Draft Drop: the Minneapolis Transportation Action Plan

Miguel Otárola reports on the newly released draft of the Minneapolis Transportation Action Plan, a ten-year action plan to guide the future planning, design, and implementation of transportation projects in the city.

The guiding document, presented to the City Council’s transportation and public works committee, seeks to make other forms of transportation more accessible and appealing than driving. By doing so, city officials hope to reduce the number of vehicles on the road and lower greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

Moreover:

A 2010 travel behavior study by the Metropolitan Council showed 68% of trips in the city were taken by car, a majority of which were by people driving alone. By 2030, transportation officials want to bring that down to 40%, according to the plan.

The draft of the plan clocks in at at 252 pages, and earned initial praise from most members of the City Council's Transportation and Public Works Committee. Councilmember Linea Palmisano, also a committee member, expressed skepticism that the plan could attain its ambitious goals.

As reported previously by Otárola, the transportation plan is intended to further the transportation goals set in the city's groundbreaking Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan.