Carver County board adopts transit and mobility study, eyes phased service expansion 2027–2030

The Carver County Board voted May 19 to adopt a final Transit and Mobility Study that recommends a phased rollout of expanded services between 2027 and 2030 and targets improved access for roughly 80% of county residents.

"Eighty percent of Carver County residents will have either a new service or a service-quality improvement over what they experienced today," said Ella Rasp, senior transportation planner with Stantec, who presented the study to the board. The plan pairs Southwest Transit and Transit Link services and recommends applying to the Metropolitan Council’s regional solicitation for competitive grants as part of the funding strategy.

Board members pressed staff on measures of impact and accountability. Commissioner Workman asked for baseline and follow-up metrics so the board can evaluate whether projected usage and service goals are met after deployment. "It would be interesting to know and share numbers — what we have today, what we'll project in the future, and then come back a year after it's implemented to say, did we hit those numbers?" he said.

Study authors said the county would align service deployment with available funding streams — a regional solicitation competitive grant, regional sales and use tax, and the Transportation Advancement fund — and phase circulator services into smaller communities as demand and funding allow. Linden (staff) told the board Southwest Transit would be the lead applicant for the competitive regional solicitation and estimated the application could bring over $3,500,000 into county transit improvements.

The board moved to approve the study (mover: Commissioner Anderson; second: Commissioner Fahey) and approved it by voice vote. Next steps the presenters outlined include submitting the regional solicitation application, continuing jurisdictional coordination, and preparing budget requests for 2027 to support match funding and phased implementation.