Reports

Transit services connect people to jobs and opportunities, fostering vibrant communities and multimodal travel along service corridors. A transit right-of-way (ROW) can help buses bypass congestion and stay on schedule. Many studies have proved that transit ROWs effectively improve service reliability and reduce user costs. However, these studies often focus on one or two service corridors, limiting comprehensive impact assessment. This project addresses this gap by investigating service reliability for all route segments across a transit system. We derived reliability metrics at the route segment level using high-resolution automatic vehicle location (AVL) and automatic passenger count (APC) data collected in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. We then collected and integrated data from various sources via spatial-temporal computing to capture service characteristics, operating environments, traffic conditions, and land-use features along route segments. We applied the Gradient Boosting Model (GBM) to examine nonlinear relationships between these factors and bus travel time reliability. Lastly, we used the trained model to estimate potential improvements in reliability with dedicated ROWs. Through these steps, we worked with members of the Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) to illustrate our methodology and demonstrate its utility for transit agencies. Specifically, the results proved that the ratio of bus lanes and busways was associated with more reliable travel time along route segments. We also found that route segments along a few service corridors with unreliable services can greatly benefit from implementing a dedicated ROW.

Pedestrian assets, particularly sidewalks, are highly susceptible to aging, adverse weather conditions, and suboptimal construction practices, often leading to rapid deterioration. This deterioration is often ignored due to the widespread misconception that pedestrian assets are low risk, resulting in many deteriorated sidewalks being left untreated or inadequately maintained. A comprehensive deterioration modeling framework that integrates advanced spatial and temporal data sources, advanced data analytics, and predictive modeling would enable infrastructure managers to predict the aging process of pedestrian assets and ultimately prioritize investments, plan maintenance schedules, and allocate budgets efficiently. This project developed assessment frameworks and deterioration models for pedestrian assets that support reliable and informed decision-making regarding funding needs and asset design and maintenance. Various data sources and modeling and analysis procedures were explored, and a pedestrian asset assessment methodology was developed and evaluated. The research demonstrated a scalable and cost-effective approach to assessing sidewalk conditions, providing actionable insights for proactive maintenance. The quantifiable benefits, including construction savings, improved life-cycle costs, reduced risk, and safety enhancements, position this methodology as a valuable tool for sustainable infrastructure management.

This research summary is part of the final deliverable for Report 2024-34, "Pavement Marking Patterns and Widths – Human Factor Study," published in March 2025.

Various broken lane line configurations, marking length and gap between markings, exist across the United States. The normal width of pavement markings and the use of contrast markings with broken lane lines also varies across the country. This project explored how various pavement marking configurations impact observations from drivers during an open road human factors evaluation. The participants drove an instrumented vehicle through test areas with various pavement marking configurations. Participants provided feedback on marking visibility and their preference toward the pavement marking pattern. Participant observations took place during the day and at night. Researchers also conducted a preliminary investigation into the same marking test areas using an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS). The study found that drivers preferred wider broken lane line markings, and broken lane line markings with more marking and less gap than current MnDOT practice. No specific preferences were found for contrast markings. The researchers recommend that MnDOT adopt the 12.5-foot to 37.5-foot broken lane line pavement marking pattern as it is preferred by road users and maintains the current MnDOT 50-foot cycle length. In addition, to skip line and gap dimensions, the research team also recommends MnDOT adopt 6-inch-wide pavement markings as the research results show that not only are 6-inch-wide pavement markings preferred over 4-inch-wide pavement markings by road users, they also offer a safety benefit.

This report fulfills the requirements laid out in Sec. 160.2325 MN Statutes. The goal of the Highways for Habitat Program is to enhance Minnesota roadsides with vegetative buffers and pollinator and other wildlife habitat. This is the first year of this report. More information is available on MnDOT’s Integrated Roadside Vegetation Management webpage.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is pleased to provide this assessment report as required by Minn. Session Law Ch. 68, sec. 112. The purpose of the study was to conduct an analysis and evaluation of options for development of transit and rail service improvements in the corridor between the Minnesota Cities of St. Paul, Minneapolis, Coon Rapids, St. Cloud and Moorhead, and Fargo, North Dakota.

This report was completed to comply with Minn. Stat. 174.56. (a)The commissioner of transportation shall submit a report by December 15 of each year on (1) the status ofmajor highway projects completed during the previous two years or under construction or planned during theyear of the report and for the ensuing 15 years, and (2) trunk highway fund expenditures, and (3) efficienciesachieved during the previous two fiscal years. (b)For purposes of this section, a "major highway project" is a highway project that has a total cost for all segments that the commissioner estimates at the time of the report to be at least (1) $15,000,000 in the metropolitan highway construction district, or (2) $5,000,000 in any nonmetropolitan highway construction district.

This research summary is part of the final deliverable for Report 2024-27, "Assessment of Travel-Time Reliability and Operational Resilience of Metro Freeway Corridors," published December 2024.

This study estimated and analyzed the travel-time reliability (TTR) and traffic-flow measures of effectiveness (MOE) for 74 directional corridors in the metro freeway network in Twin Cities, Minnesota, from January 2018 to December 2023, for both morning and afternoon peak periods. The network-wide trends for both TTR and MOE indicate that the traffic flows in the Twin Cities freeway network have not reached the pre-pandemic level as of December 2023. The TTR and MOE estimation results were applied to identify a set of the most vulnerable routes in the current network. Further, the preliminary resilience model, developed in the previous phase, was enhanced and applied to determine the operational resilience of 74 directional corridors in the network and a set of the low-resilient routes were identified. The effects of the route-wide geometric configuration on TTR, MOE and operational resilience on individual corridors were also analyzed. The results from this research could provide the basis for geometric and operational improvements of the metro freeway corridors.

This Research Summary is part of the final deliverable for Report 2024-28, "Bridge Pile Repair Using Underwater Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic (FRP) Jacket and Steel Reinforced Grout, published in February 2025.