Metro Orange Line (Minnesota)

The Metro Orange Line is a bus rapid transit line in the Twin Cities, Minnesota operated by Metro Transit. The line operates primarily along Interstate 35W from downtown Minneapolis through Richfield and Bloomington before terminating in Burnsville, Minnesota. The Orange Line provides access to 198,000 jobs with roughly a quarter of them outside downtown Minneapolis. The route serves a mix of stations located in the center of the highway, stations near highway exits, and on-street stations. The line has features typical of bus rapid transit systems with off-board fare payment, articulated buses with extra doors, stations with improved passenger amenities, and transit-only bus lanes on portions of the route.

Express bus service in the I-35W corridor has existed since the 1970s and efforts to improve transit in the corridor through light rail or bus rapid transit have been worked on for nearly as long. Bus rapid transit was identified for study in the early 2000s and several transit facility improvements in the corridor were made by 2009 through grants by the federal government. The project was known as the I-35W Bus Rapid Transitway until July 2011 when the Metropolitan Council officially renamed the project the METRO Orange Line as part of the branding of the METRO system. Identifying funds to improve the transitway was difficult despite the project drawing bipartisan support. Full funding for the project was secured in 2018. Construction was completed in 2021 and the line opened December 4, 2021. By 2040, an estimated 11,400 rides a day will be taken on the Orange Line and facility improvements along the corridor funded as part of the project will benefit 26,500 rides a day.