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5. Metro Transit Update Public Works Director Jesse Freihammer introduced Cyndi Harper, Ben Picone, and Barrett Clausen from Metro Transit, who presented the Metro Transit update. Member Mueller indicated that the presentation touched upon the routes that are being discontinued, and she wondered what Metro Transit was doing with park - and -ride sites like Route 272 from Rice Street. Ms. Harper stated the park -and -ride will stay open. The G line will serve it, as will Route 270, which is the express service from Maplewood Mall to Hwy 36 into downtown Minneapolis. Member Rudolf explained that her job encompasses transit and land use and encounters people across the country who make decisions about those matters. She found that people who ride transit speak about it differently than people who do not. She wondered if Metro Transit has ways to distinguish riders from non -riders regarding the feedback offered as it solicits feedback on its plan. Ms. Harper explained that their survey comment form asks some demographic questions and asks how often the person rides transit. They are interested in all feedback, particularly on the local routes. Those riders tend to come from underrepresented communities that will not attend a public meeting or have conversations about this. Metro Transit is also working with a consulting firm to help target those underrepresented groups with specific events and working within the communities to get the word out about what Metro Transit plans on doing. Member Fergus thought it was interesting that Ms. Harper noted the change in ridership during morning and evening rush hours. These were both at the same level, and he wondered who was riding in the evening. Ms. Harper reviewed the current ridership with the Commission. Member Luongo indicated that Route 62 has been fare -free for a while and wondered if that impacted ridership. Ms. Harper explained that two routes, Route 32 and Route 62, both of which serve Roseville, are currently fare -free on the pilot program. She indicated they were unsure if they would return to charging fares or what would happen once the program expires. She explained that ridership has increased on both routes, which is higher than the percentage seen across other routes. One exciting thing is it is free to board either of those two routes, but if atransfer is needed, there is still afee for that, and the only customers who are getting an utterly fare -free ride are those who do not have to transfer. Chair Ficek asked how long the pilot program will run. Page 2 of 5