Largest tribal transit station in Minnesota under construction on White Earth Reservation

On Friday, May 30, White Earth Nation Chairman Michael Fairbanks sat and sang with a local drum group, signaling the cultural and spiritual importance of the tribe’s transit station groundbreaking. In the background, heavy equipment operators cleared the ground and moved earth for the 18,000-square-foot transit hub, which is expected to be completed in July 2026. When done, the hub will be the largest tribal transit facility in Minnesota.

“It’s a really good day here in White Earth to see the project moving forward,” said Rep. Laura Lee Erickson, White Earth’s District 3 leader, who joined Fairbanks and fellow White Earth Nation tribal leaders, staff and citizens who gathered at the construction site and later held symbolic gold shovels.

The White Earth Transit Station is greatly needed for citizens living on the largest of Minnesota’s 11 reservations. With 1,300 square miles of land, the White Earth Transportation Department is responsible for 150 miles of rural roads.

White Earth Reservation land is situated among lakes, trees and more than a hundred miles of dirt and gravel roads plus 50 miles of bituminous roads. A reliable transit system ensures the safety of all citizens, particularly women and young girls.

“With limited access to cars – and few, if any, auto mechanics in rural reservation communities – Native women and girls resort to hitchhiking, which places them at risk,” according to a transportation research report by TR News. “The forms of travel for tribal people are sometimes affected by a lack of access to reliable mode choices provided by the tribal transportation agencies, such as public buses or other ride-sharing and transit for rural communities.”

Numerous statistics underscore the urgent need for reliable transportation in Native communities, where public transit options are frequently limited. The White Earth Nation is poised to change these national dynamics with the construction of the $7 million White Earth Public Transit Station.

The hub will house 12 buses currently in the tribe’s transit fleet, along with 18 employees. “We’re running a little short on drivers, so we’re hoping to add a few more and then we do expect to expand and add some more routes,” said Kenneth Bakken, White Earth public transit manager. In addition to transporting people across the reservation, the tribe’s bus routes extend to some nearby towns, such as Detroit Lakes and Bagley.

“It’s been a long road,” Bakken said. “I’ve been with transit for 16 years, been a manager here for 10, and that’s kind of when we started the project. We got together with the Land Office, working on securing the property here. And then once we did that, we went and worked with FTA, which is the Federal Transit Administration, working on securing funding with them to do the project.”

While the recent groundbreaking was years in the making through the efforts of many people, including the Reservation Business Committee, or RBC, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation. U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith from Minnesota led a campaign to support transit needs for Native communities. On Aug. 18, 2022, the senators announced $5.9 million in federal grants to Minnesota Native nations, including $3.6 million for White Earth public transit facilities.

“This funding will help modernize public transit in Tribal communities, while improving air quality and helping combat climate change,” said Sen. Smith in a statement. “I am proud of our work to help make these grants more accessible for Tribal communities and will continue working to support public transportation across Minnesota.”

Smith chaired a field hearing in summer 2022 in Minnesota aimed at elevating the infrastructure priorities of Minnesota’s Tribal Nations and raising awareness among Tribal Nations for the funding opportunities available through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, passed at the end of 2021.

In 2022, American Indian and Alaska Native adults were 17.1% more likely to lack reliable transportation for daily living in the past 12 months compared with Asian, white and Hispanic populations, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. This hinders people in numerous ways, including their ability to seek medical attention.

“On behalf of myself and the other members of the RBC, we are proud to be one of the recipients of such a generous grant from the FTA,” said Fairbanks in a statement. “Our goal is to always ensure that our systems, processes, and decisions work to serve our community and families of the White Earth Reservation to the highest standard possible. This grant will aid in the continuance of providing excellency of White Earth’s Transit system as well as being at the forefront of improving air quality and combating climate change.”