Lee W. Munnich

I-394 MnPASS High-Occupancy Toll Lanes: Planning and Operational Issues and Outcomes (Lessons Learned in Year 1)

The I-394 MnPASS express lanes opened in May 2005 as Minnesotas first high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane project. The MnPASS lanes were opened by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) after a decade of study, outreach, and education that garnered political and community support for a demonstration project on value pricing in the state. Mn/DOT staff and their project partners faced new challenges when the Minnesota governor and legislature authorized the adaptation of the I-394 high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes to HOT lanes, and Mn/DOT leadership sought to implement the project as soon as possible. Without any existing toll roads in Minnesota, the team faced the challenge of delivering a project that was both publicly and politically supportable and technically sound. This paper discusses the expectations and issues addressed by the project team and community task force during the planning process, and the actual results achieved during the first year of operation of the I-394 MnPASS lanes.

VALUE PRICING OUTREACH AND EDUCATION: KEY STEPS IN REACHING HIGH-OCCUPANCY TOLL LANE CONSENSUS IN MINNESOTA

Since 1994, Minnesota transportation policy leaders have made several attempts to implement a value pricing project in the Twin Cities area. A joint effort involving the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Council, and the University of Minnesotas Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs has led to an increased awareness by transportation, political, business, environmental, and other community leaders that variable road pricing is integral to a long-term congestion management strategy. In 2003 the Minnesota state legislature with the support of the governor and lieutenant governor passed legislation allowing user fees for single-occupant vehicles in high-occupancy vehicle lanes. Minnesota is considering the implementation of express lanes, also known as high-occupancy toll lanes, on I-394 as the first test bed for value pricing in Minnesota. Minnesotas education and outreach efforts offer lessons for other states and regions considering value pricing projects: local political champions are critical for the success of any value pricing effort; a communications strategy is necessary to make sure that a range of public interests is addressed; an initial demonstration project must be both technically and politically feasible; and a long-term approach undeterred by short-term setbacks is essential.

Value Pricing and Public Outreach: Minnesota’s Lessons Learned

The feasibility and worth of value pricing transportation projects are well documented, but gaining approval for projects has been thwarted by an inability to sell the public and key stakeholders on the concept. Value pricing advocates in Minnesota struggled with this challenge for more than a decade. After several Minnesota value pricing projects failed because of a lack of public support, Minnesota supporters implemented a revised public outreach strategy in 2001. With the use of that strategy, they met with success in 2003 in the approval of the I-394 MnPass project, which will be implemented in spring 2005. The communications-related lessons learned in Minnesota during the decade-long case study may be instructive for others struggling to gain approval for their own projects.

Do Americans Oppose Controversial Evidence-Based Road Safety Policies?

Six safety improvement systems based on legislation have proved to reduce rural roadway fatalities. But their legislative enactment has been limited in part by a perception of journalists and policy makers that the policies are controversial and unpopular with the general public. However, a national public opinion survey found that an overwhelming proportion of Americans support all six policies. Strong support exists across all major demographic, geographic, gender, and ideological groups and calls that perception into question. These findings are instructive for those who attempt to reduce rural roadway fatalities through evidence-based rural roadway safety public policies.

Value Pricing Education and Outreach Model: I-394 MnPASS Community Task Force

After a decade of public discussion and political debate, the I-394 MnPASS Express Lane, Minnesotas first high-occupancy toll lane, opened in May 2005. The MnPASS project was designed to improve the efficiency of I-394 by increasing the person- and vehicle-carrying capabilities of existing high-occupancy vehicle lanes, maintaining free-flow speeds for transit and carpools, and using electronic toll collection (tags/transponders and readers) for dynamic pricing and electronic enforcement. While previous road pricing initiatives in Minnesota, as in other states, have provided opportunity for public feedback, the process tends to be confrontational and less than satisfying for all parties. Both citizens and politicians often believe comments and concerns are minimized and rarely taken seriously enough to alter project plans. The I-394 Express Lane Community Task Force, however, was formed to help citizens and stakeholders fully understand the project and its goals and to provide a more effective vehicle to ...

