Fixing Transportation: The Latest Proposals

 

By Dave Van Hattum, Advocacy Director

 

TLC's Dave Van Hattum, co-chair of the Move MN campaign, with others at a January 8 press conference announcing Move MN's transportation proposal.

 

The legislative session got off to an exciting start this month for Minnesotans who want a better transportation system. All three leading voices at the State Capitol—Governor Dayton, Majority Leader Bakk, and Speaker Daudt—have identified transportation as a 2015 legislative priority. And now, three weeks in, there are a range of funding proposals on the table.

On Monday, Governor Dayton announced a comprehensive, ten-year plan to fix Minnesota’s transportation problem. In the lead-up to the announcement, TLC members and other Minnesotans called on the Governor to propose a long-term solution with dedicated, statewide funding for transit, bicycling, and walking (along with anticipated funding for roads and bridges). Thanks to all who took action! Your multimodal messages ensured Governor Dayton's transportation proposal does invest in all modes across the state! While Transit for Livable Communities thinks more funding is needed for transit and safe streets, we applaud Governor Dayton’s leadership and agree: it's time for the state legislature to pass a comprehensive transportation bill.

Already this session, Senator Dibble (Senate Transportation Committee Chair) has introduced an excellent bill that would fund all modes statewide, and provide the critical new investments in transit, bicycling, and walking that TLC has been fighting for. This Senate bill (SF 87) very closely aligns with Move MN’s proposal. The bill includes the ¾-cent metro sales tax needed to grow the metro-area bus and rail system as well as dedicated funding for Greater Minnesota transit and for pedestrian and bicycling improvements statewide. It also includes a 6.5 percent wholesale gas tax dedicated to road and bridge needs across the state.

Meanwhile, leadership in the Minnesota House has put forth a short-term plan focused exclusively on road and bridge needs. The House bill (HF 4) recently introduced by Representative Kelly (House Transportation Committee Chair) relies on funding from the one-time budget surplus, unspecified efficiencies, and GO bonding. It unfortunately includes zero additional funding for transit or for safe walking and bicycling routes. House leaders, however, have signaled a willingness to look closely at the transportation funding deficit and to discuss solutions as the session progresses.

TLC and Move MN supporters recognize that a statewide transportation solution will require new revenue from modest tax increases. Per the Governor’s numbers, the average cost to residents in the Twin Cities would be about $6 per week. Residents in Greater Minnesota would be about $2 less per week, as the metro sales tax increase for transit is proposed for only the seven-county metropolitan region. To put it in context, these costs add up to considerably less than a monthly cell phone bill. And we know that this smart investment in Minnesota’s future will pay for itself many times over via a stronger economy, healthier communities, and better access to jobs, opportunity, and affordable transportation options.

With your help, we have worked successfully to make this the “Transportation Session.”  Now we need to keep up momentum to convince the legislature to pass a strong bill that meets urgent needs in the metro region and in Greater Minnesota.

Get involved! On Thursday, February 12, join Transit for Livable Communities and Move MN for Transportation Day at the State Capitol! We will meet at the Minnesota Armory in Saint Paul from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. to hear from state and coalition leaders before delivering 10,000 postcards to lawmakers—reminding them that Minnesotans from across the state support a multimodal transportation solution in 2015. Let us help you schedule a February 12 meeting with your legislators so you can personally share your story about why transportation matters and why action is needed.

As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send them our way.

 

Southwest Light Rail: Making Good Progress

By Barb Thoman, Executive Director

 

Southwest light rail will be an extension of the new Green Line. 

 

The Southwest LRT (METRO Green Line Extension) project took a big step forward in December when the Metropolitan Council awarded a $117 million contract to AECOM for advanced design and design assistance during construction. AECOM was also the Metropolitan Council’s engineering services consultant for the Green Line.

The AECOM contract will move the Southwest LRT project from a 30 percent level of detail to 100 percent. Designs are needed for everything from bridges over major roads (of which there are many!) to the location of bike and pedestrian connections and electrical substations.

Project funding is also coming together. Of the $1.65 billion project budget, the Counties Transit Improvement Board, the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority, and the state legislature have formally committed $705 million, or 85 percent of the local match. The project still needs a 50 percent match from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The Metropolitan Council will submit a federal New Starts grant request in 2016.

Now that the route and station locations are set, station design and public art will be a major focus of community input in 2015. Many of those community meetings will occur next spring and summer. An additional focus of public input in 2015 will be the selection of a design concept for the bridge over the channel between Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis. One goal is to create more space for skiers, canoeists, and kayakers under the bridge. All three recently shared design concepts would reduce the number of rows of bridge piers from six to three.

