The Minnesota Local Road Research Board (LRRB) has added pavement condition forecasting technology to an existing, web-based roadway inventory tool that will enable counties to generate low-cost maps and reports that help them prioritize their work by showing how roadway conditions will look under different construction scenarios for decades to come.
Continue reading Low-Cost Pavement Condition Forecasting Software Eases Local Road PlanningTag Archives: Planning
Resources Help Local Agencies Plan for CAV Roadway Needs
In a recently completed project, funded by the Local Road Research Board, researchers developed a reference tool and compiled a literature review that local agencies could use to anticipate the infrastructure needs of connected and automated vehicles. Agencies can use these resources to plan for infrastructure upgrades and maintenance activities.
Continue reading Resources Help Local Agencies Plan for CAV Roadway Needs
New Office, Director to Foster ‘Culture of Innovation’
Katie Walker, formerly of Hennepin County, was recently named director of MnDOT’s new Office of Research & Innovation (formerly the Research Services & Library section), a role in which Walker will lean on her experience leading organizational change at Hennepin County.
Continue reading New Office, Director to Foster ‘Culture of Innovation’
Making social media are more effective part of public engagement plans
Social media can be effective as a strategic and select part of public engagement plans, according to findings of a University of Minnesota study. Co-principal investigators were Professor Ingrid Schneider of the Department of Forest Resources and Associate Professor Kathryn Quick of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. “Public engagement for transportation planning and programs is not only required, it’s a crucial component in policy and project success,” Schneider says. “Since 2000, advances in technology and communications provide opportunities to engage with more people in new ways.”
The multipronged, multiyear project investigated current knowledge about public engagement through social media nationwide and in Minnesota. It also developed guidance about how social media may be used to reach and engage diverse populations in the state about transportation planning and projects.
For the analysis, the team used multiple methods: a literature review, telephone interviews, and four case studies. “The literature review indicated social media needs to be part of a multipronged engagement plan,” Schneider says. “While 90 percent of U.S. adults are online and 69 percent use social media, a social-media-only plan may not reach people over the age of 65 or with a high school education only. Platform use also varies considerably: African Americans and Latinos, for example, use video-sharing more than other groups.”
Phone interviews of more than 800 Minnesotans found that 72 percent use social media, and 11 to 21 percent participated in some way in planning transportation programs, policies, and projects in the previous year. In addition, 36 percent expressed interest in using social media to get information, provide feedback, or make suggestions related to transportation programs, policy, and planning.
The case studies compared pairs of transportation projects in Minnesota: two with significant social media use (Richfield, Red Wing), and two with low use (Saint Paul, Detroit Lakes). Findings revealed that the two projects with higher levels of social media had more connections with stakeholders. The quality and effectiveness of those connections, however, varied. “Government social media primarily informed audiences, while community-created pages fostered deeper engagement and dialogue,” Quick says. “In addition, the quality of social media, and their combination with other outreach technologies, influenced stakeholders’ perceptions of the engagement efforts.”
The project was funded by MnDOT and the Minnesota LRRB. “MnDOT and LRRB are committed to listening to and learning from the public,” says Renee Raduenz, MnDOT market research manager. “Social media provides a unique, efficient, and potentially inclusive tool in those efforts. This research brings us one step closer to understanding how we can maximize the power of social media to its fullest.”
Taken as a whole, the findings suggest at least four main opportunities to strengthen meaningful social media engagement:
- Integrate social media into multipronged, dynamic engagement approaches. Pay attention and contribute to community-created social media pages, and provide a regular diet of new information and updates.
- Consider the demographic qualities of the key stakeholders to determine how social media can be most useful.
- Employ best practices for social media management, such as using hashtags to organize data, posting dynamic content (project videos, live streams), and clearly stating social media guidelines.
- Expand and/or develop research and evaluation plans to understand and assess future social media engagement efforts.
New manual helps agencies count bike, pedestrian traffic
As part of an ongoing effort to institutionalize bicycle and pedestrian counting in Minnesota, MnDOT has published a new manual designed to help city, county, state, and other transportation practitioners in their counting efforts.
