[0:01] In October of 2023, [0:04] Minnesota Twins fans in the North Metro [0:07] eagerly got on board the Northstar for a [0:10] ride to postseason games in Minneapolis. [0:14] Now, two years later, the Twins playoff [0:17] dreams have gone off the rails and are a [0:20] distant memory and the Northstar has [0:23] been permanently derailed. As someone [0:26] who was here from the beginning in 2009, [0:28] it's quite a change for us and uh we had [0:31] high hopes for Northstar commuter rail [0:33] and uh the ridership and the market as [0:36] it's changed since 2020 really put a [0:39] dent in the success of that service and [0:41] our inability to add midday service as [0:43] well has been a challenge. Metro [0:46] Transit's Adam Harrington admits that [0:48] seeing the Northstar Vanish is tough, [0:52] but he believes newly created bus [0:54] options that start in early January are [0:58] better for North Metro residents going [1:00] from the Ramsay, Anoka, or Rapids [1:04] stations to downtown Minneapolis. [1:07] >> One of the things we're really excited [1:08] about is our ability to add much more [1:10] service on the schedule. So, we'll have [1:12] trips on weekdays with arrivals in [1:15] downtown Minneapolis between 6:00 am and [1:17] 9:00 am and then running hourly all [1:19] throughout the middle of the day and [1:21] then uh last trip at leaving downtown [1:23] Minneapolis about 700 p.m. more. It's [1:25] about 40 weekly trips that we provide [1:28] today. If you look at all days of the [1:29] week, uh with the new bus service, it's [1:32] going to be nearly 400, about 380 trips [1:34] per week that we'll be providing. We're [1:36] now adding weekend service back on [1:38] Saturday and Sunday to orient those [1:41] trips around events and activities in [1:43] downtown Minneapolis as well. [1:45] >> Route 888 is the new bus service that [1:48] will soon go from the North Metro to [1:51] Marquette and Second Avenue in downtown [1:53] Minneapolis. [1:54] >> So, it'll be a very comfortable ride uh [1:57] in and out of downtown. [1:59] >> Metro Transit is hoping to lure [2:01] passengers with affordable fairs. The [2:04] base cash fair for this service is $3.25 [2:07] per ride, per direction. All the passes [2:10] that customers currently use on [2:12] Northstar will be valid on this service [2:14] as well. So, there'll be probably [2:16] substantial cost savings as far as the [2:17] fair goes. [2:19] >> In an NOA, I'm Eric Nelson, North Metro [2:22] TV News.