Transportation | Page 10

Map of the Interstate 94 corridor

Map of the Interstate 94 corridor, 1965. From Alan A. Altshuler’s The City Planning Process: A Political Analysis (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1965). Used with the permission of Cornell University Press.

Neighborhood Resistance to I-94, 1953–1965

In the 1950s, planned construction of Interstate Highway 94 (I-94) threatened to fracture four Twin Cities neighborhoods: Rondo, Prospect Park, Merriam Park, and Seward. Although each community responded differently and achieved different results, all were models of persistence and resistance.

Transit worker applying decal to bus

A transit worker applies a “T” (for transit) decal to one of the old Twin City Lines buses before being sent out on the streets under new management for the first time in September 1970. All of the former TCL buses were eventually repainted a solid red before until they were replaced. Photo by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; used with permission.

Twin City Lines bus

Aging bus operated by Twin City Lines, ca. 1960s. Photo by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; used with permission.

Twin City Lines bus

Aging bus operated by Twin City Lines, ca. 1960s. Photo by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; used with permission.

Twin City Lines Strike, 1969

In 1969, members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005 called a strike against Twin City Lines (TCL), the metropolitan area’s largest privately owned bus company. Most union members and patrons probably didn’t realize it at the time, but that strike would prove to be a critical turning point for Twin Cities public transit. It would provide the opportunity for public acquisition of the company and dramatic service improvements.

Emergency exit door from school bus involved in I-35W bridge collapse

Emergency exit door from a school bus made by the Blue Bird Corporation of Fort Valley, Georgia, circa 2007. The school bus was transporting a group of day camp students when it was involved in the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis on August 1, 2007. The door is signed by all of the children and adults who were on the bus at that time.