Conclusion: New Transportation Finance Alternatives for Minnesota and the Upper Midwest

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About the Event

This event will serve as an opportunity to share results from MnDOT's distance-based fee demonstration and to re-energize the transportation finance conversation, highlighting the role road user charges could play in increasing transportation revenue that is more responsive to affordability concerns of Minnesotans.  

The Institute for Urban and Regional Infrastructure Finance (IURIF) at Humphrey School of Public Affairs is hosting the event, which builds on New Transportation Finance Alternatives for Minnesota and the Upper Midwest from June 2025. IURIF has conducted research showing disparities between the condition of local and county roads versus state and federal roads in Minnesota. This event will feature discussion of road conditions and lessons from other states. 

Presenters

Craig Baxter is a senior project manager at CDM Smith leading large-scale, highly complex system development and business operations initiatives in the transportation revenue space including tolling and road usage charging (RUC). He has held senior leadership roles at a RUC technology solutions provider, overseeing high-profile projects nationwide. Craig brings deep expertise on tolling back-office systems and across all technical components of RUC pilots and programs, including mileage collection, transaction processing, account management, payments, customer service, and reporting. He has led RUC platform development for multistate pilots with jurisdiction specific rates and directed a proof of concept for Oregon demonstrating multi-jurisdiction and localized pricing capabilities.

Andrew McLean is a Transportation Policy Specialist at CDM Smith, providing a variety of transportation advisory services to public transportation agencies and private clients. Prior to joining CDM Smith, Andrew served for eight years as a legislator in the Maine House of Representatives, where he chaired the Joint Standing Committee on Transportation. During his time in the Legislature, he also served in leadership positions with NCSL and CSG, working with the nation’s top transportation lawmakers to advance sustainable funding legislation. 

Peter Olson is the Lead Alternative Funding and Financing Analyst in the CFO’s office at MnDOT. In this role he leads MnDOT’s research and implementation of alternative funding, financing, and revenue collection mechanisms such as distance-based fees, as well as collaborating with other offices within MnDOT and other entities across the transportation industry on related efforts. Peter has been with MnDOT for ten years, first as a Star of the North Fellow, then as a planner in the Performance, Risk, and Investment Analysis Unit of OTSM, and most recently as the Safeguarding MnDOT Coordinator. He has a Masters of Public Administration from the University of South Dakota.

Jeff Cranson joined the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) in 2011 and directs the Bureau of Public Affairs, which oversees government relations, communications, and policy. He leads a team explaining all things mobility to the media, legislature, and public. Under his direction, MDOT created an award-winning campaign to educate the public about the perils of under-investment in infrastructure, which has included work on legislation for a 2022 tolling study and, more recently, legislation to enable a Road User Charge (RUC) study and pilot. On the communications side, Jeff placed special emphasis on growing the department's social media presence, explaining multi-modal needs, and MDOT’s role in the development of connected and automated vehicles and a pioneering pilot of inductive charging technology for electric vehicles. He also hosts a weekly podcast for the department. Before joining MDOT, Jeff was a columnist and deputy metro editor at the Grand Rapids Press/Mlive, coordinating political, government, health, environmental and transportation coverage, where he launched the Talking Michigan Politics podcast in 2008. 

Peter Wajda is Via's project manager for MnRUC. As a principal on Via’s Strategies team, he provides mobility planning and consulting services to a range of public-sector clients. Peter's work helps agencies and cities combine the best of emerging technologies, ranging from autonomous vehicles to innovative payment methods, with proven solutions. His prior transportation finance experience includes leading Michigan's 2024-2025 RUC study and modeling the performance of future high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes. Prior to joining Via, Peter worked as a transportation engineer at Kimley-Horn. He holds a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Questions?

Please contact Laura Noble at [email protected].