Metropolitan Council approves budget amendment, two technology contracts and endorses Network Now transit plan

The Metropolitan Council on March 26 approved a first-quarter and carry-forward amendment to its 2025 unified budget, authorized two technology contracts for enterprise systems and cloud services, and endorsed the Network Now transit framework that will reconfigure bus service across the seven-county region.

The amendment to the council's 2025 unified budget—moved by Councilmember Peter Johnson and approved by roll call—adjusts operating and capital budgets across regional administration, community development and transportation, carries forward previously allocated equity grant funds, and adds staff and fleet purchases. The council also approved a contract to implement a new Enterprise Asset Management System and a three-year Microsoft licensing and Azure cloud-services contract. Finally, the council endorsed Network Now, a plan that would discontinue 50 routes while reallocating resources to expand overall service by more than 40 percent.

Why it matters: the budget changes and contract approvals finance immediate system upgrades (software, asset-management, cloud migration) and underpin a major service reconfiguration intended to grow ridership and change how bus service is delivered across the region.

Budget amendment: what changed

Councilmember Peter Johnson presented the unified budget amendment as a package of operating and capital updates. The amendment carries forward funds set aside in 2023–24 for…