Transit for Livable Communities Supports Recent $133 Million Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA)

September 4, 2007. Minneapolis (and six southern suburbs) are one of five cities nationwide to recieve an Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) grant. The region will get $133.3 million, mostly for installing high-occupancy toll lanes and laying the groundwork for bus rapid-transit service along Interstate 35W between Lakeville and downtown Minneapolis. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "The changes will make bus service faster and more reliable, and allow single drivers willing to pay tolls to drive in the car pool/bus lanes, similar to the setup on I-394. The grant will also expedite the reconstruction of Marquette and 2nd Avenues as the primary funnel for bus traffic downtown, while providing real-time transit arrival information."

Increased transit infrastructure and service is central to the project. The following transit improvements will be implemented by September 30, 2009:

• Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along I-35W South and TH-77/Cedar Ave.
• New BRT stations
• New Park-n-Ride lots
• Transit-advantage by-pass ramps
• Double-lane contra-flow bus lanes on Marquette and 2nd Avenues downtown
• Real-time bus, parking and congestion information
• Decreased rush hour bus fares on these corridors

In fact, $91 million of the $133 federal grant is directed to transit elements, but MnDOT will need to provide a 20 percent ($26 million) match to actually receive the grant. The project also depends on upgrading highway shoulders to function as priced lanes (e.g. free for buses and carpools, variable fee for single occupant vehicles).

Transit for Livable Communities' Position

Transit for Livable Communities supports congestion pricing on existing highway lanes. The UPA grant project will be a hybrid of this policy. New lane capacity will be added, but these lanes won't be very large because many buses travel on the shoulder in this corridor. Transit for Livable Communities supports the UPA grant because 1) The majority of UPA funding will fund transit improvements, and 2) Introducing congestion pricing to this corridor (along with future transit upgrades) could remove the need for future corridor expansion.

Just as with the Mn/Pass lanes on I-394, the equity impacts of this project should be closely monitored. TLC also strongly believes that all net revenue from tolling or congestion pricing must be reinvested in the transit system.