Minnesota Urban Partnership Agreement National Evaluation

The Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) initiative was undertaken by the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) to reduce congestion using four complementary strategies: tolling, transit, telecommuting/TDM, and technology (4Ts). The U.S. DOT selected Minnesota as an Urban Partner. The Minnesota UPA focuses on projects to reduce congestion in the I-35W corridor and in downtown Minneapolis. Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technologies underlie numerous Minnesota UPA projects, including high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, a priced dynamic shoulder lane (PDSL), active traffic management, real-time transit and traffic information, and lane guidance for shoulder-running buses. The U.S. DOT is sponsoring an evaluation of all the UPA sites. This paper highlights the initial results from the Minnesota UPA projects.