Results of a study released Wednesday, March 5 by the University of Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) will help frame the debate surrounding transportation and land development in Minnesota and offer guidelines for addressing congestion and sprawl. The findings are contained in a report titled Market Choices and Fair Prices, which is available in PDF and printed formats.

"Minnesota's economy, environment and state competitiveness are at stake when it comes to transportation and development policy," said Robert Johns, CTS director. "We're at a crossroads and this study will help guide policy-makers toward decisions that will benefit all Minnesotans."

The Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Council sponsored the five-year study, "Transportation and Regional Growth," which comprises 16 separate reports designed to offer policy-makers sensible choices to address the state's transportation and land-development issues.

The study is the most comprehensive ever done on transportation and regional growth issues in Minnesota. Its key findings are:

• Minnesota's current metropolitan development patterns and policies have reached their limits and are costing more than people may be willing to pay.
• The single greatest factor contributing to the Twin Cities' current situation is state and regional policy encouraging low-density, sprawling development.
• Neither of the most discussed options – building more roads and traffic lanes, and increasing mass transit – is, by itself, effective and affordable.
• Congestion is not the problem, but a symptom of larger transportation and regional growth issues, including a system that encourages spread-out growth coupled with nearly total dependence on personal vehicles.
• Mass transit has a limited impact on congestion, but it does effectively serve activity-rich destinations – such as downtown areas and the University of Minnesota – regardless of where transit users live.
• Current development patterns have negative environmental impacts, including endangering water resources.
• Minnesota policy-makers need to think of the Twin Cities metro area as comprising 19 to 24 counties, not seven.

The study does not offer silver bullet solutions to the state's transportation challenges. Instead, it offers two options for further debate: "honest pricing" and "more market choices."

Honest pricing lets the market work, leading to better decisions and more efficient use of resources. Honest pricing exposes potential home buyers, commercial developers and automobile owners to the true costs of transportation and land development – most of which are currently hidden in state aids to local governments, local property taxes and motor-vehicle registration taxes.

Gearing policies to accommodate trends already evident in the marketplace is the best way to see faster and more durable results. More market choices means more market-oriented planning and zoning to create destinations that would welcome a mixture of employers, services and amenities. These would be better served by a combination of improved roads, an expanded bus system and carefully implanted commuter and light rail lines.

The Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) at the University of Minnesota is a catalyst for transportation innovation, advancing knowledge through research, education and outreach.