The Metro C Line is a bus rapid transit line in Brooklyn Center and Minneapolis, Minnesota operated by Metro Transit. The line is part of Metro Transit's Metro network of light rail and bus rapid transit lines. The route operates from the Brooklyn Center Transit Center along Penn Avenue and Olson Memorial Highway, terminating in downtown Minneapolis. The route is analogous to the existing Route 19 and is projected to increase ridership on this corridor from 7,000 to 9,000 by 2030. Eventually, part of its route will shift south to Glenwood Avenue from Olson Memorial Highway.
The C Line, along with the similarly built A Line, features fewer stops and modern bus stops with "train-like" amenities, including distinct stations and off-board fare payment. Additionally, the C Line features the Twin Cities' first battery electric buses, built by New Flyer. Construction on the C Line began in March 2018 and began revenue service on June 8, 2019. The week of November 25, 2019, the C Line surpassed one-million rides after only five months of operation. Average weekday ridership was 30% higher than Route 19 ridership before C Line construction. Average Saturday and Sunday ridership has increased 25% and 40%, respectively.
Route The northern terminus of the C Line is at Brooklyn Center Transit Center in Minneapolis suburb of Brooklyn Center. Station facilities include an indoor waiting area, restrooms, bike racks, and ticket vending machines and Go-To card readers for off-board fare collection. Brooklyn Center Transit Center also has rapid chargers for battery electric New Flyer buses, but as of October 15, 2019, electric buses have been pulled from service due to charging problems at their garage. From there, the C Line begins traveling southbound along Xerxes with one stop at 56th Avenue, adjacent to the former site of Brookdale Mall. The line then continues south on Brooklyn Boulevard with a station at 51st Avenue before entering the City of Minneapolis, where Brooklyn Boulevard changes to Osseo Road. An infill station at 47th Avenue will be constructed between 2023 and 2025. The C Line turns south onto Penn Avenue, splitting from the under construction Metro D Line, stopping the next block at 43rd Avenue. From there, the line stops every to serving North Minneapolis along Penn Avenue. At Olson Memorial Highway, the C Line turns east to head towards downtown Minneapolis with four station stops along the highway.
The route enters downtown along 7th Street, which splits into one-way pairs; 8th Street southbound and 7th Street northbound. Southbound, three BRT stations are currently open, at Ramp A/7th Street Transit Center and 8th Street at Nicollet Mall and at 3rd/4th Avenues. Stations on 8th Street at Hennepin and Park Avenues will fully open at a later date, with buses still stopping there on request. After the final stop at Park Avenue, buses continue to 11th Avenue where they layover and await the return trip northbound.
Heading northbound from downtown, the C Line begins its route at Park Avenue Station located under Hennepin County Medical Center and continues north on 7th Street. Stations are at 3rd/4th Avenues, Nicollet Mall, and Hennepin Avenue. These stations are Metro Transit's standard bus rapid transit stations with off-board fare collection, real-time information, and near-level boarding. After exiting downtown, the C Line follows the same route north to Brooklyn Center Transit Center.
6th Street operations
Upon opening day, 8th Street in downtown Minneapolis was being reconstructed. As a result, southbound buses were detoured onto Glenwood Avenue until 6th Street where they turned right and continued with temporary stops at Hennepin Avenue, Nicollet Mall, 3rd Avenue, and Park Avenue. These temporary stops do not include real time information or fare-collection systems, and riders could not board C Line buses at these stops without a valid transfer. In July 2019, another temporary stop southbound was added in downtown Minneapolis at 7th Street on Glenwood Avenue, analogous and a short distance to the Ramp A/7th Street Transit Center.
Buses were permanently routed to 8th Street December 7, 2019.
Phase II Glenwood Avenue alignment The Metro Blue Line Extension of the METRO Blue Line was planned to run down Olson Memorial Highway between downtown Minneapolis and Penn Avenue. Under Phase II, at the start of light rail service the C Line would move from Olson Highway to Glenwood Avenue about a quarter mile south. The goal was to balance transit service across multiple corridors while retaining similar travel times. In 2016, it was identified that there would be four stations on Glenwood Avenue at Morgan, Lyndale, Royalston, and between Cedar Lake Road and Dupont Avenues. At Penn Avenue and Olson Highway, a new station would be constructed south of Olson on Penn, moving it from its temporary stop location on Olson.
As an interim service on Olson Memorial Highway, three stations (Penn, Humboldt, and Bryant) were not built as normal C Line stations. Shelters are standard Metro Transit shelters and there is no near-level boarding, however, concrete pads were constructed the entire length of a bus. Real time information is provided at these stations, but they lack the service's distinct pylon markers. These stations still have off-board fare collection vending machines and Go-To card readers.
Negotiations with BNSF prevented the planned alignment from proceeding and the future, including the alignment, of the Bottineau Blue Line Extension is unclear. In August 2020, the Metropolitan Council announced that the Bottineau Blue Line Extension would be looking for an alternative route to Brooklyn Park. Following the decision, Metro Transit is advancing planning for the Phase II alignment to be completed before the original 2024 opening of the light rail service. Stations at Penn, Lyndale, and Royalston have been coordinated with other public works projects.
