The Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA) is expanding express service offerings from the Savage Park and Ride to downtown Minneapolis – Route 464 – beginning Monday, Sept. 8.

Route 460N will no longer serve the park and ride, and Route 464 will pick up some of the local service along the route. The Savage Park and Ride is located at County Road 42 and Huntington Avenue (behind McDonald’s)

“We are trying to streamline service for our Savage passengers,” said Beverley Miller, executive director of the MVTA.  “By offering service that has limited stops along the Burnsville Parkway, as well as bypasses the Burnsville Transit Station, we are accommodating requests from riders for a faster trip.”

“The city of Savage is pleased to see these improvements for our riders,” said MVTA Secretary Jane Victorey, who is also a Savage City Council member.

Six trips daily will begin from downtown Savage (125th Street and Glenhurst Avenue) and two additional trips will serve western Burnsville (County Road 42/Irving area – Route 464A). All trips will serve the Savage and the Heart of the City (Burnsville Parkway and Pillsbury Avenue behind Wells Fargo Bank) Park and Rides, and have been spaced to provide riders a stream of northbound service from 5:39 a.m. to 8:24 a.m.Evening service also includes seven trips daily, with two serving County Road 42/Irving (464A) and the others serving downtown Savage leaving Gateway Ramp at 3:05 p.m. through 5:41 p.m.

In addition, due to construction in downtown Minneapolis Route 464, buses will shift from going into downtown on Second Avenue and existing downtown on Marquette Avenue to entering and exiting downtown on Third Avenue. This detour is expected to last through most of 2009.

Along with the express service to downtown Minneapolis, the MVTA also provides service from the Savage Park and Ride on Route 444 seven days per week to locations such as the Burnsville Center, the Burnsville Transit Station and the Mall of America where riders can make connections to other regional providers across the Twin Cities Metro Area.

Finally, Savage also has the Route 421 Flex Route which serves some of the key housing areas in downtown Savage (Glendale Place, the Hamilton and Lynn Court) to select destinations along a route or within a reasonable deviation off the route. Two morning and two afternoon trips are offered on this route. 

Call (952) 882-6000 to make reservations for a ride.New schedules will be posted on the MVTA Web site at www.mvta.com, or are available by calling (952) 882-7500.The MVTA is the public transportation provider for the businesses and residents of Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Rosemount and Savage.