Maple Grove Transit Sees Surge in Bus Riders to State Fair

The first half of the Minnesota State Fair has come and gone, but transit officials in Maple Grove say it was a record-setting weekend for bus service.

A total of 12,984 people took the State Fair Express Bus from the Maple Grove Transit Station during the first weekend of the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

That’s 3,662 more riders than last year.

Local transit officials credit the convenient location and the nice weather for the spike in ridership. However, they’re still not in a position to accommodate weekday express service to the fair from the Maple Grove Transit Station.

Buses to the Minnesota State Fair from the Maple Grove Transit Station run approximately every half hour.

“There is probably is great demand for the weekday service, but unfortunately, all of our equipment and the drivers and the parking is all utilized for our normal express bus service,” said Mike Opatz, Maple Grove’s transit administrator. “We’re looking at ways to see if we can try to figure out a way to offer that weekday service, it probably would be very popular here, but there are a lot of challenges to do it at this location.”

Buses to the fair run approximately every 30 minutes on the weekends and Labor Day. The parking garage at the Maple Grove Transit Station holds 924 vehicles, so the advice from Opatz is to come early.

Related: Maple Grove Transit Offers Bus Route to State Fair

Maple Grove