Browsing by Subject "Costs"
Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Advancing Public Interest in Public-Private Partnership of State Highway Development(Minnesota Department of Transportation Research Services Section, 2011-02) Zhao, Zhirong (Jerry); Saunoi-Sandgren, Emily; Barnea, AvitalFacing rapidly increasing demand for new or additional transportation capacity, many states are eagerly exploring public-private partnership (PPP) in state highway development, which may allow public agencies to access private project financing and specialized expertise, and thus save public investment, expedite project completion, or improve service quality and diversity. Nevertheless, the path of PPPs is not smooth. The confusion and controversy surrounding recent asset-monetization leasing concession cases in the US have led to widespread public concerns and legislative caution, in particular on the question of whether a PPP project is advancing the public interest. The purpose of this project is to study the public interest associated with PPPs, with the goal to maximize efficiency gains, mitigate potential risks, and address public concerns in launching and deploying PPPs in state highway development. In particular, we focus on three aspects of PPP consideration: (1) Understanding economic rationales of PPPs, (2) Legal and political aspects of PPP decision-making, and (3) Managerial issues in implementing PPP projects.Item Estimating the burden of serious farm-related Injury in Minnesota(2014-05) Landsteiner, Adrienne MarieMinnesota was ranked 6th in the United States for total sales of agricultural product, with just over $13 billion in sales in the year 2011. Only 1.1% of Minnesota's workforce was employed in agriculture for the year 2011. However, this small portion of Minnesota's workforce has one of the highest fatality rates, with 28 (40%) of the 70 work-related deaths that occurred in the year 2010. While the number of agricultural fatalities that have occurred in Minnesota is well documented, non-fatal injuries are not. To address this issue the Minnesota hospital discharge data set was used to create counts, rates, and trends of agricultural injury for 2000-2011. The Cost of Illness model was then used to create estimates of the economic burden of agricultural injuries in Minnesota for 2004-2010.Using a set of seven E codes, more than 2,000 injuries annually with a relationship to agriculture were identified. The identified cases were categorized into probable or possible depending upon the E code present in the record. These designations were created as two of the E codes, E849.1 (occurred on a farm) and E919.0 (a relationship to agricultural machinery), have a greater specificity for a relationship to agriculture than the remaining E codes. Over 500 cases were identified annually with a probable case designation. Trend analysis of all identified cases found a non-significant average increase of 1.5% annually for the time period, 2000-2011. Estimated annual costs (2010 dollars) for agricultural injury ranged between $21 and $31 million annually for 2004-2010. The majority of the costs are attributed to the indirect costs and the costs associated with fatal injuries. These estimated costs were found to be of similar magnitude to costs for motor vehicle and bicycle accidents, diabetes, and heart disease in Minnesota. This research demonstrates that hospital discharge data provides a readily available source of information for tracking agricultural injury, allowing for limited surveillance and evaluation of future intervention endeavors and policy implementation. The magnitude of the associated costs argue for better surveillance of these injuries, as well as evaluation of future interventions and policy to prevent agricultural injury.Item Local Contributions to State and Regional Transportation Facilities in Minnesota(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2020-05) Zhao, Jerry Zhirong; Fonseca, Camila; Zeerak, Raihana; Bean, NathanHighway 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.Item Rural and Small Urban Multimodal Alternatives for Minnesota(Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2014-11) Becker, CarolThis paper looks at alternatives for promoting and strengthening multimodal transportation in rural and small urban areas. It outlines 65 different innovative activities around the United States that have been undertaken to promote multimodalism in rural areas and smaller towns. These activities are grouped into six categories: improving transit options; accommodating alternative vehicles; supporting pedestrian and bicycle travel; multimodal land use planning; the use of financial incentives to promote multimodal land use development; and other alternatives that do not fit in these five categories. From this, six case studies have been developed. These case studies include retrofitting sidewalks in Olympia Washington: the network of interurban transit options in North Dakota; providing mileage reimbursement for seniors arranging their own rides in Mesa Arizona; the State of Oregon’s “Main Street as a Highway” guidance for integrating highways into the fabric of smaller towns; the use to transportation impact fees to fund transportation infrastructure, including concurrency fees, development fees and special district fees; and a “Complete Streets” project in Clinton, Iowa.