Maple Grove Offers Shuttle Service to Super Bowl Festivities

In the coming days, downtown Minneapolis will welcome fans from the Twin Cities and across the country who want to partake in festivities related to Super Bowl LII.

But with every big event, comes a set of challenges and concerns.

“Parking is gonna be outrageous. I heard it was $65,” said Cheri Ross of Lakeville.

“There are no parking places,” said Charlie Olson of Minneapolis. “Well, there are some, but very few. It’s gonna be tough to find a place to park.”

Parking challenges are just one reason why local transit officials are encouraging people to think bold and take the bus.

“There’s so many roads that are closed, parking rates are so high, busing is probably the best option,” said Mike Opatz, Maple Grove’s Transit Administrator.

Opatz says that this weekend, Maple Grove will operate a shuttle service that runs every half hour, which will take people from the Maple Grove Transit Center to downtown Minneapolis, dropping them off at a transit hub on 11th street and 2nd Avenue.

“So it’s kind of in the heart of the fan events, whether you’re going to the Convention Center or along Nicollet Mall, you’ll have easy access,” Opatz said.

Public transit options will also be available in Maple Grove from Wednesday through Saturday for people wanting to enjoy the fun.

“So we really encourage people to go to our website and get those details,” Opatz said.

Of course, in this era of ride sharing apps, many will likely look to Uber or Lyft to get them downtown. But Opatz says that can be costly with surge pricing.

“Also, the Uber cars and Lyft cars are only gonna be able to get so close to the events as well, because they don’t have access to the bus lanes like we do,” he said.

That said, he admits that using Uber or Lyft is still a better option than driving downtown yourself.

But the takeaway is to avoid driving when you can.

“I wouldn’t drive down here in a car,” said Olson, of Minneapolis. “Light rail. Bus. Uber. Whatever.”

If you plan to use the bus service provided by the Maple Grove Transit Station, it runs from 9:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on the weekends. The fare is $2.50 each way.

For more information, you can go to maplegrovetransit.org.

Maple Grove