Partners
The following organizations are working with each other as well as independently on research and other efforts in community transportation in Minnesota.
Federal Transit Administration
The Federal Transit Administration is one of eleven modal administrations within the U.S. Department of Transportation. It provides financial assistance from the federal government to develop new transit systems and improve, maintain, and operate existing systems. FTA oversees thousands of grants to hundreds of state and local transit providers, primarily through its ten regional offices.
For FTA activities related to community transportation, visit the United We Ride Web site.
Hennepin County
Hennepin County, Minnesota, provides hundreds of services to its more than one million residents in Minneapolis and 45 surrounding cities. The mission of its Housing, Community Works, and Transit Department is to help create healthy and vital communities throughout Hennepin County. Among other efforts, the department plans for a multimodal transportation system offering choices about movement to the county's residents and reinforcing efficient land use.
Center for Transportation Studies
The Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) at the University of Minnesota addresses the diverse and complex issues in the field of transportation through multidisciplinary research, education, and outreach programs. To accomplish this, the center serves as a resource and facilitator, helping University researchers develop new knowledge about transportation and then helping share that knowledge with practitioners and policymakers. Ultimately, this knowledge improves transportation decision making—meaning better and safer transportation systems, smarter investments, and a higher quality of life for Minnesota and the nation.
Minnesota Department of Transportation Office of Transit
The Minnesota Department of Transportation Office of Transit helps people and communities meet their mobility needs by supporting safe, responsive, efficient, and environmentally sound transit services. This is accomplished by leading the development and implementation of transit policy within a multimodal network; managing Mn/DOT's transit investment; advancing transit programs responsive to the mobility needs of Minnesotans; directing statewide transit planning coordination activities and the development of technologies; and focusing on customer needs through public involvement in information gathering and decision making.
Minnesota Department of Human Services
The Minnesota Department of Human Services helps people meet their basic needs by providing or administering health care coverage, economic assistance, and a variety of services for children, people with disabilities, and older Minnesotans. DHS programs include Medical Assistance, General Assistance Medical Care, MinnesotaCare, Minnesota Family Investment Program, General Assistance, the Prescription Drug Program, child protection, child welfare services, and services for people who are mentally ill, chemically dependent, or have physical or developmental disabilities.
Metropolitan Council
The Metropolitan Council Transportation Division plans, coordinates, and administers a cost-effective system of transit services responsive to the needs of residents of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Its purpose includes providing a basic level of mobility for all people in the metropolitan area; arranging for the provision of transit and paratransit services to meet the needs of the population; and cooperating with private and public transit providers to ensure the most efficient and coordinated use of existing and future transit resources. Among other efforts, it operates Metro Mobility—providing door-through-door service for those who cannot use regular transit due to disability—and Dial-A-Ride Service, a neighborhood-based service that riders reserve in advance.
Greater Twin Cities United Way
Greater Twin Cities United Way brings together caring people to help others, to address tough local issues, and to create a better place for all to live. The agency works to ensure people have the education, jobs, shelter, food, and health they need to be successful. The United Way supports a number of programs that help provide mobility to transportation-disadvantaged populations.
Dakota Area Resources and Transportation Services
Dakota Area Resources and Transportation Services (DARTS) provides professionally coordinated home-help services and transportation for Dakota County, Minn., seniors and their families and can help them find additional senior services throughout the Minneapolis/St. Paul area.
State and Local Policy Program
The State and Local Policy Program has been active in research and outreach since 1991 as part of the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. Its work focuses primarily in the areas of transportation technology and policy, as well as economic development and knowledge clusters. Included in its work is research on community transportation.