The Southwest Project Office and local communities also will consider how to increase safe and direct access for bicyclists, pedestrians, and people using a wheelchair (or other device) to and from the new stations.

While a lawsuit has been filed to stop or delay Southwest LRT, lawsuits are common with many major transit projects, and often major highway projects. Despite past legal action by Xcel Energy, Minnesota Public Radio, and the University of Minnesota, our region’s first two light rail lines are operating successfully today.  

See the project website for more news and upcoming meeting notices.

 

Success: Making Transportation a Top Issue

 

By Bethany Winkels, Move MN Field Director

 

With a new session on the horizon, elected officials are primed to address Minnesota's transportation needs, which span all modes and all areas of the state.

 

The last few months have been busy for the Move MN campaign. We have been traveling the state, meeting with supporters, businesses, and community groups—from Minnetonka to Duluth, Owatonna to Moorhead, and Worthington to Burnsville. It’s clear that people throughout Minnesota want to see greater investments in transportation. Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved in the campaign, we successfully made Minnesota’s urgent transportation needs a key issue this fall.

 

As we move forward, we are excited to report that transportation funding will be a top issue during the 2015 legislative session! Governor Dayton, Presumptive House Speaker Kurt Daudt, and Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk have each acknowledged the need for a transportation solution next year. The type of solution will be up for debate. Move MN will continue to advocate for a funding package that is balanced, comprehensive, sustainable, and gimmick free. We know that we need investments statewide, from Greater Minnesota to the metro region, and suburbs to cities.

 

Minnesotans also favor a multi-modal approach. A recent poll released by the Minnesotans for Healthy Kids Coalition showed that a majority of Minnesotans from every region in the state want bicycle and pedestrian investments included in new transportation funding. We also need more public transit options both in the metro and in Greater Minnesota, and we need safe roads and bridges in all of our 87 counties. Our transportation system needs to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks per year. We need reliable, predictable funding to make sure that it can. No gimmicks!

 

 Are you among the significant majority of Minnesotans (65%) who support additional funding for bike/ped infrastructure? 

 

The only way to ensure that we see the right solution come out of a bill this legislative session is by staying engaged and organized. On February 12, Move MN will be holding a rally for Transportation Day at the State Capitol. Mark your calendars! We will be delivering 10,000 postcards to lawmakers in support of transportation funding. If you can’t attend in person, there will be other opportunities to get involved. In the meantime, check out the Move MN website and take action online. You can let your local community know that you support investments in transportation by writing a letter to the editor, contacting your lawmaker, or signing our petition. We can move Minnesota forward, but only if we have strength in numbers! Keep up the good work!

 

For more opportunities to get involved in the Move MN campaign, contact me at 651-789-1406 or [email protected].

 

 

Texting & Driving: Riskier Even Than Drinking & Driving

 

By Barb Thoman, Executive Director

 

Distracted driving puts all road users at risk, including people walking and bicycling.
Photo credit: TLC

 

Over 900 people gathered in Duluth in mid-November for the Toward Zero Deaths Conference focused on improving safety on Minnesota roads. The conference brings together law enforcement, state and local transportation practitioners, safety advocates, and providers of emergency medical services. The keynote speaker, Dr. Paul Atchley, Director of the Cognitive Psychology Program at the University of Kansas, gave a sobering presentation on distracted driving.

 

Atchley noted that drivers who are talking on a cell phone while driving are four to five times more likely to get in a crash; texting is even more hazardous. Atchley said people can't multi-task, they simply task-switch. This means that when someone uses a cell phone while driving, their brain reduces its focus on the complexity of driving and effectively narrows their field of vision.

 

Research shows that cell phone use while driving has an even higher incidence of causing a crash than drinking and driving. Atchley said cell phone users have little awareness of impairment and are even more likely than drunk drivers to simply drive off the road or into the back of another vehicle (or a bicyclist or pedestrian).

 

The 2014 Toward Zero Deaths Conference drew nearly 1000 attendees focused on improving safety on Minnesota roads. Photo credit: TLC.

 

Distracted driving is not limited to cell phone use. Another TZD conference presenter, Vijay Dixit, spoke about his 19-year-old daughter who died as a passenger in a car crash after the driver, her college friend, reached for a napkin. Any action that takes a driver’s attention away from the road can be dangerous. The National Highway Safety Traffic Administration suggests, however, that because texting requires a driver’s visual, manual, and cognitive attention it is a particularly high-risk distraction.

