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This report contains a summary of the information detailed in four separate reports covering one project. The project examines the variation in people's need for and use of transport services by posing four research questions and answering them with transportation related data from the 1990 Census of Population and Housing. Questions posed are: 1) What is the socioeconomic profile of Minnesota's long-distance commuters? 2) How do Minnesota's counties and urban neighborhoods vary according to transport needs and use? 3) How can census data be used together with travel surveys to study the socioeconomic characteristics of travelers? and 4) How has interaction among the state's local labor markets changed in the last twenty years? The main findings are summarized in this report both verbally and graphically. References to the other four reports are given.

This report is issued to comply with Minnesota Statutes 2013, section 174.12, subdivision 8. (a) By February 1 of each odd-numbered year, the commissioner of transportation, with assistance from the commissioner of employment and economic development, shall submit a report on the transportation economic development program to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over transportation policy and finance and economic development policy and finance. (b) At a minimum, the report must: (1) summarize the requirements and implementation of the transportation economic development program established in this section; (2) review the criteria and economic impact performance measures used for evaluation, prioritization, and selection of projects; (3) provide a brief overview of each project that received financial assistance under the program, which must at a minimum identify: (i) basic project characteristics, such as funding recipient, geographic location, and type of transportation modes served; (ii) sources and respective amounts of project funding; and (iii) the degree of economic benefit anticipated or observed, following the economic impact performance measures established under subdivision 4; (4) identify the allocation of funds, including but not limited to a breakdown of total project funds by transportation mode, the amount expended for administrative costs, and the amount transferred to the transportation economic development assistance account; (5) evaluate the overall economic impact of the program consistent with the accountability measurement requirements under section 116J.997; and (6) provide recommendations for any legislative changes related to the program.

This cover letter accompanied the 2014 Report on the Transportation Economic Development (TED) Program.

This report is issued to comply with Minnesota Statutes 2013, section 174.12, subdivision 8. (a) By February 1 of each odd-numbered year, the commissioner of transportation, with assistance from the commissioner of employment and economic development, shall submit a report on the transportation economic development program to the chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over transportation policy and finance and economic development policy and finance. (b) At a minimum, the report must: (1) summarize the requirements and implementation of the transportation economic development program established in this section; (2) review the criteria and economic impact performance measures used for evaluation, prioritization, and selection of projects; (3) provide a brief overview of each project that received financial assistance under the program, which must at a minimum identify: (i) basic project characteristics, such as funding recipient, geographic location, and type of transportation modes served; (ii) sources and respective amounts of project funding; and (iii) the degree of economic benefit anticipated or observed, following the economic impact performance measures established under subdivision 4; (4) identify the allocation of funds, including but not limited to a breakdown of total project funds by transportation mode, the amount expended for administrative costs, and the amount transferred to the transportation economic development assistance account; (5) evaluate the overall economic impact of the program consistent with the accountability measurement requirements under section 116J.997; and (6) provide recommendations for any legislative changes related to the program.

The lack of international tourists to Minnesota is due to many factors. Minnesota is mainly a regional destination, with the majority of tourists coming from within the state and adjacent states. The majority of visitors drive to arrive in Minnesota. Barriers preventing more international tourists from visiting Minnesota were investigated, using a variety of methods ranging from focus group analysis to a mail questionnaire targeting the German long haul market. Barriers were grouped into four categories: functional, perceptual, logistical, policy. The primary barrier identified is a private sector policy imposed by airlines. The decision not to allow stopover visits or open jaw tickets without a substantial change in the price of an air ticket works against spontaneous or planned short visits to relatively unknown destinations. Should this policy based access barrier be removed, a public/private partnership would be needed to promote stopovers in Minnesota.

A time series methodology is developed that differentiates the effects of highways on development from the effects of development on highways. This methodology uses pooled time-series and cross-sectional data on highway expenditures and county employment for the 87 Minnesota counties and all 9 economic sectors over the 25-year period 1957-1982 and includes classification of counties based on access, demographic and socioeconomic features. Results from vector autoregressions are tested against modern causality tests of Granger-Sims type. In the wholesale and natural-resource-based service sectors (e.g., tourism), increased highway expenditures result in long-term employment increases. While regionally very substantial, the impacts are distributional, i.e., the statewide impact is negligible. Government role is mostly reactive, increasing funding to counties whose economy is increasing, except in rural areas where government also attempts to stimulate declining economies. Funding decisions are highly sensitive to changes in the economy, especially in rural areas, and (as our evaluation of the Minnesota Department of Transportation [Mn/DOT] project selection process indicates) are primarily influenced by the District recommendation. Further, a new B/C project selection process is developed and tested on highway weight restriction policies in Northeast Minnesota. Both simulation with large 1/0 model and comparison with actual funding decisions made independently by Mn/DOT indicate agreement with our results. An extensive literature review and 175 references are included. This report consists of nine separate publications: an executive summary, the final report and seven appendices.

This is Appendix I for Report 89-11, "Transportation and Economic Development."

This is Appendix II of Report 89-11, "Transportation and Economic Development."

This is Appendix III to Report 89-11, "Transportation and Economic Development."

This is Appendix IV to Report 89-11, "Transportation and Economic Development."