Delivering Transportation Solutions for a Changing World: 2015 Impacts Report

Performance Measures: Foster Stakeholder and Public Engagement

CTS annually gathers performance measures data to quantify our impacts in effecting changes that improve transportation. Below, key measures from FY25 showcase our work related to one of CTS's three Areas of Excellence: Foster Stakeholder and Public Engagement.

Outreach and Engagement Services Funding

CTS secured funding for additional projects in FY25 and saw an increase in funding for several ongoing programs. This included planning and coordination efforts for the Modeling and Mobility Conference and the Freight Network Optimization Tool. Additional funding was provided to support the Governor’s Advisory Council on CAV, Empowering Small Minnesota Communities program, and the Journal of Transportation and Land Use. We expect similar funding levels in FY26 as the Mobility, Access, and Transportation Insecurity program anticipates significant new funds for additional programming and several contracts will renew for work on the Minnesota Shared Mobility Collaborative and Advisory Council on Traffic Safety.

FY25 Analysis

FY25 was another strong year for stakeholder and engagement efforts. Although the number of events hosted by CTS dropped in FY25, the total number of attendees at CTS events grew by more than 13 percent. In addition—and in alignment with the CTS Strategic Plan—staff have made a concerted effort to increase engagement activities with numerous stakeholders in ongoing cross-sector efforts, including the Master of Urban and Regional Planning Minnesota Graduate Planning Co-Op Program, the Minnesota E-Bike Policy Summit, and the Data Science Initiative.

In FY25, we also continued our emphasis on growing digital engagement with a broad audience. We made a significant effort to expand the CTS LinkedIn audience, which resulted in a 40 percent increase in followers. The overall audience for CTS communications channels grew 5 percent while impressions grew 17 percent. FY25 saw the largest external media coverage of CTS and its programs in the Center’s history, with growth of nearly 184 percent over FY24. It is likely that these additional communications efforts were a factor in the increase in event attendance in FY25.

FY26 Outlook

Several efforts are underway to strengthen CTS relationships with legislators, including participation on advisory councils and involvement in legislatively supported research studies. This will help increase visibility and contribute to growth in the outreach and engagement services function, both internally and externally. Renewed efforts in workforce development and student engagement are also underway. As the number of stakeholder groups CTS convenes has continued to drop off in recent years, the Center will continue its targeted effort to develop partnerships and programming with new stakeholders. In addition, CTS will build on its communication successes by dedicating additional funds to website enhancements, continuing to invest in social media advertising, and conducting ongoing evaluations of email and print communications.

Featured Measures

FY25 saw the highest amount of news media coverage of CTS and its programs in the Center’s history. Coverage of the new Mobility, Access, and Transportation Insecurity and Empowering Small Minnesota Communities programs account for much of this growth. CTS also saw an increase in the number of stories promoted by the University's Marketing Communications group this year.

CTS maintained its event participant growth from FY24 with a slight increase, despite hosting approximately the same number of events. The CTS Research Conference, CTS research seminars, and the CTS Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony all saw significant jumps in their year-over-year attendance. A coordinated communications approach and wider marketing reach was likely a large factor in this sustained audience expansion.