The Bicycle and Pedestrian Data Collection Manual, developed by University of Minnesota researchers and SRF Consulting Group, provides guidance and methods for collecting bicycle and pedestrian traffic data in Minnesota. The manual is an introductory guide to nonmotorized traffic monitoring designed to help local jurisdictions, nonprofit organizations, and consultants design their own programs.
Topics covered in the manual include general traffic-monitoring principles, bicycle and pedestrian data collection sensors, how to perform counts using several types of technologies, data management and analysis, and next steps for nonmotorized traffic monitoring in Minnesota. Several case studies illustrate how bicycle and pedestrian traffic data can be used to support transportation planning and engineering.
The manual was completed as part of the third in a series of MnDOT-funded projects related to the Minnesota Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative, a collaborative effort launched by MnDOT in 2011 to encourage nonmotorized traffic monitoring across the state. U of M researchers, led by professor Greg Lindsey at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, have been key partners in the initiative since its inception.
In addition to the manual, U of M researchers have published a final report outlining their work with MnDOT on this project. Key accomplishments include:
- A new statewide bicycle and pedestrian traffic-monitoring network with 25 permanent monitoring locations
- A district-based portable counting equipment loan program to support MnDOT districts and local jurisdictions interested in nonmotorized traffic monitoring
- Minnesota’s first Bicycle and Pedestrian Annual Traffic Monitoring Report
- A MnDOT website for reporting annual and short-duration counts that allows local planners and engineers to download data for analysis
- Provisions added to MnDOT equipment vendor agreements that enable local governments to purchase bicycle and monitoring equipment
- Annual training programs for bicycle and pedestrian monitoring
- Provisions in the Statewide Bicycle System Plan and Minnesota Walks that call for bicycle and pedestrian traffic monitoring and creation of performance measures based on counts
“This is an excellent resource that steps through all aspects of managing a count program, and I think it will be very helpful to other states and organizations that want to implement their own programs,” says Lisa Austin, MnDOT bicycle and pedestrian planning coordinator. “Since Minnesota is a leader in counting bicycle and pedestrian traffic, it also fulfills what I think is an obligation to share our story with others.”
Bicycle commuting improves public health, reduces medical costs
According to the results of a new study, bicycle commuting in the Twin Cities metropolitan area reduces chronic illness and preventable deaths, saving millions of dollars annually in medical costs.
The findings are one component of a multifaceted project funded by MnDOT. In the final report, researchers in several U of M departments provide a comprehensive understanding of the economic impact and health effects of bicycling in Minnesota.
“MnDOT has long identified bicycling as an important part of the state’s multimodal transportation system,” says Tim Henkel, modal planning and program management assistant commissioner. “This first-ever study generated new information that will inform policy and program strategies on bicycling as we determine levels of future investment.”
Xinyi Qian, an Assistant Extension Professor in the U’s Tourism Center, was the project’s principal investigator. Dr. Mark Pereira of the School of Public Health, one of the co-investigators, led the health component of the project.
Pereira’s team began by measuring the amount of bicycle commuting among Twin Cities adults using data from the 2014 Minnesota State Survey. (The counties included were Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, and Washington.) The team found that 13.4 percent of working-age metro-area residents (244,000 adults) bicycle to work at least occasionally, and the average bicycle commuter rides 366 miles per year.
The researchers next estimated the number of deaths prevented from that amount of bicycling using the Health Economic Assessment Tool developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Their analysis found that bicycle commuting in the metro area prevents 12 to 61 deaths per year, saving $100 million to $500 million annually. “At current levels, roughly 1 death per year is prevented for every 10,000 cyclists,” he says.
The WHO tool estimates savings from prevented deaths but not from prevented disease. To estimate the effect of bicycling commuting on illness, researchers conducted an online survey of Twin Cities cyclists; participants also included three commuter groups and a bicycle parts manufacturer.
“We learned that bicycling is linked to lower risk of metabolic syndrome, obesity, and hypertension,” Pereira says. “For example, taking three additional bicycle trips per week is associated with 46 percent lower odds of metabolic syndrome, 32 percent lower odds of obesity, and 28 percent lower odds of hypertension.”
