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MPR News Staff

The Minnesota State Fair is approaching fast, and the hundreds of thousands of people who’ll be attending this year’s fair will have some new options for getting there.

Monday marked one month until the start of the fair — scheduled to run from Aug. 22 through Labor Day, Sept. 2 — and fair officials outlined transportation arrangements for 2024.

Among the changes for this year:

• Metro Transit will be offering its State Fair Express Bus service from six park & ride lots, up from four in 2023. New this year is service from Maplewood Mall each day of the fair, and from the Maple Grove Transit Center on weekends and Labor Day. Those two options join existing service from Blaine, Bloomington, Cottage Grove and Minnetonka.

• SouthWest Transit is adding State Fair Express Bus service from Carver to the fairgrounds this year, along with the previous service from Chanhassen, Chaska and Eden Prairie. Those routes will operate for 11 days of the fair — every day except Labor Day — up from nine days last year.

•  The State Fair’s Free Park & Ride shuttle will again operate from 31 lots — but one of them, the I-35W and County Road C Park and Ride Ramp in Roseville, will be open for all 12 days of the fair, up from five days last year.

Fair officials said nearly half of fairgoers use some form of public transportation to reach the fairgrounds each year.

“We are proud of the year-round planning done by our team of staff and partners to provide transportation options for not only guests, but livestock exhibitors, employees, vendors, performers, volunteers and other fair participants as well,” Minnesota State Fair CEO Renee Alexander said in a news release.

“On some days and at certain times, we know that traffic and parking can get congested, so we encourage guests to have a Plan B and C if their preferred lot or route is unavailable. There are many options to choose from, and we encourage fair fans to explore all of them ahead of time.”