 

Distracted driving poses great risks for the most vulnerable road users: people walking and bicycling. Bicyclists and pedestrians lack the protection that a vehicle—with its many airbags and safety features—provides a motorist. A recent tragic example is the death of young mother Andrea Boeve who was bicycling in rural Rock County, Minnesota, this summer when she was struck and killed by a distracted driver. The driver was using his phone at the time of the crash.

 

Despite cell phone use being linked to one of every four crashes, Dr. Atchley noted that the United States and individual states, including Minnesota, have weak laws and weak enforcement about cell phone use behind the wheel. Existing laws are notably weaker than laws pertaining to drunk driving.

 

What can you do? Silence the phone and keep it out of reach when you are driving a vehicle (or riding a bike or walking across the street); encourage others to do the same. Support stronger laws and enforcement pertaining to distracted driving.

 

More information:

 

• Watch a short presentation by Dr. Atchley.
• Learn more about the Toward Zero Deaths conference and download featured presentations.

Hennepin County Plan Aims for Four-Fold Increase in Bike Commuting

 

By Barb Thoman, Executive Director

 

If you currently bicycle in Hennepin County, or would like to someday, you will want to review the recently released Hennepin County 2040 Bicycle Transportation Plan: Safety and Comfort for All Ages and Abilities. The draft plan has ambitious goals for increasing the percent of trips by bicycle, for getting more women riding, and for reducing crashes. We urge all our readers to review the plan and support the county in this effort to increase investment and support for bicycling. The draft is out for public review and comment through December 5.

 

The focus of the plan is roads and trails in Hennepin County and also the trail systems owned and operated by Three Rivers Park District. The plan proposes to increase bicycle facilities by 21 miles each year: from 651 today to 1,187 miles in 2040. This annual growth would be a four-fold increase over the current level of bikeway implementation! About a third of the increased mileage is within the Three River’s system.

 

Currently 2.5 percent of trips taken in Hennepin County are by bicycle. This is twice the national average. In the last decade, trips by bike on the Three Rivers Park system trails doubled to 2.3 million trips in 2012. By building new facilities, providing better signage and lighting, and increasing education and enforcement, the county hopes to quadruple the number of bike commuters from 12,000 daily in 2014 to 48,000 in 2040.

 

Other major goals for bicycling contained in the plan are worth mentioning and include:

• Reducing crashes per-capita by half
• Increasing the percentage of women riding to half of all riders (up from only 30% now)
• Providing a bikeway within a half-mile of 90 percent of residences in Hennepin County
• Greatly increasing winter riding

 

For this expanded system to become a reality, Hennepin County will need to greatly increase the amount it invests in bicycle facilities and programs. The County currently invests less than $1 million per year in bikeways and the plan proposes investment of $6 million per year. That amount compares to approximately $50 million the County spends on roads and bridges annually. The plan proposes to consider additional investments in lighting and signage (page 49), promotion, education, and enforcement, but these costs ARE NOT estimated or included in the $6 million per year Hennepin County proposes to invest.

 

The plan also talks about the need for funding partners—typically cities—which could be a stumbling block for implementation. Cities receive very little state transportation funding compared to counties.

 

Recently there has been a lot of local discussion and planning for protected bikeways and cycle tracks. The plan contains good descriptions of each on page 33.

 

While the plan mentions bike sharing in a number of places and also talks briefly about equity, we want to see information on the community bike centers in Hennepin County: Spokes Bike Walk Connect and Venture North. The County can have a great bikeway network, but if county residents can’t afford a bike or have never learned to ride, they can’t use the system and they miss out on the health, social, and financial benefits of bicycling. We urge Hennepin County to add a section on community bike centers and commit to some level of county funding for their operations.

 

TLC would like to see more counties in Minnesota develop a bicycle plan like Hennepin County has done. Ramsey County also recently issued a plan for a bikeway system.

 

In developing its 2040 Bicycle Transportation Plan, the County surveyed 2,700 people, and held 10 listening sessions and an open house.

 

Two more open houses will be held this month before the plan is finalized and adopted:

• Wednesday, November 5, 5-7:30 p.m. at Wayzata Library
• Thursday, November 13, 5-7:30 p.m. at Brookdale Library in Brooklyn Center

 

Hennepin County will review all the comments that come in through December 5. Visit http://www.hennepin.us/bikeplan for more about the plan, including information on submitting your comments.

 

If you have questions about the plan, you can contact Kelley Yemen, Hennepin County Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, at [email protected] or 612-543-1963.

