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This Technical Summary pertains to Report 2023-11, “Multi-City Study of an Engineering and Outreach Program to Increase Driver Yielding at Signalized and Unsignalized Crosswalks,” published January 2023.

This brochure accompanies Report 2010-31; Predicting the Occurrence of Bumps in Overlays.

As a supplement to the rural mailboxes brochure, the following information was provided by the City of Eagan as an example to provide guidance for urban mailbox installation. The city developed the following documents to educate the city council and residents on the need for proper mailbox installation: - Standard Plate – Mail and Paper box installation guidelines - Memo to Mayor and City Councilmembers – Summary of need to standardize mailboxes to reduce damage due to winter maintenance. - Resident notice flyer – sent to residents with non-complying mailboxes notifying them of the need to modify their mailbox to avoid damage due to winter maintenance.

This handout was created to accompany Report 2010-Mail.

In this report, we analyze the feasibility of a northern Minnesota solar project and accompanying Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (VPPA) between the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the Red Lake Nation. We analyze three sets of benefits for MnDOT: government-to-government relations, environmental, and economic. In government-to-government relations, we find great potential for the VPPA to further a first-of-its-kind Tribal energy project and Tribal sovereignty. We also summarize lessons from other governmental entities in pursuing VPPAs. For environmental benefits, we find the array will avoid between 48,000 and 89,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent gases, resulting in a monetized environmental value of between $1 million and $9.4 million in avoided emissions-related damages. Finally, for economic benefits while we find the array has a net present value (NPV) between a negative $5.5 million and negative $16.5 million to MnDOT, we identify several project adjustments that could increase the value to more than a positive $3 million in NPV. In conclusion, we recommend MnDOT form a “strike team” to develop the project further, communicate the project clearly, and consult with outside experts on further project opportunities.

This Technical Summary pertains to Report 2023-12, “Assessing a Solar Project and a Virtual Power Purchase Agreement Between the Red Lake Nation and the Minnesota Department of Transportation,” published March 2023

This presentation was created to accompany Report 2016-34A, System Preservation Guide: A Planning Process for Local Government Management of Transportation Networks, published in 2016.

Measuring equity in transportation is vitally important to ensure that the transportation network serves the entire community without introducing barriers to access. However, not all methods for assessing transportation equity produce the same results or are appropriate for all scenarios—the analysis methods used should be selected to produce the highest likelihood of determining the most equitable outcomes. This research project synthesizes previous research investigating equity assessments by MnDOT, academia, and industry and leverages these findings in concert with directly collected community experience and staff expertise to achieve the following objectives: (1) establish a detailed understanding of current challenges and needs related to equity assessment in Minnesota; (2) identify or develop assessment methods and equity-focused strategic actions that will improve the likelihood that transportation equity in Minnesota is assessed in a manner that achieves context-sensitive outcomes representative of the communities served; and (3) facilitate the adoption of identified or developed equity assessment methods and complementary strategic actions, including information detailing appropriate use cases, data requirements, and considerations through a bespoke training program.

This study investigates the perceived safety risks and barriers that might prevent transit and shared mobility services from attracting post-COVID riders in Greater Minnesota. It includes an online survey of Greater Minnesota residents to understand their COVID-related safety concerns and their preferences and perceptions toward existing and potential safety protocols. The survey results show that, during the post-COVID era, driving alone continues to dominate, but desires to use transit and shared mobility modes remain strong. Lack of access, lack of interest, and lack of available better alternatives jointly affect transit-use behavior. Women, people with COVID concerns, urban residents, online shoppers, and transit users are associated with stronger preferences toward COVID safety measures. People with COVID concerns, online shoppers, and transit users are also associated with preferences toward general transit service improvements. We also find that elderly people, hesitant tech users, and transit-dependent users are unlikely to be positively affected by trip-planning tools and contactless payment technology. Furthermore, income and car ownership predict future transit use, and younger age is associated with more interest in carpooling. These results help to inform transit and shared mobility providers about what safety and communications strategies will be most effective in bringing users back.

Two projects dealing with field instrumentation of bridges are described in this report. In the first project, a portable, rugged and multi-purpose bridge instrumentation system was developed. This was accomplished by using fourteen removable instruments and a portable data acquisition. The instrumentation included eight reusable strain sensors and six inclinometers, which allowed load distributions, stresses, and displacements to be measured in steel girder bridges. In the second part of the project the portable data acquisition system was used to measure strains near fatigue critical details in steel bridges to determine stress ranges under both controlled and random traffic. For this part of the project conventional strain gauges were also used. Overall this acquisition and modelling system worked quite well for determining strains and deflections of simply supported bridges under static loadings. A new measurement technique for finding deflections, based on slope sensors, was developed and verified. This technique can now be readily used in bridge evaluation. The system should be extended now to various types of bridges including continuous span, concrete girder, and timber bridges.