Burnsville Transit Station: How a Drive-In Became a Transit Pioneer
Before it was a transit hub, the site at 100 E. Highway 13 was the Lucky Twin Drive-In movie theater. In 1995, the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority built something new on that 15-acre lot: a $2.5 million transit station that opened to riders on July 31, 1995, with 600 parking spaces.
What made it radical for its time: it was the first bus station in the Twin Cities designed with commercial development baked in from day one — not just restrooms and heated waiting areas, but leasable spaces for doctor and dentist offices, a daycare, and other tenants, so commuters could run errands around their bus trip. The transit-station-as-town-square idea, basically.
It worked immediately. Within two months, 510 spaces were filling daily — far above the 350 the old park-and-ride across the street had drawn. Ridership grew 9–12% a year.
A parking deck went up in 1997, a second level followed, a $2.4 million expansion was approved in 2000, and by 2014 the ramp held 1,428 vehicles, ran up to 80% full, and saw 27 buses in its busiest hour across 217 daily trips. It became the busiest park-and-ride in the entire Twin Cities region — and MVTA's flagship station.
🚌 TODAY — The Region's Workhorse, Showing Its Age
The station remains the south metro's main transfer hub, anchoring express and local routes (421, 426, 444, 460, 465, 495) with climate-controlled waiting, Go-To card sales, and transit info.
But the last decade has been a stress test. COVID gutted park-and-ride commuting — a 2021 Met Council count found just 267 cars parked versus 1,116 in 2019. Overflow demand had already pushed MVTA to shift some service to the 370-space Heart of the City ramp a half-mile south back in 2018.
The building itself is also catching up with its own history: because the ramp was built in phases (1995, 1997, 2002), no passenger elevator was ever installed — upper-level parkers still use stairs.
A modernization project is fixing that with a multi-passenger elevator, backup generator, and better pedestrian crossings. Next door, the Burnsville Bus Garage just celebrated a 2026 ribbon-cutting on a three-phase modernization that's wiring the facility for battery-electric buses.
And the station still shines at its original job — moving crowds. MVTA set an all-time State Fair ridership record in 2026 (154,915 rides), with Burnsville Transit Station as a key departure point, and it serves the Renaissance Festival and MSP airport express (Route 495, with free overnight parking) too.
One notable "what might have been": when the METRO Orange Line BRT was planned, the southern terminus was nearly placed at the MVTA station itself. But Burnsville's city council wanted the terminus in its downtown Heart of the City district — so the Orange Line station opened December 2021 kitty-corner across Highway 13, a quarter-mile walk away, instead.
🔮 THE FUTURE — From Park-and-Ride to Mobility Hub
MVTA's vision, laid out in its 2024 regional funding application, is to transform the station from a commuter parking lot into a full mobility hub: a customer outreach and training center, reconfigured access off Highway 13, a modern kiss-and-ride, dedicated zones for MVTA Connect microtransit, Jefferson Lines intercity buses, Uber/Lyft, plus bike-ped connections and e-bike/scooter rentals. On the development side, they want to recruit retail — a grab-and-go grocery, a coffee shop — and a free community event space, finally fulfilling that 1995 commercial vision at full scale.
Beyond the station itself, the bigger regional play is the Orange Line extension: a 2019 study recommended pushing the Orange Line south to a new Burnsville Center Village station, timed to the mall area's redevelopment — which would finally stitch the MVTA hub, the Orange Line, and Burnsville's downtown into one connected district. And looming over all of it is the Heart of the City downtown buildout, the 54-acre mixed-use center the city has been growing since the 1990s, with the station sitting at its front door.
Thirty-one years after the Station opened, the bet is the same one MVTA made in 1995: that a bus station can be more than a parking lot — it can be the center of a community.
🚗 RIDER TIP — When the Station Ramp Is Full
Need overflow parking? The Heart of the City Ramp sits right next to Nicollet Commons Park at 126th Street and Pillsbury Avenue — just a short walk from the park and the Ames Center. The ramp offers 370 free public spaces.
Since 2018, the ramp has served as overflow parking for the Burnsville Transit Station. Since December 2021, it has also been a park-and-ride for the METRO Orange Line's Burnsville Heart of the City station.
🚗 How to Ride MVTA Connect To and from MVTA Burnsville Transit Station @ 100 Hwy 13 East, Burnsville
- Curb-to-Curb Service: Accessible vans or small buses drop you off directly at your destination.
- The Flat Cost: A budget-friendly $3.00 per person each way.
- Payment Methods: Payable via cash, Go-To Card, or the MVTA App.
- Service Hours: Operates daily from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM (plan ahead for late-night game conclusions).
How to Book Your Ride- Order via Smartphone: Use the MVTA App (iOS and Android). Input your pickup location, track your driver's real-time ETA, and purchase tickets directly in the app.
- Order via Phone Call: Call MVTA Customer Service at 952-882-7500 to place a live ride request with a representative.
MVTA Connect: On-Demand Transit Guide
You can find a comprehensive breakdown of service zones, hours, and step-by-step app booking instructions in the MVTA App.
Contact Information
Burnsville Transit Station
100 East Highway 13
Burnsville, MN 55337
952-882-7500
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