NCDA places second phase of Northstar commuter rail on hold

February 14, 2001 In the TwinCities area, the Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA) Executive Committee, after careful review of the Federal Transit Administration's required technical analysis, decided to recommend to the Authority that the federal application for the extension be placed on hold.

"This decision has not been
made lightly," said Dan Erhart, NCDA Board Chair. "The public has entrusted us
to be good stewards of taxpayer money. After long discussions with our partners
on the Project Management Team, including the Minnesota Department of
Transportation and Metro Transit, we’ve decided that the data cannot justify
the costs of expanding Northstar at this time.

"The worst recession in 70
years, high unemployment rates, shifts in traffic volumes and gasoline and
parking price fluctuations have affected ridership growth on the current
commuter rail line," he said. "And projected ridership for the extension to St.
Cloud and other factors don’t meet the strict standards for federal matching
funds. It means we could not successfully compete against other transit
projects currently in development around the country.

"Thanks to supporters,
Northstar Commuter Rail has proven to be a reliable transit option for
commuters," Erhart noted. "Northstar customers already have ridden more than 16
million passenger miles. We’ve been able to add special event service to Twins
and Vikings games. In addition, Northstar has operated on time 96 percent of
the time with operating costs below budget.

"Metro Transit will
continue to work closely with us to ensure Northstar provides convenient
commuter and special event service to build ridership," he said. In addition, the
NCDA and St. Cloud Metro Bus will focus on building ridership on the Northstar Link.
The Link provides a bus connection between St. Cloud and the train station in
Big Lake, plus the bus provides a new Friday midday round trip between St.
Cloud and Minneapolis, with stops in between."

Erhart continued: "Northstar
is a comfortable, convenient and safe way to commute. With the public’s
commitment to ride Northstar, we will continue to make Northstar’s first phase
an even bigger success and we’ll continue to build momentum for the future of
Northstar to St. Cloud."