 

Transformative Transit Projects Move Forward this Fall

 

By Dave Van Hattum, Advocacy Director

 Updated: 11/04/14

Photo credit: Allison Osberg

 

The Twin Cities metro area continues to make important incremental progress toward building a regional system of transitways and strengthening the bus system. Many transformative projects are moving forward—though our region still needs a significant increase in dedicated funding to meet growing demand for transit service and bike/ped connections, and to implement new projects on a reasonable timeline.

Here is a quick rundown of what’s new with transit plans and projects in the Twin Cities this fall:

 

Light Rail

Green Line Extension (Southwest LRT). After receiving municipal consent from Hennepin County and all cities along the proposed light rail line, this project is moving forward with Phase II environmental testing to determine (and plan for remediation of) any contaminated soils or water near planned project construction sites. There is also extensive work to gather property and title information leading up to acquiring approximately 150 private-properties along the route. Most of these are partial acquisitions, and very few are residential. (Project staff confirm that all of the residential acquisitions are partial and do not involve taking single-family homes.) To-date, $705 million of the $1.65 billion budget is committed from three sources: Counties Transit Improvement Board ($496 million), Hennepin County Regional Rail Authority ($165 million), and the State ($44 million). Though not yet secure, the remaining funds are expected to come primarily from the Federal Transit Administration (half of the $1.65 billion) as well as from the State. Engineering will begin next year, and service is scheduled to open in 2019.

 

Blue Line Extension (Bottineau LRT). There were two recent milestones for the Blue Line Extension: In late August, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approved moving this 13-mile line into the Project Development phase. Then, in late September, the Metropolitan Council chose Kimley-Horn and Associates to engineer the line—from Project Development through construction. Ultimately, the Blue Line Extension is expected to open in 2021.

An open house on November 12 is the next major opportunity for the public to be involved. The event will focus on:

1. Planning efforts underway around the proposed line’s four southernmost stations (in North Minneapolis and Golden Valley).
2. Ideas for bike, pedestrian and transit connections and development that will help neighborhoods near the stations thrive.
3. A related planning initiative for arterial bus rapid transit on Penn Avenue.

Get involved: Attend the open house on Wednesday, November 12, 5:30-8 p.m., at University of Minnesota’s Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (2001 Plymouth Avenue North, Minneapolis).

Future Transit Corridors

Riverview Corridor. A Pre-Project Development (PPD) Study of the Riverview Corridor (between downtown Saint Paul and the MSP Airport) will be completed by December 2015. This study will determine the preferred mode (light rail, bus rapid transit, streetcar, or some combination), as well as the alignment and number of transit stations for this corridor. As is typical with a PPD study, lots of data will be crunched, including ridership projections and capital costs for different options.  There also will be opportunities for stakeholder and public input, including the upcoming open house on Nov. 6. Transit improvements for this corridor are expected by 2024.

 

Get involved: To learn more and show your support for transit improvements in Saint Paul, attend the upcoming open house on Thursday, November 6, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at Nova Classical Academy (1455 Victoria Way, Saint Paul).

 

Credit: Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority

 

Rush Line Corridor. A PPD Study of the Rush Line Corridor, which travels north from the Saint Paul Union Depot to Forest Lake, is also underway. This study is expected to determine a preferred mode and alignment by summer 2015. Last month, Rush Line planners held a walking tour for residents to gather feedback on the Bruce Vento Trail section (between Larpenteur and Arlington Aves.) and on the East Larpenteur Avenue section of the corridor.

 

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

Gateway BRT. With Washington County’s approval earlier this month, all communities along the corridor officially have signed off on the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) for Gateway. The approved LPA, a significant step forward for this transitway, calls for highway BRT in dedicated lanes and a preferred alignment between downtown Saint Paul and Woodbury on Hudson Road (along I-94). Gateway also achieved an important milestone when it was included in the Met. Council’s draft Transportation Policy Plan (TPP) this fall. The Project Development phase will start soon.

 

Orange Line BRT.  The Orange Line will serve riders along I-35W South from downtown Minneapolis to Burnsville. In order to make application to the FTA Small Starts program, the Orange Line recently received a commitment of $2 million from the Met. Council and $6 million from the Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB) to complete Project Development and Engineering activities. Another $2 million from the State will go toward the critical transit station at I-35W and Lake Street. The Orange Line is scheduled to open in 2019.

 

Design illustrations of the Lake Street Station transit bridge and transit plaza being planned in Minneapolis. Credit: Metro Transit

 

 

Red Line BRT. The Met. Council has applied to CTIB for nearly $10 million for a new Cedar Grove Transit Station. The new station, in the center of Highway 77, will reduce travel time for bus passengers by 10 minutes on a typical Red Line BRT trip. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2015.

