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Board considers countywide mobility study and grant strategy for Southwest Transit expansion
Summary
Southwest Transit and county staff recommended a countywide mobility study and stakeholder outreach to build a grant-ready plan for transit expansion rather than starting ad hoc pilots.
County staff and Southwest Transit presented options for expanding transit service in Carver County, recommended a mobility study and urged a grant-driven approach to maximize local funds.
What was presented: Southwest Transit CEO Eric Hansen reviewed the agency’s current service footprint and said the county’s portion of the new regional sales-tax fund could be put toward transit, greenhouse-gas mitigation or complete-streets projects. Staff and the transit working group asked Southwest Transit to revisit a 2024 proposal (initially focused on on-demand service in Waconia) and instead to evaluate countywide needs, service tiers and how to leverage regional grants.
Why staff favors a study first: Southwest Transit and county staff told the board a mobility study would: gather community and stakeholder input, identify service levels and use cases (for example, medical trips, workforce transit, college connections and access to grocery/medical centers), examine feasibility and prepare a competitive regional solicitation (TAB) grant application. Southwest Transit said a successful TAB application could leverage local funds (e.g., the county’s share of the sale-tax pool) to secure significantly more project dollars and expand service more quickly and effectively than ad-hoc pilots.
Service concepts and operations: Southwest Transit described on-demand service (Southwest Prime), fixed-route connections to park-and-rides and larger regional routes that link to job centers and the airport. Southwest Transit reported recent service expansions (including weekend and evening runs and a new Route 686 to the airport) and said special-event service (state fair, concerts) is a growing portion of its ridership. Staff noted geographic differences across the county—denser eastern towns versus more rural western areas—make a connected plan more effective than piecemeal pilots.
Board feedback and next steps: Commissioners supported proceeding with a mobility study, community engagement and exploring a regional grant application (TAB/regional solicitation) to maximize available funds. Staff will scope the study, may use third-party or in-house planning resources and return with a recommended schedule and budget so the county can be ready for 2026 grant cycles and potential 2027 service starts.
Ending: The board asked staff and Southwest Transit to proceed with study scoping and stakeholder engagement, keeping an eye on eligible uses for the county’s sales-tax funding bucket and on opportunities to match regional grants.
