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Using detailed travel surveys (the Travel Behavior Inventory) conducted by the Metropolitan Council of the Minneapolis/Saint Paul (Twin Cities) Region in Minnesota for 1990, 2000-2001, and 2010-2011, this report conducts an analysis of changes in travel behavior over time. Specifically looking at changes in travel duration, time, use, and accessibility; telecommuting and its relationship with travel and residential choices; transit service quality and transit use; effects of age and cohort; and changes in walking and bicycling. Much has changed in this period, including the size of the region, demographics, economics, technology, driver licensing, and preferences, examining in turn the effects of investment, development, and population change on behaviors for the Minneapolis-St. Paul region as a whole and for areas within the region. While this research cannot hope to untangle all of the contributing factors, it aims to increase understanding of what did happen, with some explanation of why. This will inform transportation engineers, planners, economists, analysts, and decision makers about the prospective effects of future changes to networks, land use, and demographics while also evaluating the effects of previous network investments.

To park or to develop is always a key question for transit station area planning. Planners are interested in a hybrid option: siting park-and- ride (P&R) facilities at the periphery of development around transitway stations. However; the literature offers little evidence on how far a P&R lot can be located from transitways while maximizing ridership and revenue. Using a stated preference survey of 568 P&R users in the Twin Cities; this study conducted several experiments to illustrate their walking tolerance and identify built environment attributes that influence the walking distance. Walking distance is much more important than intersection safety; pedestrian infrastructure; and building appearance in affecting P&R users' choice. The average walking distance is three city blocks when the minimum walking distance is set as two blocks in the experiments. Intersection safety; pedestrian infrastructure; and building appearance help mitigate the disutility of walking distance. If all three characteristics are adequate; it seems that P&R users are willing to walk 1.8 blocks farther than their existing facilities. A further analysis shows that the effects of these four dimensions vary by transit type. The analysis of stated importance illustrates that when determining how far P&R users are willing to walk; they value snow clearance; street lighting; and intersection safety the most. In general; the quality of sidewalk network connecting transit stops and P&R facilities is the most important; followed by safety and security attributes associated with the walking environment. However; the aesthetic quality seems to be the least important for P&R users.

In 1992 the ABC Ramps were completed in downtown Minneapolis as part of the I-394 construction project. The purpose of the ramps is to have programs that support efforts to reduce congestion and improve air quality by reducing SOV trips from the I-394 corridor. At the time the ramps were built; the ramp goals were aligned with the city of Minneapolis' parking system goals and the I-394 Corridor Management Plan. Since that time; however; the transportation modes; technologies; and plans surrounding the ramps have changed as well as the travel behaviors of the users. As the ramps reach the midpoint of their design life; this study examined the programs; policies; and goals developed for the ramps to ensure they continue to address current transportation challenges and align with regional stakeholder's goals and emerging trends; behaviors; and technology. The project culminated in a series of recommendations with implementation strategies for the ABC ramp management to improve its practice towards reducing congestion and improving air quality in downtown Minneapolis through innovative programming and marketing.

In response to the limited awareness surrounding Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and the A Line; this study provides answers to questions regarding the operation and public perception of the A Line in the Twin Cities region; Minnesota. Two traffic scenarios were studied; one for high-volume oversaturated traffic during the Minnesota State Fair; and a second for normal operating conditions. For both scenarios; intersection queue length and traffic flow rate were compared before and after an A Line bus. It was found that in both time periods (Fair and non- Fair); the dwelling of an A Line bus during a green traffic signal did not have a statistically significant impact on intersection queue length or traffic-flow rate at either of the two researched stations. From an analysis of the 2016 On-Board Survey; it was determined that passengers are more satisfied by the overall service of the A Line than local buses while there is not a significant difference in overall satisfaction compared to express buses; light rail and commuter rail. The top three important service attributes to overall satisfaction are "paying my fare is easy;" "hours of operation;" and "handling of concerns/complaints." It is recommended that the transit agency improve the attributes that have higher relative influences and lower mean performances. Based on this criterion; the attributes that should be given priority are "shelter/station conditions and cleanliness" and "behaviors of other passengers and atmosphere on board." This is report #16 in the Transitway Impacts Research Program series.