 

Local and Express Bus

Bus Shelters. Metro Transit recently secured a $3.26 million federal grant to build and enhance up to 140 bus passenger shelters on 19 major bus routes. This work represents an important steeping-stone toward advancing regional transit equity goals.

Metro Transit Service Improvement Plan (SIP). This draft plan to dramatically expand bus service in the metro area was released on October 22. The SIP specifies the proposed new local bus, express bus, and arterial bus rapid transit service that Metro Transit will prioritize when new funding becomes available. The 122 projects it identifies would result in a 29 percent increase in service by 2030, with a majority happening in the next six years. We are thrilled to see planning for this level of growth in the bus system. Learn more in our SIP blog.

Get involved: Metro Transit will host and accept comments at several public meetings Nov. 5-18. We strongly encourage you to attend and to weigh in!  See the meeting schedule.

 

Modern Streetcar 

Saint Paul. The Saint Paul City Council approved the Saint Paul Streetcar Feasibility Study over the summer, but has put additional analysis of a streetcar starter line on hold until Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority completes the Riverview Corridor Study.  

Minneapolis. This fall—for the first time—the Met. Council included streetcars in its draft Transportation Policy Plan (TPP) for the metro region. The draft TPP specifically states that if the City of Minneapolis identifies capital funding for the Nicollet-Central Streetcar project, it can be added to the list of regional transit expansion projects and a policy discussion will ensue to specify the source of operating funding. Environmental and design work on this Minneapolis starter line is now underway. An alternatives analysis study is also in progress for streetcar on West Broadway in Minneapolis.

 

 

Nicollet-Central Modern Streetcar LPA. Credit: City of Minneapolis.

 

*This post has been updated to further clarify that the Gateway BRT alignment runs parallel to 1-94, but not on the highway itself.

Metro Transportation Advisory Board Makes Historic Vote for Equity

 

By Dave Van Hattum, Advocacy Director

 

Editor’s Note: TLC’s Dave Van Hattum has served as one of two transit representatives on the Transportation Advisory Board since December 2011, and played a significant role in advocating for this greater emphasis on social equity. Thanks to Dave and to all who voted YES.

 

Walking on Saint Paul's East Side. Credit: Transit for Livable Communities.

 

On September 17, the region’s Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) took a historic vote to include social equity considerations in its scoring of project funding applications. The new equity points, among points in a number of traditional transportation criteria (usage, age of facility, etc.), do two essential things. One, they give a slight preference to projects (roads, transit, and bicycle/pedestrian) benefitting people of color, people living in poverty, and especially people in racially concentrated areas of poverty. Second, they connect transportation and housing outcomes, by aligning points with efforts by cities and counties to increase the availability of affordable housing.

The TAB, in coordination with the Metropolitan Council, allocates approximately $150 million in flexible (across mode and geography) federal transportation funds every two years through what is called the Regional Solicitation. Because transportation needs in the region far exceed funding available from a variety of sources (see www.MoveMN.org for more info), the selection of projects is very competitive. The 33-member TAB, per federal rules, is made up of a majority of local elected officials (city and county government), as well as appointed citizen, agency, and modal (transit, bike/walk, freight) representatives.

Over the past two years, the Metropolitan Council has undertaken an extensive evaluation of the Regional Solicitation. Led by a consultant team and involving the TAB, the Met. Council, and the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) to the TAB, the evaluation was designed with two primary objectives:

1.  better align funding decisions with regional policy
2. simplify a complex and costly application process

TLC has long sought to direct a greater share of TAB funding to projects that provide greater access by transit, bicycling, and walking—particularly for those who can’t afford to, or choose not to, own a car. We have also advocated for road repair and retrofit projects rather than mostly building new and bigger facilities. Despite sustained advocacy and a new regional policy emphasis on social equity and sustainability as articulated by Thrive MSP, (the Met. Council’s long-range plan), changing transportation funding priorities was no easy task.

Shifting priorities to leverage improved social equity could be achieved through one of two key policy changes: One, spending an increased share of funds in areas of concentrated poverty or racially concentrated areas of poverty. Or two, keeping the same geographic distribution of funds (which has been closely attended by TAB members for decades), but shifting a greater share of total funding to transit and bike/walk options, which low-income residents and people of color disproportionately rely upon. TLC has long been a champion of both strategies. Ultimately, the historic TAB vote followed the first path. A vote next spring, when specific projects are selected, will determine the split between road, transit, and bicycle/pedestrian investments.

