Browsing by Author "Fonseca, Camila"

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Best Types of Commodity Flow Data for Freight, Railroad, and Ports and Waterways Studies
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2023-02) Fonseca, Camila; Zeerak, Raihana; Napoline, Kimberly; Zhao, Jerry
The understanding of freight movement is critical to economic development and competitiveness and to make decisions regarding the transportation system. Despite the increased interest in freight planning and modeling, freight data are limited in availability and granularity, and the existing sources are incomplete or outdated. This research analyzes various types of public and proprietary freight databases to determine which are most helpful for planning, programming, and designing future infrastructure on the truck, rail, air, and waterway networks within Minnesota and surrounding states. There are some comprehensive multimodal freight databases that provide different levels of data granularity. These are typically complemented with other data sources that are specific to a transportation mode. We also interview stakeholders involved in freight planning in Minnesota to identify data gaps and capture current and future data needs. Important needs include (i) mode specific freight data, especially for waterways and ports and air freight; (ii) equity considerations in freight transportation; and (iii) understanding the relationship between freight transportation and climate change. Additional freight data are much needed overall to inform economic development and funding prioritization, as well as to evaluate and minimize supply chain disruptions.
How Do Complete Streets Matter for Communities? The Case of Richfield, Minnesota
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2020-07) Phinney, Robin; Fonseca, Camila; Bean, Nathan; Zhao, Jerry Zhirong
Municipalities across Minnesota have turned to Complete Streets in an attempt to develop more usable roads for their residents. This report investigates how Complete Streets are reshaping one Minnesota community. In 2013, Richfield, a suburb of Minneapolis, enacted a particularly innovative Complete Streets policy. Known locally as "Richfield Sweet Streets," the program has led to the reconstruction of several major roads across the city. Richfield's Sweet Streets program is unique in that it incorporates a modal hierarchy in which users are prioritized differently in road redesign and reconstruction. It relies on extensive community engagement, aiming to improve outcomes for individuals and the community as a whole. This research presents a baseline analysis of how Richfield's Sweet Streets projects are affecting the local community, while identifying a set of methods and measures for future research. The analysis draws on multiple sources of data to better understand the nature and consequences of Richfield's Sweet Streets for user experience and livability, economic vitality, transportation and safety, and individual and community health. The research aims to illustrate Richfield's innovative approach to transforming its transportation infrastructure while providing a roadmap for future analyses of the impacts of Richfield's Sweet Streets.
Local Contributions to State and Regional Transportation Facilities in Minnesota
(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2020-05) Zhao, Jerry Zhirong; Fonseca, Camila; Zeerak, Raihana; Bean, Nathan
Highway construction, maintenance, and improvements are supported by federal, state, and local funding. States use a combination of state funding and federal dollars to invest in highways and to provide aid to local governments. In recent years, federal and state governments have had challenges keeping up with transportation needs. These challenges affect funding for roadways, including the share of funding going to local governments. However, there is limited research on the impact of changes in federal and state funding on local spending, particularly the share of local government spending on state and regional highway infrastructure. This research aims to fill that gap by assessing the contributions of local expenditures to state and regional transportation facilities in Minnesota. Our findings show that while cooperative agreements can be mutually beneficial for both local and state governments, they can also carry the risk of unexpected costs for local governments. Therefore, local governments should be aware of the risks of entering into cooperative agreements, particularly when state funding totals are capped. Effective communication during planning and construction can mitigate some of the risk of cost increases as well as uncertainties around cost coverage by MnDOT. The use of state contingency funds to reimburse local governments for unexpected trunk highway expenses could also provide additional financial security for local governments.
