MINNEAPOLIS — Riders of the Metro Transit light rail system will notice new changes starting this weekend. The transit organization will add or remove cars from the LRT, depending on need.
"One of the things that we've been talking about recently is right sizing the number of vehicles per train," said Brian Funk, chief operating officer for Metro Transit. "We should right size this and be able to save some of that wear and tear and lessen the burden on a maintenance staff where we need to frankly hire more people."
Funk says it's a department that's down over a quarter of it's staff right now. By removing cars, he says it will allow them more time to focus on maintenance.
"The numbers show that because we're doing this at traditionally lower ridership times, most people are not going to notice a difference with their experience," Funk said. "But what it does for us, it saves a lot of accumulation of mileage, and it allows us to keep those vehicles cleaner when they're out in service."
While maintenance was the main focus of this change, Funk admits that safety and security will also likely see benefits from this change.
"Police officers, trip agents, or other partners who are out there have a little bit less ground to cover when they're out there, you know, taking care of business on the platforms and on the trains," Funk said.
There's no guarantee that this program will stick – Funk admits that himself, and says they're always looking to change what's not working.
"Everything we can do to try and make a difference, you know, is something that, you know, we want to be able to give it a shot," he said.
This program will start Saturday, April 13.
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