Principal Investigator(s):
Gina Baas, Deputy Director, Center for Transportation Studies
Project summary:
Community transit in Minnesota is at a turning point. Some key reforms have been implemented, while others are in progress. Continually improving lines of communications are helping publicize innovations so that others can make use of them. Most importantly, major stakeholders are communicating formally and on an ongoing basis so that they are beginning to develop a common agenda for addressing the types of major reforms that require the cooperation of many organizations. Communications needs exist at two levels. The first level is that providers and users require information at the operational level: for providers, how to best operate their fleet, and for users, how to find the services they need. The second level is among the various stakeholders that can have a role in making policy. The creation of the Interagency Committee on Transit Coordination (ICTC) by Governor Tim Pawlenty has been a key step in addressing stakeholder communication. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) requested that the Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) develop and maintain a Minnesota Transit Coordination Web site as an ongoing communications mechanism for stakeholders and providers. The site has been developed and is available at http://www.coordinatemntransit.org.