Minnesota Roadway Funding: Revenue Sources & Distribution
(Transportation Policy and Economic Competitiveness Program, University of Minnesota, 2020-07) Zhao, Jerry; Fonseca, Camila; Bean, Nate; Lari, Adeel
Minnesota roadway funding comes from a combination of federal, state, and local sources. Federal funding comes primarily from the federal motor fuel tax, while most state funding comes from the three state highway user taxes: the state motor fuel tax, the registration tax, and the motor vehicle sales tax. These funds support the state trunk highway system that includes interstates and state highways, in addition to providing aid to local governments. Local highway funding comes from general funds, made up primarily of property taxes and assessments, in addition to a few dedicated local transportation taxes. This revenue is used to support highways and streets under the jurisdiction of counties, cities, and townships. The network of highways and local roads is essential to the state's economy and the daily activities of Minnesota residents. Maintaining, expanding, and operating this infrastructure is a major expense for the state and local governments inside Minnesota. Generating sufficient revenue for highways and streets remains a major challenge, and recent revenue projections estimate a shortfall of $18 billion in necessary funding between 2018 and 2037, for the state highway system alone. Understanding Minnesota's road financing structure is important to anticipate and address future transportation changes. This report details federal, state, and local government funding for the roadway system in Minnesota. It explores how roadway funding is generated and distributed, as well as the history of current funding mechanisms. Statistics from the Minnesota Transportation Finance Database are used throughout this paper.
Minnesota Roadway Funding: Revenue Sources & Distribution
(Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2024-11) Fonseca, Camila; Land, Matthew; Zhao, Jerry
Minnesota roadway funding comes from a combination of federal, state, and local sources. Federal funding comes primarily from the federal motor fuel tax, while most state funding comes from the three state highway user taxes: the state motor fuel tax, the registration tax, and the motor vehicle sales tax. These funds support the state trunk highway system that includes interstates and state highways, in addition to providing aid to local governments. Local highway funding comes from general funds, made up primarily of property taxes and assessments, in addition to a few dedicated local transportation taxes. This revenue is used to support highways and streets under the jurisdiction of counties, cities, and townships. The network of highways and local roads is essential to the state's economy and the daily activities of Minnesota residents. Maintaining, expanding, and operating this infrastructure is a major expense for the state and local governments inside Minnesota. Generating sufficient revenue for highways and streets remains a major challenge, and recent revenue projections estimate a shortfall of $20 billion in necessary funding between 2023 and 2042, for the state highway system alone. Understanding Minnesota's road financing structure is important to anticipate and address future transportation changes. This report details federal, state, and local government funding for the roadway system in Minnesota. It explores how roadway funding is generated and distributed, as well as the history of current funding mechanisms. Statistics from the Minnesota Transportation Finance Database are used throughout this paper.
Minnesota Transportation Funding Redistribution (2010-2015): Who Contributes More and Who Receives More?
(Transportation Policy and Economic Competitiveness Program, University of Minnesota, 2018-03) Zhao, Jerry; Lari, Adeel; Fonseca, Camila
The focus of this analysis is the redistribution of transportation funding across Minnesota. Transportation funding comes from all levels of government – the federal government, the state government, and local governments that include counties, cities, and townships. The redistribution of transportation funding arises the following questions: What areas contribute the most to transportation funding? What areas receive more funding? What areas contribute more than what they receive? Or verse versa. This report aims to answer these empirical questions with the purpose of facilitating informed decision making. In this report, we aggregate or allocate data to the county level for analysis and then present the aggregated results at the district level for a six-year period, between 2010 and 2015. We found that local governments fund a huge proportion of the transportation infrastructure in Minnesota, primarily through the property taxes they collect. The Twin Cities metro district contributes slightly more than what it receives. In addition, this district receives the largest share of funding for transit services. Districts in Greater Minnesota receive more funding that they contribute, mainly due to lower population density. Finally, we found a cost of 7 cents per vehicle mile traveled in the state. This cost tends to be much higher in counties located in the north.
Minnesota Transportation Funding Redistribution (2015-2020): Who Contributes More and Who Receives More?
(Transportation Policy and Economic Competitiveness Program, University of Minnesota, 2022-04) Fonseca, Camila; Zeerak, Raihana; Zhao, Jerry; Lari, Adeel
The focus of this analysis is the redistribution of transportation funding across Minnesota. Transportation funding comes from all levels of government – the federal, the state, and local governments that include counties, cities, and townships. The redistribution of transportation funding arises the following questions: What areas contribute the most to transportation funding? What areas receive more funding? What areas contribute more than what they receive? Or vice versa. This report aims to answer these empirical questions with the purpose of facilitating informed decision making. In this report, we aggregate or allocate data to the county level for analysis and then present the aggregated results at the district level for a six-year period, between 2015 and 2020. We found that local governments fund a huge proportion of the transportation infrastructure in Minnesota, primarily through the property taxes they collect. The Metro District contributes slightly more than what it receives. In addition, this district receives the largest share of funding for transit services. Districts in Greater Minnesota receive more funding that they contribute, mainly due to lower population density. Finally, we found a cost of 8.7 cents per vehicle mile traveled in the state. This cost tends to be much higher in counties located in the north.
