Principal Investigator(s):
Yingling Fan, Professor, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
Co-Investigators:
-
Frank Douma, Director, State & Local Policy, Humphrey School of Public Affairs
-
Chen-Fu Liao, Former Researcher, Mechanical Engineering
-
Julian Wolfson, Associate Professor, School of Public Health
Project summary:
The Parking FlexPass at ABC Ramps project is an innovative way to leverage existing transportation infrastructure and systems to address our region's mobility challenges and reduce single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) travel to downtown Minneapolis. The project aims to build a program with broad organizational support that allows ABC Ramps parking contract holders to have more commute mode flexibility. Currently, although commuters have expressed a strong desire to have more flexibility--to drive some days and use transit other days--many employers do not offer any transportation benefit products that give them this flexibility. Transportation benefit packages tend to offer benefits for either parking or transit, not both. This project will create a product that employers can include in their benefits packages that allows commuters to have a guaranteed parking space on days they need to drive and use transit on other days. The product could provide other benefits such as access to car share, bike share, carpooling, and more. This project is a result of study findings from the ABC Ramps Transportation Options Program Plan. The project will greatly benefit commuters by offering more commute mode flexibility and will significantly reduce peak-hour traffic congestion for downtown Minneapolis commuters.