 

Map: Racially Concentrated Areas of Poverty & Areas of Concentrated Poverty in the Twin Cities region. Credit: Metropolitan Council

 

Substantive change is never easy.  Shifting priorities at TAB required a lot of policy analysis. Trust me: project scoring is a highly detailed, technical endeavor that primarily has been led by engineers on the Technical Advisory Committee to the TAB Policy Board.  Achieving a shift in priority also required working from the inside to build a supportive coalition among TAB members, while  advocates externally  made the case to TAB members to vote for change.

Leadership for change can be attributed to many players: A strong group of reform advocates on TAB, who I helped convene and shared technical expertise with; new and seasoned elected officials appointed to TAB, who knew their “vote for equity” would be on the right side of history; and bold agency voices, who departed from a long history of seeing transportation almost exclusively as an engineering endeavor, to instead embrace that transportation is ultimately about serving people.

Every YES vote for the new equity criteria deserves credit for this victory. Fair housing advocates also played a key role in achieving a scoring system that rewards localities doing their fair share to provide affordable housing. Equity advocates (including our allies at ISAIAH and the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability) contacted TAB members and showed up to provide critical support for this vote. Metropolitan Council staff also contributed key data, shared experiences from other metropolitan regions, and educated TAB members about the equity proposal.

 

Kenya McKnight speaking last year at a transportation funding rally in the State Capitol Rotunda. Credit: Transit for Livable Communities.

 

Finally, Kenya McKnight, District D Citizen Representative (and one of only two people of color on the TAB), eloquently, tactfully, and persistently spoke for increasing equitable access in her North Minneapolis community and across the metro region. Despite strong opposition to change, Kenya powerfully conveyed that social equity considerations were appropriate given past disinvestment in low-income communities, and would contribute to better access to opportunity for all residents in our growing, and increasingly diverse, metropolitan region.

Thanks to all!

The ultimate test of this policy change will be seen next spring when a new slate of projects is evaluated and selected for funding. Opponents (NO votes) fear this policy change will shortchange their communities. I believe, and TLC believes, that future allocation of federal transportation dollars should reflect geographical balance, but also tangibly contribute to reducing racial and economic disparities in our region. We will be among the proponents watching closely to ensure that new scoring for social equity considerations results in more equitable distribution of these federal funds.

 

TLC Supports Met. Council’s Proposed Shift to More Travel Options & Growth in Walkable Communities

 

By Barb Thoman, Executive Director

Post updated: 10/1/14.

 

 

Photo Credit: Metro Transit.

 

The Metropolitan Council’s draft 2040 Transportation Policy Plan (draft TPP), wisely calls for greatly expanding transit, bicycling, and walking options across the region and focusing on more compact, pedestrian-friendly development patterns. The draft TPP, an update of the plan developed in 2009, is out for public comment through Wednesday, October 1, at 5 p.m. TLC urges our members to send comment letters or e-mails to the Met. Council, offering their support for this proposed shift (see our sample comment letter at the bottom of this post). The Council is hearing pretty significant push back from proponents of the spread out, auto-focused, and costly development patterns of the last 50 years.

Demand for travel in the region is undergoing historic change. Young people are driving less and the Baby Boomer generation is starting to retire, both leading to fewer driving trips during peak periods. Ridership on transit is growing even as households in the region make fewer daily trips. Rates of bicycling are up, evidenced from data in the Met. Council’s Travel Behavior Inventory and from TLC’s 2013 Bike/Walk Count Report. The Council’s proposed approach in the draft TPP responds to these trends.

At more than 300 pages, the draft TPP is a long document. Here, we boil it down into thoughts on major topics. If you don’t have a day (!) to read the full plan, we suggest focusing on pages 67-125, which includes Vision and Strategies. Here goes:

• Land use – There is good language in this section (pages 126-148) that calls on cities and counties to prioritize walkable development, better connected streets, a mix of uses, development along transit, and more. This makes good economic and environmental sense and promotes equitable development and access for everyone. In coming years, cities in the metro will be required to update their comprehensive plans to be consistent with the TPPand other Met. Council plans. TLC believes that cities that want to access the funding streams available through the Met. Council (federal transportation, Livable Communities, and others) should be required to plan, zone, and invest in ways consistent with Met. Council plans. The region can no longer afford to subsidize expensive low-density development on farmland and open space at the edge of the region.
  
  
• Bicycle and pedestrian system – For ten years TLC has been calling for the identification of a regional bike system (pages 261-273) and it’s included in this plan! We applaud the statement on page 272 that “any new state transportation funding package should include additional funding for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure…”This is a foundation of the Move MN platform. We would like to see more attention to pedestrian access with a focus on major transit corridors, concentrated areas of poverty, access to schools, and access for seniors.
  
