark Gross drove the early morning No. 12 route from Minneapolis to Robbinsdale. "Feels pretty good. Glad to be back," he says.

Gross says driving the bus is a much better way to start the day than walking a picket line. He says the contract that changes health care benefits, and gives a pay increase only a half percent above what the union rejected in February, was hard to swallow for many members. But he says approval by nearly three-quarters of the 2,200 voting members means people are ready to go back to work.

	Good to be back

"It gets pretty tight for a lot of folks," says Gross. "And I really don't believe we could have got a better deal than the last minute we had there."

Gross realizes the union's choice to walk out turned many riders away from buses, at least for a while. He says his route normally fills up coming into downtown. This day he only carried a dozen or so passengers at a time.

"Right now it's slow, but the ones that have been watching the news and papers and stuff, they're coming back on," says Gross.

Metro Transit General Manager Mike Setzer says the agency passed the first test -- getting the system functioning again the first day following the strike.

"It went very well. We were not surprised, but relieved that virtually all of our employees came back," says Setzer. "We had enough operators to roll every scheduled bus today. All five garages were fully operational."

Setzer says it will take time to repair the strain between managers and employees.

Everyone, to a person, was glad to be back at work. Some -- a few -- brought some hard feelings with them, I would say. That's perfectly understandable. Being without a paycheck for six weeks is hard on anybody. - Mike Setzer, Metro Transit general manager

"I would say that everyone, to a person, was glad to be back at work. Some -- a few -- brought some hard feelings with them, I would say. That's perfectly understandable. Being without a paycheck for six weeks is hard on anybody," Setzer says.

Downtown Minneapolis' Nicollet Mall is reserved for buses, so it was clear of traffic during the strike. As the buses move through again, people congregate at stops, picking up where they left off in early March. One rider, who identified himself only as Richard, says he spent the strike bumming rides from others or walking -- risking injuring his already tender back.

"Other people maybe could get around. Maybe they have a car or two. But I don't have a car or anything like that. That's why I rely on the buses," Richard says. "When you have to go places and try to get people to do things for you, it's hard to get that done, too. I'm loving (having the buses back)."

Metro Transit officials reserved $3.5 million during contract negotiations to offset an expected ridership decline of 6 percent. They've also set aside about $500,000 to buy TV, radio and newspaper ads to lure riders back.

On the first day back, many riders found free daily newspapers on bus seats. Drivers will be giving out two-for-one Twins game coupons at random this week. There's also a one-month suspension of the ban on beverages in buses.

As she waits for the No. 10 bus downtown, Darlis Munson says she got a pleasant surprise from transit officials.

"I bought a March bus pass, and I just went over to the bus store and they said your pass is good til the end of May," says Munson. "So you can't beat that. I just hope all the bus drivers know."

Munson is retired, and takes the bus mainly to go shopping and to get to senior card games. She says she usually had a ride during the strike, but is glad to be taking the bus again.

Tom Hines, however, doesn't drive. He found out during the strike how hard it is to get from his home to downtown and back without the bus.

"I had a lot of trouble," Hines says. "I walked around, but I hated it. By the time you get home you're worn out."

Transit officials remind drivers, who -- after a month and a half, may have gotten used to the road without buses -- to keep an eye open for buses on shoulders and riders crossing streets near stops.

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