Revisiting the Fuel Tax–Based Transportation Funding System in the United States

Increasing concerns are noted over the current transportation funding system based on fuel taxes, but there has been little scholarly literature that evaluates the fuel tax system in a comprehensive manner. As a synthesis, this article reviews the background of fuel taxes designated for transportation and examines issues related to the fuel taxes with four tax-evaluation principles, including economic efficiency, social equity, revenue adequacy, and political and administrative feasibility. Although the analysis does not indicate an absolute denial of fuel taxes as a revenue source to support transportation, it shows that the current transportation funding system based on fuel taxes is no longer sustainable with the rapid erosion of fuel tax base.

Competitive industry clusters and transportation in Minnesota

Purpose – This study aims to advance the state of knowledge of the relationship between transportation and economic development by investigating how firms in competitive industry clusters use transportation networks and what role those networks play in the competitiveness of these clusters. Design/methodology/approach – The approach combines quantitative and qualitative techniques to geographically identify competitive industry clusters and to investigate the role of transportation. The US Cluster Mapping tool is used to identify competitive clusters by employment location quotients in 25 Minnesota metropolitan and micropolitan regions. A total of 12 competitive clusters were selected for further study, and in-depth interviews and site visits were conducted with businesses in each cluster to explore the competitive importance of different modes of transportation. Findings – Minnesota’s economic competitiveness is dependent on a well-functioning transportation system in all modes – truck, air, rail, and wa...

Minnesota's Proposal for Urban Partnership Agreement: Case Study of Political and Institutional Issues in Congestion Pricing

In 2007 Minnesota was one of five finalists for an Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) grant through a unique competition initiated by the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). Minnesota was awarded a

Evolving Supply Chains and Local Freight Flows: A Geographic Information System Analysis of Minnesota Cereal Grain Movement:

133-million UPA grant by the USDOT to use congestion pricing in combination with other strategies to reduce congestion in a major transportation corridor. In 2005 Minnesota had previously adapted a high-occupancy vehicle lane to a high-occupancy toll (HOT) lane on I-394 west of downtown Minneapolis. These HOT lanes are known as MnPASS lanes. The UPA project will extend the MnPASS lanes to I-35W south of Minneapolis, the most heavily traveled stretch of urban Interstate in the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. The proposal includes the use of priced dynamic shoulder lanes to make more efficient use of existing capacity as well as improved transit, telecommuting, and technology support in the corridor and in downtown Minneapolis. The significant federal dollar commitment to funding UPA projects, particularly through transit funding, has played a key role in generating political and institutional dialogue and support, especially among local government elected officials and legislators in the I-35W corridor. Stakeholder workshops have been an important outreach and education mechanism to inform and engage elected officials and other key constituents during the UPA application process.

Roadway Safety Policy and Leadership: Case Study of Six Midwest States

In Minnesota, technological and economic shifts in the grain supply chain have altered the way grain producers and sellers navigate their local freight network. In particular, many producers have been increasing their personal trucking capacity and taking longer trips to intermodal and domestic market options. This logistical reshaping of local grain supply chains pressure transportation officials to reconsider the consequences for road infrastructure and congested freight corridors. Studies are discussing the potential of disaggregated commodity flow survey (CFS) data as a critical tool in understanding small-scale freight movement and informing infrastructural investment decisions. Utilizing ArcGIS’s Network Analyst and Hot spot tools to analyze inter-county grain trucking, our study effectively differentiates highly active freight corridors. The model is used to further inform an ongoing infrastructure development project in the Twin Cities metro area by contextualizing road usage within the economic framework of the grain supply chain. However, this study finds CFS data alone fails to account for shifting supply chain conditions, and their consequent impact on the road network. Employing United States Department of Agriculture crop production and cropland data, this study additionally builds an original, computational model that simulates corn producer shipment reaction to market price competition within two key grain-producing counties. Results visualize how producers, during spot months, may be incentivized to haul longer distances to more competitive markets—especially emerging biofuel industries. This lesson proves crucial for state and local transportation officials who wish to identify freight infrastructure development opportunities that invigorate and accommodate growth in Minnesota’s expanding agricultural industry cluster.