Though final results of the four-year, six-part Transportation and Regional Growth (TRG) Study examining area land use and transportation dynamics are still forthcoming, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) and the Metropolitan Council have incorporated much of the research into plans spanning the next 30 years or more.

In fact, as a direct result of the study, Mn/DOT and the Met Council have agreed on nine common planning and development principles, which focus on the creation of transportation corridors and centers along those corridors for jobs and housing. Moreover, providing multimodal transportation choices while emphasizing other quality-of-life issues, such as affordability, livability, and opportunity, are also key priorities.

TRG researchers John Adams, Gary Barnes, Lance Neckar, Barbara
Lukermann, Carol Swenson, and Berry Ryan

The study, sponsored by Mn/DOT, the Met Council, and the Minnesota Local Road Research Board, is unique at state and local levels, according to Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) director Robert Johns. Johns introduced a panel composed of six of the study's principal researchers at a workshop May 23 during the annual CTS research conference.
Phoenix-based consultant Ed Ward, responsible for integrating the research into an overarching report due this fall, moderated the researcher panel and a question-and-answer session that followed. First, though, Ward, a specialist in systems thinking, presented an overview of the project.

Ward advocated taking a "30,000-foot perspective" to help make sense of the piles of data generated by the research. With such a complex study, he said, identifying key ideas is a major challenge. "We want to know what the vital few root causes are that generate land use and transportation dynamics," he added.

A fundamental theme throughout the research, Ward explained, is that population follows economic growth. Also, part of what turned up during the study is that the metro-area population is growing faster in the suburbs than in the central cities, there are more cars and drivers traveling more miles, new homes and lots are getting larger, and urbanization is concentrating around regional centers.

As the researchers each presented a synopsis of their findings, Ward developed a master list of root causes influencing regional transportation and land use dynamics and behaviors. Ultimately, sharing such information will contribute to a wide range of public policy decisions and help coordinate actions by various stakeholders, including Mn/DOT and the Met Council.

Gary Barnes, an economist with the State and Local Policy Program at the Humphrey Institute, discussed his research into travel behavior, but also imparted some broader observations about the influence of the economy on transportation and land use. "The economy does not work the same as it used to," he said. In particular, Barnes listed increasing job specialization, product diversity, and wealth as key factors in "generating the city we see today."

Mixing travel, economics, and public policy, applied economics researcher Barry Ryan asserted that current funding mechanisms for our road system aren't keeping up with the true costs, nor are they fair. "There was little evidence that road-tax policy created incentives or disincentives sufficient enough to alter people's housing location decisions because of potential tax impacts," he said. "Essentially, the tax consequences of living in the far suburbs and commuting to work downtown are small."
Noting that the gas tax is the only tax for funding roads that varies with use, Ryan suggested a gas-tax hike makes good economic sense because it more accurately reflects the true cost of travel. Absent a gas-tax increase and other funding-policy improvements, Ryan said, it is likely that property taxes will rise and transportation service will decline.

"One of the principal issues facing the Twin Cities metropolitan area," said landscape architecture professor Lance Neckar, who has studied the Red Rock corridor development, "is a slowly increasing consciousness that how we grow will have [different] spatial dimensions than it had in previous eras." In short, Neckar proposed investing more resources in design and planning to guide development to better serve long-term interests. "Just banking on one-size-fits-all is not a good idea," he said.

Next, Barbara Lukermann, a senior fellow with the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the Humphrey Institute, raised three questions about growth: specifically, where do we invest public money, who decides on land uses, and whose values are we responding to?

Landscape-design researcher Carol Swenson concluded the panel presentations by describing a development model she's been using and stressed the importance of having the tools in place to be able to support the discussions between the levels of government involved in decision-making related to land use and transportation.

Eli Cooper, Randall Halverson

In the second part of the workshop, Eli Cooper, planning and growth director at the Met Council, introduced modeling scenarios developed in association with urban design consultants at Calthorpe Associates for "Blueprint 2030," a plan for growth and development in the Twin Cities. Core objectives of the plan involve offering greater transportation choices linked to development patterns and job; focusing growth along transportation corridors; protecting and preserving natural resources, agricultural lands, and rural communities; and ensuring affordable housing.

"Citizens are looking to the transportation backbone as the location for growth," Cooper said. Part of the modeling process included identification of "opportunity sites," where growth can best occur with guidance.

Finally, Randall Halvorson, a program director with Mn/DOT, presented "Shaping Our Future: 2003 Statewide Transportation Plan." Halvorson spelled out how much of an impact the TRG Study has already had on the Mn/DOT planning process, which has grown especially important in light of the recent statewide budget crunch.

"We are engaged in the most comprehensive planning process the department has ever undertaken," Halvorson said. "If we're going to make any progress, let's all get involved in the debate at the beginning."