  
• Transit – The draft TPP acknowledges the transitway projects that can be completed with the current ¼-cent metro sales tax for transit (Southwest, Bottineau, Gateway, plus Orange Line bus rapid transit (BRT) on 35W). We have concerns about the region’s ability to also maintain existing transit infrastructure, including bus garages and already aging Blue Line rail stations. We also have concerns about counting on larger federal grant awards and expecting state motor-vehicle sales tax revenues for transit to remain steady, given the trend toward less driving.
  
  The increased revenue scenario is on par with what Seattle, Denver, and other peer cities are doing as they continue a rapid build-out of bus and rail across their regions. Additional revenue is essential for: bus system expansion (this requires more than the 1 percent per year proposed on page 234), construction of all arterial BRT lines, building a regional system of transitways in a timely fashion, and a better customer experience (via bus stop safety, comfort, access, and more information). We support the existing Transit Market Area approach to getting the most from regional transit investments by focusing those investments on areas with higher population and employment densities and demand for transit service. We were happy to see the transit chapter acknowledge the state legislative goal to increase the percentage of trips taken on transit—a goal TLC successfully worked on years ago. 

 

Transit Market Areas. Source: Metropolitan Council (PDF).

• Highway system– The draft TPP notes that the Twin Cities region has the eighth largest roadway system in the country and wisely proposes more attention to maintenance and preservation. We would spend even more on maintenance, plus increase the investment percentage for safety projects—including Complete Streets and treatments compliant with the Americans for Disabilities Act—on state, county, and local roads. In addition, we would carefully review the list of 50 proposed “spot capacity expansion” projects to ensure that these projects won’t just move congestion down the road. We support the proposal to add back the bus shoulder lane on I-94 between Minneapolis and Saint Paul (page 183).

Dave Van Hattum, TLC’s Advocacy Director, continues to call for all Met. Council and MnDOT plans—including this one—to have clear and measurable outcomes.

Don’t miss this opportunity to show your support for a new direction at the Council. Comments on the draft TPP are due Wednesday, October 1, at 5 p.m. Submit your comments by e-mail to [email protected].

 

SAMPLE COMMENT LETTER:

 

Subject: Comment on draft Transportation Policy Plan

 

I'm emailing to express my support for the direction the Met. Council has taken in the draft Transportation Policy Plan. 

 

I was very happy to see the call for greatly expanding transit, bicycling, and walking options across the region, as well as a focus on more compact, pedestrian-friendly development patterns. This makes good economic and environmental sense. 

 

Please continue to work on clear and measurable outcomes, but most importantly: Please don't buckle to the proponents of the status quo who want to continue the inequitable and costly policies of the last 50 years. The shift you have proposed will do much more to ensure we have a thriving metro region going forward, with better quality of life and access to opportunity.

 

Thank you.

 

[Your Name]

[Your Address]

 

 

Rail~Volution Draws National Transit Supporters to the Twin Cities

 

By Barb Thoman, Executive Director

 

Each year, Rail~Volution brings together people from across the country who are passionate about building livable communities with transit.  After a 20-year wait, this national conference finally came to Minnesota! Early this week, nearly 1,500 attendees participated in dozens of workshop sessions on topics ranging from equitable transit-oriented development to creative placemaking and complete streets implementation. They also pedaled around on Nice Ride bikes, rode buses and trains, and marveled at the amount of development taking place in Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Everyone we asked spoke very positively about the 2014 conference and said they were amazed at how much we have going on in this region.

“This is not a Republican or Democrat issue, this is an issue of American vitality. . . . We’re trying to push the envelope on transportation to grow America for a new generation.” (USDOT Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, speaking at Rail~Volution, on investing in multimodal transportation)

Transit for Livable Communities was involved in the conference this year in a number of ways: We served on the steering committee, lead a mobile workshop on bicycling, moderated a session on advocacy, and had a table in the exhibit hall. I even mustered the courage to present at the fun, fast-paced Pecha Kucha Slam on the challenges of bike/walk/and transit in our cold-weather climate.

 

 

Our mobile workshop highlighted some of the investments from the Bike Walk Twin Cities program.  Sheldon Mains spoke about the work of Spokes Bike Walk Connect in the Seward neighborhood, helping neighborhood residents—including members of the local East African community— get a bike and learn to ride. Steve Saunders from the U of M spoke about two infrastructure projects—the new Dinkytown Greenway and the U of M Bike Center—as well as programs at the U of M to encourage the use of transit and bicycling. Haila Maze from the City of Minneapolis talked about redevelopment in Dinkytown. (Did you know that the Dinkytown CVS store has high sales and no off-street parking for cars?!)  

