Full Transportation Costs and Cost Incidence

Project summary:

We will provide information on transportation costs needed to coordinate growth management policies and transportation system improvements in the Twin Cities area. The full costs of the region?s transportation system will be documented to help identify ways to improve the system. The incidence of transportation costs will be documented to help in identifying equitable growth management policies, tax instruments, and transportation system improvements. This research will better enable groups in the region to reach a consensus on transportation and growth plans. The first major part of this study will document the full cost of a baseline transportation system. The baseline transportation system is that which is expected to exist in the year 2020, given transportation priorities and budgetary trends. Its costs will be calculated using existing data sources and our own projections. The second major part of this study will determine the cost incidence of the current transportation system, given existing tax mechanisms and travel patterns. Subsidies across regions will be investigated and documented. In the last part of this study, the costs of alternative transportation delivery systems will be studied. These alternative systems will be selected based on public interest and the potential for increasing the region?s economic efficiency.