The illness assessment provides relative risk estimates that planners can use in cost-benefit analyses. “Current methods only consider risk reductions related to death rates, so the benefit of infrastructure projects is underestimated,” Pereira says. “By providing an estimate of the risk reductions for diabetes and heart disease related to cycling, we provide an input that will help project planners more accurately represent the benefits of these projects.”
While the research was conducted in the Twin Cities, the methods can be used in other locations and to compare changes over time. “The findings also provide a foundation for transportation and health care officials to take action,” Pereira says, citing several options:
- Promote active transportation through policies and intervention programs, e.g., employer incentives.
- Develop consistent safety education and encouragement messages statewide to increase bicycle commuting.
- Continue to encourage and implement safe bicycling to school and access to bicycles for youth across the state.
Roadway deaths and what Minnesota is doing about it
Joint article produced with MnDOT Research Services
Minnesota developed the Strategic Highway Safety Plan a decade ago, as the nation set a goal of reducing roadway deaths to less than one person per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Last year, the nation still hadn’t reached this milestone (1.1 deaths occurred per 100 million miles), but Minnesota had lowered its fatality rate to 0.63 deaths (down from 1.48 deaths from 20 years ago).
“When I look at what Minnesota has done over the last 15 years compared to other states, we’re one of the few states that has a pretty consistent downward trend [in fatal crashes],” said Brad Estochen, MnDOT state traffic engineer, who gave an update on the highway safety plan during a recent presentation at the Roadway Safety Institute. “I think we’re doing some unique things here that have given us these results.”
These steps, Estochen says, have included passing a primary offense seatbelt law (seatbelt usage is now above 90 percent), investing in strategic safety infrastructure like high-tension cable median barriers and focused enforcement of DWI, speed and seatbelt laws.
Developing a plan
To best understand the risk factors for fatal and serious injury crashes, the state combined real-life crash data with input from professionals in engineering, law enforcement, emergency medical services, as well as everyday road users. The results showed that most crashes in the state involve multiple factors—such as road conditions, driver impairment and driver age.
Estochen said this approach of analyzing data and gaining stakeholder perspectives provided new insights into the dynamic causes of fatal and serious injury crashes.
In conjunction with the Departments of Health and Public Safety, MnDOT created a highway safety plan aimed at both professional stakeholders and the community that identified critical strategies for reducing serious traffic incidents. It has been updated in 2007 and 2014, most recently.
MnDOT also created a complimentary document for every county and MnDOT district (respectively called the county safety plan and district safety plan) to help local agencies identify locations and potential projects for reducing fatalities.
“We were the first state to take the SHSP concept to the local level. It was identified as a noteworthy practice by FHWA and other states are now starting to engage locals in developing specific plans for their use and implementation,” Estochen said.
The highway safety plan is an integral part of Toward Zero Deaths, the state’s cornerstone traffic safety program that has a goal of reducing fatalities to less than 300 per year by 2020.
Overall, Estochen said one of the best ways to reduce crashes in the state is to promote a culture of traffic safety — something he hopes the highway safety plan contributes to.
“Creating a traffic safety culture has nothing to do with building bigger and better roads,” he said. “It really has to do with making us as a state, as a community and as individuals responsible for our actions.”
Changing demographics and travel choices may shape a very different future
Though no one can predict the future, thinking about how today’s changes may shape the future of transportation in our country is more important now than ever before.
“It’s critical that we understand the significance of things that are taking place and prepare for what may come,” said former Utah Department of Transportation CEO John Njord in the opening session of the 25th Annual CTS Transportation Research Conference. “For us to be relevant in the transportation business, at a minimum we have to be adaptable to change, and ideally we want to be leading change in the transportation industry.”
In his current position at Tom Warne and Associates, Njord has gained an in-depth understanding of the trends affecting the future of transportation in the United States while spearheading the Transportation Research Board’s “Foresight” project—part of the organization’s forward-looking NCHRP Report 750 Series. The project addresses a wide range of topics, including: What if the oil-fueled auto era ends and revenue from gas taxes dries up? What if engineering practices must be upgraded to ensure resiliency to natural disasters as global warming continues? What if technology such as self-driving cars eliminates or reduces the need for human drivers? What if tomorrow’s economy requires radically different freight patterns?
