Finance

From the Scope of Study section: This report presents the results of the Minnesota Highway User Cost Allocation Study. A cost allocation study provides information on the fairness of highway user taxes and fees with respect to different vehicle classes such as automobiles, buses, and various types of trucks. The degree of fairness, or equity, is determined by comparing the highway-related charges paid by each vehicle class to its fair share of highway-related expenditures (referred to as that class's "cost responsibility"). Based upon these findings, changes in the road financing structure could be proposed if needed to increase equity by bringing user payments more closely in line with cost responsibilities for each vehicle class.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation Research Services Section hosted a peer exchange on August 20-23, 2007 in Bloomington, Minnesota. Representatives from five state DOTs and FHWA-Headquarters joined representatives from Mn/DOT and FHWA-Minnesota to share experiences and best practices in the area of pooled fund financial management. The exchange consisted of presentations, roundtables and active discussions as the group worked to share key information about their involvement in the Transportation Pooled Fund (TPF) program. This report highlights the key observations and action items that came out of the peer exchange discussions, including the next steps for effective implementation of the new FHWA pooled fund procedures.

This Technical Summary pertains to Report 2012-19, “Potential Benefits of Mileage-Based User Fees to the Freight Industry and Industry Concerns,” published August 2012.

This Technical Summary pertains to Report 2014-03, “Value Increase and Value Capture: The Case of TH-610 in Maple Grove, Minnesota,” published January 2014.

This Technical Summary pertains to report 2020-12, Local Contributions to State and Regional Transportation Facilities in Minnesota.

The scope of this Transportation Research Synthesis (TRS) addressed the following: (1) Identify how agencies are communicating the cost of maintaining their roadway infrastructure to their elected officials and the public. (2) Identify what life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) methods and tools are currently being used by local and state agencies. (3) Identify what data elements are needed to conduct a LCCA on roadways and determine which of the data elements are annually submitted to State Aid.

This Transportation Research Synthesis presents the results of a survey distributed to members of the AASHTO Subcommittee on Construction about their DOT's cost participation policies and practices for detours.

To inform possible changes in MnDOT's management of unspent federal metropolitan planning funds, this Transportation Research Synthesis uses a survey of selected state DOTs to gather information about other states' policies and practices in permitting and managing carryover funds, including MPO and DOT actions, and the benefits and drawbacks of these practices.

This State of Practice Transportation Research Synthesis (TRS) examines software programs and processes used by State DOTs to track capital program funding. It also summarizes relevant practices of selected non-DOT entities. This research included surveying State DOTs and compiling results, documenting software programs used by non-DOT agencies, and summarizing four featured State DOT examples as selected by MnDOT.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is in the process of updating its cost participation policy and was interested in learning about other states' cost sharing policies and cooperative programs for consideration in implementing applicable findings into this policy update. This Transportation Research Synthesis includes a review of relevant state laws and policies, as submitted by state transportation agencies. It also identifies elements of effective policies and lessons learned from the development and implementation of these policies. The review resulted in a compilation of survey results and in-depth summaries of five case studies of effective policies.