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Browsing by Subject "Minnesota Council on Transportation Access"

Now showing 1 - 11 of 11
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    Best Practices for Addressing Youth Employment and Training Transportation
    (Minnesota Council on Transportation Access, Minnesota Department of Transportation, 2018-06) Noble, Charles; Douma, Frank
    The Minnesota Council on Transportation Access (MCOTA) sponsored a study of youth employment transportation issues beginning in the Spring of 2018. The council required the report detail state and national examples of inventive programs that facilitate youth accessing jobs. The survey, which only contained voluntary questions, captured information on respondent employment type, location, transportation mode, transportation issues, and demographic information. The analysis of the survey data showed that youth throughout the state are likely to face transportation issues. Employed and unemployed youth were roughly as likely to encounter transportation issues. The same occurred with disability status. However, breaking the data into regions – urban, rural, and suburban – showed marked difference. A much smaller proportion of respondents in urban areas reported transportation issues than the other two regions. It was then shown that unemployed youth with disabilities, particularly in suburban and rural areas, were most likely to face transportation issues. Viewing the transportation modes of each region, it is clear that areas where commuting by car, whether driving alone or carpooling, is associated with a higher likelihood of facing transportation issues. The report then offers recommendations tailored to the issues identified, highlighting the importance of transit and walking in areas with enough population density to support it, providing individualized rides to youth in less dense areas, and supporting transportation coordinating councils to ensure the transportation needs of youth throughout the state are met. The recommendations are further divided into manageable short, medium, and long-term goals. Finally, national, state, and local example transportation programs that align with the recommendations are listed.
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    Calculating Benefits of Transit Coordination: Minnesota Case Studies
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2013-02) Zhao, Jerry
    The purpose of this study is to identify actual cost reductions and other benefits attributable to transit coordination strategies in Minnesota. The Minnesota Council on Transportation Access selected case studies that demonstrate specific efforts to coordinate and calculated the cost savings associated with those activities. In addition to cost savings, other benefits of coordination can include generating revenue, increasing productivity, producing community benefits, increasing riders’ access to transportation services, and improving service quality. When agencies adopt methods to coordinate, this creates potential for reinvesting dollars or resources into other parts of a transportation service, thus improving the overall transportation system available to the public. The case studies discussed in this report were selected and analyzed primarily for evidence of cost reductions. In addition, the coordination activities in these case studies demonstrate other societal benefits, including increased passenger safety, greater productivity, expanded service coverage, growth in transit ridership, and improved service quality.
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    Common Standards for Reporting Financial Information for Transportation
    (Minnesota Council on Transportation Access, 2015-08) Zhao, Jerry
    The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of the common standards concept, describe the benefits of coordinating transportation services accounting, and to identify challenges to coordination, followed by recommendations for action. The goal of this research project was to develop a consistent method for multiple agencies to estimate, report, track, and record transportation-related costs, specifically: 1. Develop a common set of important terms and financial concepts that will identify categories for the chart of accounts. Not all state and local agencies use the same definition to describe their transportation services. 2. Identify a common set of data categories that agencies use to measure their transportation services. Specific categories and terms will lead to development of the chart of accounts. 3. Identify a common set of non-financial data measures/evaluation criteria for participating agencies. Standards may be different between the state and local agencies and data collection and analysis have different results and significance. The criteria will contribute to the chart of accounts.
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    Cost-Benefit Analysis of Volunteer Driver Programs: Minnesota Case Studies
    (Minnesota Council on Transportation Access, 2017-08) Zhao, Jerry
    In 2017, the Minnesota Council on Transportation Access (MCOTA) requested a study to identify the economic benefits of volunteer driver programs in the state, using six volunteer driver programs as case studies, with several Faith-in-Action programs, county-based transportation, and transit system-based programs. This study builds on the 2016 MCOTA volunteer program survey. Researchers from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs sought to meet these objectives by interviewing selected providers that use volunteer drivers in Minnesota, obtaining their operation and financial data, and calculating cost savings of their programs in comparison to alternative services that would have been used if their volunteer driver programs were unavailable. For each case, this report introduces the organization and the scope of its operation, provides some operating and financial details about its volunteer driver program as well as perceived public benefits, and then calculates their cost savings in comparison to alternative services.
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    Minnesota Transit Funding Primer
    (Minnesota Council on Transportation Access, 2015-10) Douma, Frank
    This MCOTA Research Project is aimed at providing an inventory of the transportation funding programs available from the federal and state government in Minnesota, including funding levels and details about the administration of each program. The goal is to identify opportunities for coordination.
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    Minnesota Volunteer Driver Program Forum: A Summary Report
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2018-05) Center for Transportation Studies
    The report summarizes the Minnesota Volunteer Driver Program Forum held on May 9, 2018, at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was convened by the Minnesota Council on Transportation Access (MCOTA) and brought together individuals running volunteer driver programs and other stakeholders. The forum provided attendees with the opportunity to share information to help maintain and strengthen these programs.