Perhaps most significantly, the project explores the possibility that Americans are losing their appetite for driving. Vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) per capita been dropping since 2004, without any signs of recovery. “It’s impossible to know whether that number will start growing again, stay flat, or continue to drop,” Njord said.
Other trends make the future outlook equally complex. In 50 years the United States will likely be home to 100 million more people, so even if VMT per person stays flat or declines, it’s likely total VMT will be larger than it is today. The population is also aging: by 2030, 20 percent of the population will be over 65 and will likely drive less. In addition, Millenials are staying home longer and waiting until later in life to get married and have children—all of which affects their travel behavior.
To help transportation planners consider all possible futures, the Foresight project encourages the use of multiple-scenario planning. “We need to begin considering all the possible scenarios and generating plans that are independent and distinct from one another,” Njord advised. “The act of thinking about these things is fundamentally important, because the shift that is now taking place means we’re going to have to do things much differently in the next 50 years than what we’ve done in the past 50 years.”
Following Njord’s presentation, a panel of experts discussed how the the Foresight project could relate to what’s happening in the Twin Cities region. An article summarizing their comments is available in the July issue of Catalyst.
Video: Minnesota – Where Every Step Counts
Bike to Work Day: progress in Minnesota, but miles to go
By Greg Lindsey
This blog post by University of Minnesota Professor Greg Lindsey was originally posted on the CTS Conversations blog.
April 9 is national Bike to Work Day, a day to celebrate those who choose bicycling as their principal mode of transportation for commuting, and a time to encourage more people to consider this healthy, efficient transportation option. Minnesota has much to celebrate in terms of bicycle commuting. Bike-Walk Twin Cities and Transit for Livable Communities are wrapping up the National Non-Motorized Pilot Program, a federally funded program to demonstrate the potential to increase biking and walking through focused investment in infrastructure and other interventions. Bicycle commuting rates in Minneapolis have climbed to 4.5%, and Minneapolis now ranks 20th in the nation in bicycle commute share. This is a noteworthy achievement, especially considering our notorious winter weather. These achievements, along with others such as the success of Nice Ride, our pioneering bike share program, have contributed to Minneapolis being named America’s most bike-friendly city by Bicycling Magazine. Celebration of these achievements – which represent hard work by hundreds of individuals and thousands of commuters – certainly is warranted.
But we only need look across municipal boundaries to know we had better put more energy into encouraging bicycling than into celebration. Bicycle commute rates in St. Paul remain below 2% less than half the Minneapolis rate, and rates in most suburban, exurban, and rural communities remain even lower. And the story remains essentially the same for all types of bicycle trips. Jessi Schoner, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Civil Engineering, is analyzing non-motorized mode shares for all trips recorded the Metropolitan Council’s recent Travel Behavior Inventory. Her analyses show that bicycling remains an urban phenomenon, with the share of all trips taken by bicycling highest in Minneapolis, followed by St. Paul, and then suburban and outlying communities. Why is this so? Better infrastructure no doubt is part of the reason, but there likely are other reasons, including housing patterns, access to employment, socio-demographic factors, and culture. Additional research is needed.
But this leads to additional reasons to be optimistic this Bike to Work Day: the commitments made by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to foster multi-modal transportation systems and the agency’s investments in research to increase understanding of bicycle traffic patterns. In 2013, as part of the Minnesota Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative, MnDOT funded the installation of the state’s first two automated, continuous in-street bicycle counters. These counters, which monitor bicycle traffic around the clock, 365 days per year, will provide new insights into the bicycle traffic volumes and their daily and seasonal patterns. While bicycle traffic monitoring in Minnesota is only in its infancy, it represents progress towards establishing the evidence base we need to determine how to make bicycling safer and to invest in bicycle infrastructure.
And so celebrate this Bike to Work Day and thank your fellow Minnesotans for all they have accomplished. But also take time to reflect on the work that needs to be done to improve opportunities for cycling throughout the state, for we have miles to go.
Greg Lindsey is a professor at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs. His areas of specialty include environmental planning, policy, and management. His current research involves studies of the relationship between the built environment and physical activity, specifically factors that affect the use of pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. Lindsey presented some of his bicycle and pedestrian data collection research at the 2014 Minnesota Transportation Conference held March 4-6.
Crossroads 