MINNEAPOLIS — Next weekend will be a busy one for Minneapolis.
With Twin Cities Pride and two Taylor Swift concerts happening within blocks of each other, tens of thousands of people are expected to pour into the city. That means full parking lots, busy Uber drivers, and packed public transit.
However, Metro Transit light rail service runs out of downtown only until 11:30 p.m. next Friday and Saturday -- or, in other words, roughly around the time that Swift would be leaving the stage both nights. Earlier this week, Metro Transit caused a bit of a stir on social media when it tweeted that "as of now, we are not planning on running extra trains after the Taylor Swift concert." That prompted some angry responses from users, with one calling the move "unthinkable" while another said it was an example of "bad decision-making."
In a follow-up statement posted Wednesday, Metro Transit left open the possibility of adding light-rail service but said it was too early to make that decision.
"While we would love to promise Swifties that we'll be putting extra trains out later into the evening, we cannot confidently commit to doing so far in advance. We will do everything we can to provide additional service but these plans will not fully materialize until close to or on the event dates," Metro Transit wrote. "This is not a question of will. The fact is we currently have 85 train operators, which is 10 short of our ideal staffing level. Under these conditions, it's a challenge even to provide our scheduled service. We are sorry to disappoint fans who planned on taking light rail to and from the concerts at U.S. Bank Stadium. We share this disappointment, and hope in the future to be better positioned to provide extra service when we anticipate exceptionally high demand."
Metro Transit noted that bus service through the D Line will run after 11:30 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday nights.
In anticipation of the busy weekend, KARE 11 also reached out to Mayor Frey's office about transportation options. His spokesperson issued this statement:
"Having Taylor Swift perform during the same weekend as Pride is an opportunity to show hundreds of thousands of people how great our city is. Part of that uniquely Minneapolis experience is having safe and accessible transit options to get in and out of downtown. The City has requested Metro Transit add after hours service on both days of the concert to help Swift fans and Pride-goers."
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