“Just because you have a bike lane, doesn’t mean you’re bike friendly.” (MnDOT's Liz Walton, speaking at Rail~Voltion, emphasizing the importance of a holistic approach: engineering, education, encouragement, enforcement, and evaluation/planning)

 

In addition to more than 20 mobile workshops, the conference featured nearly a hundred informative sessions. Here are a few cool things discussed at the sessions I attended:

• Los Angeles, with its 1.5-cent regional sales tax for transit/bike/walk, is embracing open streets in a big way.  LA Metro is awarding $4 million to cities in the LA region to put on open streets events over the next 12 months.  
• Transit agency general managers from Los Angeles, Boston, and Portland (OR) were asked to talk about what keeps them up at night. Maintenance of aging transit infrastructure was high on their list—although one general manager joked that despite the stresses of the job, he falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.
• Transit phone apps are making access to transportation options easier. One session included the co-founder of an innovative new company from Minneapolis called OMG Transit. Their free app shows real-time bus, train, Nice Ride, HOURCAR, and car2go locations and arrival times.
• The new sharing economy, including ride-sharing services such as Lyft and Uber are growing quickly and will impact auto ownership and travel, and possibly transit ridership. Millennials are big users of these services.

Thank you to the conference steering committee, the local host committee, the hundreds of volunteers who helped plan the conference, and Rail-Volution CEO Dan Bartholomay and his planning team (now based in Minneapolis)!

We can't wait to continue the conversation when Rail-Volution travels to Dallas in 2015.

 

 Photos courtesy of Barb Thoman and Kerry Thomas.

Transportation on a Stick: TLC & Move MN Ramp Up Outreach at the State Fair—and Beyond

 

By Dave Van Hattum, Transportation Policy Director

 

Bethany Winkels, Field Director, talks up transportation at the State Fair. Credit: Move MN

 

It has been an action-packed summer for the Move MN campaign. Transit for Livable Communities and our Move MN allies have been busy spreading the word about urgent transportation needs all across our state. At events ranging from street festivals in Minneapolis and Moorhead to county fairs in Windom and Owatonna, we’ve connected with a broad base of Minnesotans who agree it’s time to invest in expanded bus and rail, safe bicycling and walking options, and road and bridge repair and modernization.

This week, that message is striking a cord at the Great Minnesota Get-Together, where two dozen TLC members are working alongside TLC staff and our allies at AFSCME Council 5 and other Move MN partner organizations to hear what Minnesotan’s are saying about transportation and to build even more support for making transportation a top priority in 2015.

 

Thanks to all TLC members, staff & allies volunteering together at the State Fair!
Credit: Move MN.

Many thanks to these enthusiastic volunteers for sparking great transportation conversations every day of the State Fair! Special thanks to our friends at AFSCME Council 5 for sharing their booth with us this year. If you’re headed to the fairgrounds between now and Labor Day, be sure to stop in to see us at the Labor Pavilion—and sign a Move MN postcard while you’re there.

Bethany Winkels, our new Move MN Field Director, is leading the charge on these essential outreach efforts at the State Fair and beyond. An experienced organizer, Bethany hit the ground running earlier this summer and is doing a fantastic job to engage Minnesotans in every region of our state. Bethany, who works out of the TLC office, recognizes that transportation affects people every day.  As she puts it, “This isn’t a theoretical issue. Public safety, smart government, opportunity, and good jobs are all tied to transportation.”

TLC & Move MN at Franklin Avenue Open Streets earlier this month. Credit: TLC.

 

As summer turns to fall, TLC and Move MN are looking ahead to new opportunities to raise awareness about Minnesota’s transportation problem and our call for a balanced and sustainable solution. Look for us at these community events in September:

• Sept. 5 & 6 - Burnsville Fire Muster
• Sept. 7 - Saint Paul Classic Tour
• Sept. 20 - Bloomington Heritage Days
• Sept. 20 - Aurora Legendary Laurentian
• Sept. 21 - Saint Paul Open Streets
• Sept. 27 - Minneapolis Urban League Family Day

If you’re interesting in volunteering with us at any of these events, contact Bethany at [email protected].

We also encourage you to sign Move MN’s online petition encouraging Minnesota's next governor to make transportation the top priority in 2015. This petition will send a strong message to the three major party candidates, reminding them that Minnesota’s outdated and crumbling transportation system negatively impacts us all. As the petition says, in the spirit of the Great Minnesota Get-Together, let’s get together and fix transportation! Take action: sign the "Great Transportation Get-Together" petition now.