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    NEMT Coordinators in Minnesota: A Survey of How Minnesota Counties Use Coordinators to Deliver Non-Emergency Medical Transportation
    (Minnesota Council on Transportation Access, 2013-09) Douma, Frank; Garry, Thomas
    Under Minnesota’s fee-for-service Medical Assistance (MA) program, Minnesota counties are responsible for providing transportation assistance to MA recipients so they can obtain healthcare services. This assistance is commonly referred to as non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT). This report surveys and examines how select Minnesota counties utilize transportation coordinators in providing and administering NEMT under the state's fee-for-service MA program. The report focuses on the role of coordinators in delivering the most common type of NEMT service in Minnesota, known as access transportation service.
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    Planning for Enhanced Transportation Access and Efficiency: Synthesis of 2011 Greater Minnesota Local Human Services Transit Coordination Plans
    (Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, 2012-04) Center for Transportation Studies
    To develop local coordination plans in Greater Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) Office of Transit partnered with local planning organizations in Greater Minnesota's twelve economic development regions in 2011. These plans engaged diverse stakeholders in identifying strategies for regional transportation coordination and articulating specific projects that could advance coordination strategies in each region. This synthesis highlights the themes found in the 2011 coordination plans, which include the need to improve the coordination of services and resources, increase public awareness, implement mobility management strategies, expand services, reduce expenses, and overcome regulatory barriers. This synthesis also outlines the accomplishments and implementation challenges that have occurred throughout Greater Minnesota since the completion of the 2006 coordination plans. Accomplishments include raising awareness of transit coordination, expanding services and programs, coordinating services, and completing marketing initiatives. Common challenges included a lack of funding, leadership, local partnerships, and policymaker support. Policies and regulations were another barrier to coordination efforts.
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    Public/Private Partnerships in Transit: Case Studies and Analysis
    (Minnesota Council on Transportation Access, 2017-10) Blodgett, Moira; Khani, Alireza; Negoescu, Diana; Benjaafar, Saif
    With the emergence of new business models for transportation services in the private, new types of partnerships between the public and private sector have also started to emerge. In this report, we focus on public/private partnerships that involve transportation network companies (TNCs), such as Uber and Lyft. We first discuss the structure of these partnerships in terms of the type of service provider, category of service, and payment arrangement. We then provide an in-depth discussion of five case studies, selected to highlight unique and distinctive features in each case. We draw lessons and takeaways from these case studies, highlighting opportunities and challenges for the future. We also discuss opportunities for the Twin Cities and the greater Minnesota region. In doing so, we provide analysis of travel behavior data and show how this analysis can be used to guide the deployment of a public/private partnership. One limitation of these case studies is that access for persons with disabilities, compliance with regulations, and protection of civil rights was not clearly articulated in these pilot programs and greater understanding of these areas is needed.
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    Vehicle Sharing Among Human Service Providers in Minnesota: Steps to Address Barriers
    (Minnesota Council on Transportation Access, 2013-09) Douma, Frank; Garry, Thomas
    The statutory duties of the Minnesota Council on Transportation Access (MCOTA) include identifying "policies and necessary legislation to facilitate vehicle sharing." This study commissioned by MCOTA provides an initial review of the regulatory, policy and operational barriers to vehicle sharing among private human services providers (HSPs) in Minnesota, and discusses potential ways to address these barriers. The purpose is to provide general information to the member organizations and agencies of MCOTA, as well organizations within the HSP community, about possible steps that may be taken to increase vehicle sharing among HSPs. This report identifies five barriers to increased vehicle sharing among HSPs in Minnesota. The first two barriers represent large, umbrella barriers. The latter three represent more specific, technical barriers. The report also discusses solutions to each of these barriers.
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    Volunteer Driver Programs in Minnesota: Benefits and Barriers
    (Minnesota Council on Transportation Access, 2017-02) Douma, Frank
    In FY 2016, the Minnesota Council on Transportation Access (MCOTA) requested a study of Volunteer Programs in Minnesota, with the objectives of documenting the organizations that use volunteer drivers to help meet the transportation needs of their clients, how they organize and fund their volunteer driver programs, and the challenges these organizations face in continuing to provide these services with volunteer drivers, including issues with insurance coverage. Once these were documented, MCOTA requested recommendations regarding which of the identified barriers would be most productively addressed, and what methods would help providers address these barriers. Researchers from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs sought to meet these objectives through a survey of providers that use volunteer drivers in Minnesota and review of current regulations, including insurance. This report covers the background and need for this study in more detail, the survey method followed, a discussion of the results and conclusions from the survey data, and recommendations for how the identified barriers might be addressed.