Minnesota User Based Fee Demonstration
(Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2021-12) Douma, Frank; Zhao, Jerry; Fonseca, Camila; Zeerak, Raihana; Lari, Adeel; Munnich, Lee; Benesh, Meredith; Loveland, Joe
The Minnesota Department of Transportation conducted a 12-month Distance Based Fee (DBF) demonstration that utilizes existing technologies embedded within Shared Mobility (SM) fleet vehicles and connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) to automatically calculate and collect the fees. As part of the demonstration, researchers at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs discussed policy considerations and implications of DBFs on privacy, equity, and administration costs, as these are often raised as obstacles to the implementation of a DBF. Researchers also conducted financial analysis, and outreach and education efforts. Lastly, researchers conducted an evaluation of the demonstration based on the administrative and political feasibility, efficiency, adequacy, and equity of DBFs. This research identified the challenges that had to be overcome to implement DBFs and the potential to deploy this model on a broader scale.
Motorization Trends In Minnesota
(Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2023-06) Fonseca, Camila; Zeerak, Raihana; Lari, Adeel; Zhao, Jerry
The analysis of motorization trends in the state of Minnesota is important because it reveals changes in driving behavior that impact transportation planning and funding across the state. Changes in traveling habits have implications for transportation revenue streams in Minnesota, particularly for roadway infrastructure investment. This report presents an analysis of motorization and highway and roadway funding trends in Minnesota between 1980 and 2021. Key motorization patterns include the number of registered vehicles, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), fuel consumption, and vehicle crashes. In addition, this report analyses the evolution of roadway revenues and expenses at the federal, state, and local levels. The analysis in this report includes an overview of the general trends for the state as well as an overview of the changes by county. Data for the analysis come from the Minnesota Transportation Finance Database. The report has several interesting findings about motorization in Minnesota. For instance, the number of registered vehicles has continually increased since 1980, although it has slowed since the 2000s. However, the number of registered vehicles per capita and per county indicate significant declines in recent years. Similarly, the number of alternative fuel vehicles, particularly electric vehicles (EVs), has been increasing. Distance traveled, measured by VMT, and fuel consumption increased, although their per capita measures have also decreased, particularly since 2020. Lastly, while overall the number of vehicle crashes has declined since 2004, the number of fatal crashes rose significantly in 2021. Overall, Minnesota's trends are consistent with the national pattern. The persistence of these trends in the future will have consequences in future roadway funding. In particular, fuel consumption and its long-term declines due to increases in fuel efficiency standards could cause continuous revenue reductions unless the state roadway funding structure is adjusted.
Motorization Trends in Minnesota
(Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2019-02) Zhao, Jerry; Lari, Adeel; Fonseca, Camila; Bean, Nate
The analysis of motorization trends in the state of Minnesota is important because it reveals changes in driver behavior that impact transportation planning and funding across the state. Changes in traveling habits have implications for transportation revenue streams in Minnesota, particularly for roadway infrastructure investment. This report presents an analysis of motorization and highway and roads funding trends in Minnesota between 1980 and 2016. Key motorization patterns include the number of registered vehicles, vehicle miles traveled (VMT), and fuel consumption. In addition, this report analyses the evolution of roadway revenues and expenses at the federal, state, and local levels. The analysis in this report includes an overview of the general trends for the state as well as an overview of the changes by county. Data for the analysis come from the Minnesota Transportation Finance Database. The report has several interesting findings about motorization in Minnesota. For instance, the number of registered vehicles has continually increased since 1980, although it has slowed since the 2000s. Over the same period of time, distance travelled, measured by VMT, and fuel consumption increased, although their per capita measures have been decreasing. Overall, Minnesota?s trends are consistent with the national pattern. The persistence of these trends in the future will have consequences in future roadway funding. In particular, fuel consumption and its long term declines due to increases in fuel efficiency standards could cause continuous revenue reductions unless the state roadway funding structure is adjusted.
Stormwater Utility Fees and Credits: A Funding Strategy for Sustainability
(2019-03) Zhao, Jerry Zhirong; Fonseca, Camila; Zeerak, Raihana

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