Additionally, the C Line features the Twin Cities' first battery electric buses, built by New Flyer.

Station facilities include an indoor waiting area, restrooms, bike racks, and ticket vending machines and Go-To card readers for off-board fare collection.

[9] From there, the C Line begins traveling southbound along Xerxes with one stop at 56th Avenue, adjacent to the former site of Brookdale Mall.

Stations on 8th Street at Hennepin and Park Avenues will fully open at a later date, with buses still stopping there on request.

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.

[11] The Bottineau LRT 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.

[14] The goal was to balance transit service across multiple corridors while retaining similar travel times.

[18] 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 have lighted canopies, on-demand heating, security cameras and emergency telephones, benches, and bike parking.

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.

[26] 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.

[29] These buses were manufactured by New Flyer Industries in Saint Cloud, Minnesota and have three doors and wider aisles for faster boarding.

[30][31] The fleet is also equipped with transit signal priority, Quantum wheelchair securement, free WiFi, and USB chargers.

[33] Due to issues with charging equipment at garages, all eight electric buses were temporarily removed from service in July 2019 and then again in October.

[35] The Metropolitan Council, the metropolitan planning organization for the Twin Cities, completed a 2030 Transit Master Study for the region in 2008 which identified arterial bus network corridors and encouraged further study of arterial bus rapid transit projects.

The study identified some corridors that had the potential for high ridership but lacked the necessary space for dedicated running way for transit.

Corridors were evaluated on capital and operating costs, potential ridership, and travel time savings.

The Penn Avenue alignment for the Bottineau LRT project faced difficulties with constrained right of way and the need for eminent domain to take property.

The corridor already had strong transit usage with buses making up 2% of vehicle traffic on Penn Avenue but carrying 26% of people.

The original C Line plan included a station at Victory Memorial Parkway, later expanding the scope to 47th Avenue, but was shelved due to low ridership, physical restraints, and opposition from the Minneapolis Park Board.