Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan Update
We need your help to work through some issues and questions. Read below, and then click on any of the four issue areas to learn more and take a brief survey. Feel free to come back and provide input on as many of the issue areas as you are interested in. Thank you!
Minnesota is facing many changes. These shifts—in demographics, technology, the environment, the economy, and travel behavior—will affect how we move. Over the past eight months, we heard from more than 10,000 Minnesotans about which changes were most important for us to consider as we plan for the future. To learn more about what we heard, check out our outreach summary (coming soon).
We took this input from the public, looked at which changes were identified as the most important, and starting asking — what does this mean for transportation in Minnesota? We also had to consider existing federal and state laws as well as policy and technical considerations coming from MnDOT and partner agencies. Since this is a plan update, we used the 2012 Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan as our starting point.
As we worked to update the Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan policy direction, a few big issue areas emerged along with a number of unanswered questions:
- Land use & transportation — Land use and transportation decisions are closely linked. It’s important for decision-makers to consider how each impacts the other. This isn’t a new idea but it can often be difficult to implement. What tools and resources can the Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan provide to help ensure land use and transportation decisions support each other? Which types of transportation decisions should be most strongly connected to land use?
- Urban & rural performance — The majority of Minnesota’s population lives in urban areas, but the majority of highway miles are in rural areas. Both urban and rural highways are important, but they are different. Currently, MnDOT’s performance measures look at statewide outcomes. Existing measures don’t take into account the differences between urban and rural transportation needs. Does this approach cause us to overlook certain issues or areas? Should we report measures in urban and rural areas differently? Should the measures be different? How do we even define what is “urban?”
- Advancing equity — The financial burden of transportation is much heavier on low-income households and can limit access to jobs, services, education, healthy foods, and more. Today, significant and persistent disparities remain between white Minnesotans and Minnesotans of color. With the increasing diversity of the state's population, it is important to consider the financial and other burdens of transportation on low-income households. What role can MnDOT and other transportation partners play in helping to advance equity within Minnesota?
- Climate change & environmental quality — Minnesota’s climate is changing. Both warmer winters and changes in rain events have impacts for the transportation system in Minnesota. It’s important for MnDOT and other transportation partners in Minnesota to track climate trends, understand where the system is vulnerable, and plan for changes. In addition to addressing the effects of climate change, MnDOT and other transportation partners also have to consider the ways in which transportation impacts the environment, such as air and water quality. What should MnDOT and partners do to address climate change and other environmental concerns?
The full draft plan will be available for additional review and comment in late summer 2016.