Additionally, in 2021 the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill that included $250,000 to analyze transit improvements from Medina, Minnesota to downtown Minneapolis, requiring options for bus rapid transit service to be included. Initially studied in 2015, the line would follow the C Line's alignment on Olson Memorial Highway out of downtown Minneapolis, advancing the goal of balancing transit service across multiple corridors.
Potential extensions Separately, in Spring 2025, seventeen corridors were selected to be the next potential BRT corridors.After West 7th Street was selected to be the J Line and Nicollet Avenue was selected to be the K Line (with the L Line to be selected at a later date after an additional study) , it was revealed that two corridors that did not pass (Zane/63rd and the southern half of Bloomington/Lyndale North) would be studied as possible north and south C Line extensions, respectively.
Service + C Line frequency Type Span of service Frequency Early Weekdays 5:00 a.m. – 6:30 am 15–30 minutes Weekdays 6:30 a.m. – 7:00 pm 10 minutes Late Weekdays 7:00 p.m. – 1:00 am 15–30 minutes Saturday 5:30 a.m. – 1:30 am 10–30 minutes Sunday 5:30 a.m. – 1:30 am 10–30 minutes The C Line runs every ten minutes during daytime service on weekdays and weekends, with reduced frequencies of up to thirty minutes in the early morning and late evening. Initially, route 19 was retained as thirty-minute underlying bus service along the line. Select rush hour Route 19 trips were rerouted along Thomas Ave to serve areas previously served by terminal branches of Route 19. In December 2021, route 19 was suspended due to a driver shortage and was officially discontinued in March 2025. Five months after opening the route in October 2019, combined ridership for Route 19 and the C Line was roughly 8,300 weekday rides. Previously the corridor served 7,000 weekday rides with just Route 19. Ridership increased on weekdays by 30%, Saturdays by 25%, and Sundays by 40%, five months after opening.
Stations Station characteristics
Stations on Metro Transit's bus rapid transit service are unique and have enhanced features to differentiate them from local bus stops. Station shelters follow a "kit-of-parts" design so they can be easily identified and used throughout the system. There are three different station sizes–small, medium, and large–and the size chosen depends on daily boardings and site context. Stations have lighted canopies, on-demand heating, security cameras and emergency telephones, benches, and bike parking. Pavement in boarding areas are treated with a darker shade of concrete to delineate them from the sidewalk. Ticket vending machines and Go-To card readers are located on platforms for off-board fare collection, speeding up the boarding process and reducing bus dwell time. Each station has a pylon marker that provides real-time bus arrival information and station identification. Illuminated signage at the top of the station blinks when a bus is one minute away. Curbs at stations have tactile warning strips and are raised from the road surface, facilitating near-level boarding to speed up and make boarding easier.
Penn, Humboldt, and Bryant stations on Olson Memorial Highway were designed to be temporary and use standard Metro Transit shelters, but still have real time information and off-board fare collection. It was planned to have the Metro Blue Line Extension operate on Olson Memorial Highway, and upon its opening would have shifted the C Line's route south to Glenwood Avenue, where permanent stations would be constructed. Upon opening, the five southbound stops on 6th Street in downtown Minneapolis were drop-off only until the route permanently moved to 8th Street when construction was complete. These stops had no features or amenities due to their temporary use.
List of stations
StationNeighborhood(s)CityOpenedConnectionsFall 2019 weekday C Line boardings Note: Per metadata, this information is only for looking at stop level ridership and cannot be used for total route level ridership.Brooklyn Center Transit CenterCentennialBrooklyn CenterRoutes 5, 19, 22, 717, 721, 722, 723, 724, 761, 762, 801 334Xerxes & 56th AvenueRoutes 5, 19, 22, 717, 721, 724, 761256Brooklyn & 51st AvenueHappy HollowRoutes 5, 19, 22, 32, 721, 724, 761 76Osseo & 47th AvenueVictoryMinneapolisDecember 7, 2024Route 19 -Penn & 43rd AvenueRoute 19 221Penn & DowlingCleveland, Folwell, Victory, Webber-CamdenRoute 19 179Penn & 36th AvenueCleveland, FolwellRoute 19 310Penn & LowryCleveland, Folwell, JordanRoutes 19, 32 549Penn & 29th AvenueJordanRoutes 19, 32 188Penn & West BroadwayJordan, Willard-HayRoutes 14, 19 402Penn & Golden ValleyWillard-HayRoutes 14, 19, 30 408Penn & PlymouthNear-North, Willard-HayRoutes 7, 19, 32 376Olson & PennHarrison, Near-North, Willard-HayRoutes 19, 755 279Olson & HumboldtHarrison, Near-NorthRoute 19 197Olson & BryantSumner-GlenwoodRoute 19 2097th Street & Olson/5th AvenueNorth LoopRoutes 5, 19, 22, 755 292Ramp A/7th Street Transit CenterDowntown WestMany downtown routes 267th Street & Hennepin8th Street & HennepinEarly 2021Many downtown routes 5467th Street & Nicollet8th Street & NicolletMany downtown routes, Nicollet Mall 1,1277th Street & 3rd/4th Avenue8th Street & 3rd/4th AvenueMany downtown routes 3227th Street & Park8th Street & ParkElliot ParkMany downtown routes 502
Fleet