This article was originally posted on Catalyst, January 2023.
Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in both the US and the Twin Cities, and commuting trips are a major contributor to these emissions. To meet its emission-reduction mandates, Minnesota needs strategies to reduce auto trips—especially driver-only trips without passengers.
A recent U of M project aimed to leverage existing transportation infrastructure and systems to provide more flexible, multimodal transportation options for parking contract holders at Minneapolis’ ABC Ramps—thereby reducing the number of solo trips.
Complete Streets is a national initiative to encourage the design of safe, convenient transportation systems with access to users of all types, ages and abilities. MnDOT’s Complete Streets policy aims to provide a safe and functional transportation system for all users. Perceived and actual economic impacts of these road projects on small cities vary, but MnDOT has new strategies to work with local partners and evaluate economic benefits for smaller communities.
One of the best ways to connect with communities about projects and events that affect them is to reach them where they already are – on social media. But whether you’re a social media newbie or a communications professional, there are always new trends, technology, and platforms to learn, and it can be overwhelming.
Work-at-home orders during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in drastic reductions in traffic congestion. To aid in highway planning and also inform state telework policies, MnDOT wanted to learn about telecommuting during the pandemic and future forecasts of remote work from both employers and employees of private and public organizations.
This article was originally published in Catalyst, May 2022.
Transportation is a crucial contributor to health: It directly shapes the social and physical environments in myriad ways and determines the types of places where people can live, learn, work, and play in their everyday lives.
With the number of automated vehicles increasing on our roadways it is important to understand their potential impacts and how other road users will interact with them. In the future, there will be a more pronounced shared levels-of-automation transportation network, with fully manual, partially automated, and fully automated vehicles sharing the same Minnesota roads. While planners and engineers have a reasonable idea of how humans drive around other humans, what is not as well-known is human driving behavior around automated vehicles.
This article was originally published in Catalyst, February 2022.
Many Minnesotans have driven on I-35W through Minneapolis without giving any thought to how the freeway was built—or the impact it’s had on the community. Thanks to the work of several U of M researchers and Twin Cities residents, we now have the opportunity to learn just that.
New guidance and a process framework will help local agency engineers with varying levels of expertise and resources benefit from the experiences of their peers. Using these tools, engineers can take manageable, proactive steps to prioritize investments that maintain and preserve transportation networks.
In the early 1990s, Minnesota became the first state in the nation to prohibit discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity. Yet the state continues to use male-female categories when investigating the role of gender in transportation issues such as travel behavior and transportation accessibility. Since a person’s identity can have a significant influence on their own and others’ behavior and experiences, excluding gender diversity in this type of transportation research could result in an incomplete understanding of the issues and perceptions about quality of life.
Transportation agencies throughout the United States are focused on repairing the damage that highway construction has caused in communities.
MnDOT seeks partnerships with communities, businesses, and government entities to better utilize state highway lands and airspace.
These partnerships aim to enhance economic wellbeing and quality of life. Projects like highway caps and development of spaces underneath highways can increase equity, reduce disparities, and limit environmental impacts.
Crossroads 