Engagement
CTS identifies core issues, brings stakeholders together, and helps put new knowledge to work. We foster a welcoming community that values equity and diversity in people and ideas. And while we serve Minnesota, we broaden our reach through comprehensive communications programs. Highlights from FY25 follow.
Project Showcase
By land, sea, and air: ‘Unpacking Freight’ highlights integrated network for moving our goods
In Minnesota and beyond, a large group of dedicated professionals in industry, government agencies, academia, and private life work hard to keep our freight system functioning. For CTS’s 2025 theme—"Unpacking Freight: From Producers to Front Doors"—we have collaborated with those experts through a series of webinars and events to shed light on how our freight system works, where it might be heading, and what obstacles we need to address as we move into the future.
Initiative provides assistance to small communities across Minnesota
Harnessing expertise from CTS and partners across the U of M, the Empowering Small Minnesota Communities (ESMC) program provides tools, guidance, and partnerships that help communities turn civic visions into reality. Since its launch in early 2024, the U’s ESMC team has assisted 75 communities with populations of fewer than 15,000 residents from Warroad to Welcome and Vergas to Harris. A second round of awards added 13 new projects to the effort in July 2025.
Annual Toward Zero Deaths conference highlights emerging topics in traffic safety
The 2024 Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) conference was among the most popular ever, drawing more than 800 attendees with 40 sessions that covered topics pertinent to traffic safety such as impairment, AI tools, car seats, aging, mental health, tribal community safety, and many more. Now in its 21st year, CTS hosts the annual TZD conference on behalf of its sponsors: the Minnesota Departments of Public Safety, Transportation, and Health. Conference materials are posted online for the benefit of practitioners and the public.
