For many small communities across rural America, limited transportation options create barriers to essential services and can affect quality of life.
A project from the Empowering Small Minnesota Communities (ESMC) program examined these challenges in east central Minnesota and identified strategies to improve access to essential services and regional mobility. The program is a community-centered collaboration with the University of Minnesota that helps small communities prepare for and benefit from federal, state, and local investments.
The East Central Regional Development Commission (ECRDC) in Mora and Fernbrook Family Center (formerly Lighthouse Child & Family Services) in Princeton partnered with the University to quantify the transit gaps their community faces.
Led by UMN researchers Frank Douma and Alireza Khani, both CTS scholars, the project addressed transportation needs in Mille Lacs and Kanabec Counties as well as the broader five-county east central region. Douma is the director of state and local policy and outreach at the Institute for Urban and Regional Infrastructure Finance at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and Khani is a professor of civil, environmental, and geo- engineering. An additional team lead, Michael Darger, extension specialist–community economics with UMN Extension, assisted in setting up, facilitating, and analyzing the project’s focus group effort.
The research team combined community feedback with an analysis of existing transit services to identify barriers and opportunities for improvement. Transit services from providers such as Foley-based SchuTran and Kanabec County’s Timber Trails help connect residents to essential destinations, including medical facilities, grocery stores, and local businesses. However, service availability varies across the region. Many transit providers operate within limited service areas and require reservations, which creates challenges for riders who need more flexibility.
SchuTran received positive feedback for its flexible service areas and expanded time frames, but affordability was noted as a challenge for some riders. One participant shared that it would cost $300 per trip to travel roughly 40 miles from Ogilvie to St. Cloud for medical appointments.
Limited evening and weekend service also restricts access for riders who need transportation outside traditional business hours. Participants identified additional gaps in service to larger regional destinations, including the Twin Cities area, where many residents travel for specialized healthcare.
To better understand these challenges, researchers held focus groups with transit riders and providers. Participants identified a need for expanded service hours, improved access to essential destinations, and stronger coordination among transportation providers. Additionally, they suggested creating shared mobility hubs and strategically located pick-up and drop-off locations as ways to improve connections.
Volunteer drivers are also an important part of the region’s transportation network, especially in rural areas where fixed-route service is limited. Participants reported positive experiences with volunteer driver programs and medical transportation services. They valued the flexibility of these programs and the relationships they developed with volunteer drivers. Transportation providers, however, reported challenges recruiting and retaining volunteers because of low mileage reimbursement rates, administrative requirements, and an aging volunteer population.
The project's analysis supported many of the concerns raised during the focus groups. The regional transit network is largely oriented north-south, with fewer east-west connections. The amount of north-south transit travel is nearly double that of east-west travel, leaving communities with limited regional connectivity.
Princeton to Cambridge and Milaca to Mora were identified as priority east-west corridors for future transit investment. The study also recommends exploring service extensions from the Chisago Lakes-Wyoming micropolitan area to Shafer and Taylors Falls as well as from Sandstone and Sturgeon Lake to Moose Lake.
This project reinforces the need for continued collaboration among agencies, and organizations will be key to expanding transportation options and improving access to healthcare, employment, education, and other essential services in east central Minnesota.
Karen Onan, transportation coordinating council planner at the ECRDC, says the UMN researchers’ work on this project gave transit service providers the data necessary to begin addressing the community’s transportation needs.
“It was just great to see what they were able to do with all that information that we would never have been able to do on our own,” Onan says.
Jessica Peterson, associate director for Princeton Day Treatment at Fernbrook Family Center, says there was a strong collaboration among team members and numerous resources to tap into. “University staff also did an excellent job making those personal connections,” she adds.
Since the project report was published in December, private and public agencies and organizations have taken steps to address transportation needs across the region. Mille Lacs County recently created its own transportation committee, and transportation service is now available from Princeton and Milaca to St. Cloud. Jefferson Lines’ Intercity Bus plans to add service stops in Mora and Cambridge along its Duluth-to-Minneapolis route beginning in 2027, which Onan says is a meaningful step toward expanding transportation options in the region. ECRDC continues to advocate for additional east-west connections that would further strengthen access and better serve regional needs.
Initial recommended steps from the project are to increase the number of east-to-west trips, raise awareness for non-medical trips, prioritize collaboration between organizations, and continue to advocate for riders.
“We are actively engaged in meaningful dialogue with Arrowhead, Timber Trails, and Tri-CAP, and it is important that we continue building on that progress,” Onan says. “The need is real, and by working together, we can help turn that momentum into lasting solutions for the people who need them most.”
— Olivia Hanson, CTS associate editor
