Transportation Operations and Mobility
Our people
Programs and divisions
Mission and goals
The Transportation Operations and Mobility Division supports traffic control devices (800 signals, 100,000 traffic signs, and numerous pavement markings), related traffic management and safety equipment infrastructure, and 48,000 streetlights (including 20,000 city metal pole lights and 28,000 Xcel wood pole lights). On-street and off-street parking, which includes a portfolio of city- and state-owned and leased parking ramps and parking lots, is included in this program. This Division manages right-of-way for the City’s roads, sidewalks, and alleys, and new mobility services such as shared bike/scooter programs and mobility hubs.
Services provided
Services include maintenance and repair of traffic control devices and streetlights, including electrical costs for traffic signals and all streetlights. Pavement markings such as crosswalks, bike lane markings, and other lane markings are maintained by this Division. The City operates and maintains 15 parking ramps and eight parking lots within the off-street parking system and the Minneapolis impound lot. Right-of-way and curbside management are accomplished through on-street parking, EV charging networks, curbside zone permitting, encroachment permits, utility connections, and license agreements for independent mobility companies.
Race equity impacts
Procurement: Staff are devoting more time to breaking large projects into multiple smaller bids in order to create opportunities for smaller, BIPOC vendors to compete for city contracts. It can be difficult to diversify vendors because some projects have specific supply requirements that can only be met by a select handful of vendors that provide services and materials nationally. Identifying prospective BIPOC-owned businesses typically requires additional staff time to research and engage vendors. Given the specialized nature of the Department’s work, it is common for there to not be any BIPOC-owned businesses interested in bidding on work. Staff have embraced the Target Market program as a tool to diversify vendors. However, while the TM vendors are small and geographically closer to the City, they are not necessarily women or people of color. Regardless of these challenges, staff will make an effort to work with BIPOC vendors when possible and practical.
Hiring and retention: Existing pipelines for recruitment and hiring lead to a predominantly white, male workforce. Public Works has devoted resources to diversify staff. While the Department has made inroads, there is much work to be done, especially in reaching younger people who have not yet decided on a career path. Also, new hires are most vulnerable to layoffs during times of financial hardship such as the pandemic. Union negotiated contracts drive this layoff process and are out of staff control.
Collaborative projects: City staff that work on transportation projects often work with other agencies depending on how roadways are classified: City, County, State. Staff continues to attempt to prioritize racial equity in project collaborations where these other agencies are leaders or co-leaders.
Equity lens: The Division will continue implementing capital projects planned by the TPP Division that incorporate a racial equity lens.
Staff time devoted to proactive changes:
- Review and revise ordinances to ensure they do not negatively impact low-income, BIPOC communities.
- Analyze the current assessments methodology using a racial equity lens and possibly revise. Collect feedback by listening to communities.
- Analyze data proactively instead of relying upon a complaint-based system to prioritize work. Staff acknowledge this data is skewed because that not all communities complain to the City. They need additional staff time to proactively analyze instead of waiting for complaints. Continued investment in programs like Vision Zero to source and analyze data can help with proactive assessment. Invest in streets and intersections where data shows higher impact to BIPOC communities.
- Allow for nimble traffic safety installations at a lower cost in addition to long-term capital investments in the system.
Public Works is committed to investing time and resources to build the capacity needed to advance racial equity in the City. All Public Works budget programs contribute to these department-wide efforts:
- Provide ongoing support to the Public Works Equity Team that was established in February 2021 to inform executive leadership. The group will provide a diversity of thought and consideration on department-wide policies and initiatives internal to Public Works and in our work with the community.
- Dedicate staff to internal racial equity work on outreach, recruitment, and retention of a diverse workforce.
- Continue to host open forums to share feedback, issues, and ideas that promote freedom of expression for all Public Works employees in a secure manner that protects privacy and does not follow a hierarchy.
- Invest in training at all levels of the organization, including but not limited to Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), cultural agility, and how to have difficult conversations that include historical perspectives.
- Designate time for all staff to participate in department-hosted “Brave Space Conversations” that are facilitated by an independent moderator so employees can express themselves and engage in difficult conversations.
- Expand the outreach and recruitment team, whose members will spend work time with students of all ages in order to build an employment pipeline for hiring members from BIPOC communities.
- We will hold ourselves accountable for meeting or exceeding the goals of the City in Strategic Racial Equity Action Plan regarding Workforce Diversity and Diverse Spending.
2023 Council Adopted change items
Transportation Operations and Mobility - Enhanced Streetlight, Sign, and Right of Way Maintenance
Program: Transportation Operations and Mobility
Fund: General Fund
FTE: 0
Proposal detail and background
The Council approves $1,450,000 in ongoing funding to restore Traffic Operations and Mobility service levels from the 2021 reduction and manage the inflation-based cost increases of sign, signal, and lighting materials. This includes materials needed to restore pole painting and improve service response for sign repair, street light repair, signal repair, bollard replacement, and street markings. Funding to restore previously unbudgeted positions related to this item is also included in the budget.
Description of the change
The approved funding allows Traffic Operations and Mobility to improve general service response times and response to 311 service requests. It provides for the materials needed to do maintenance and repair of street light wrecks; underground repair on parkways; sign, signal and pole repair; pole painting; and striping and durable markings. Finally, this funding allows the Division to manage inflation-based cost increases of street light material (up 31%), signals (up 14%), and sign material (up 14%). Signal repairs are also more expensive due to the added accessible pedestrian signal component on poles as part of our ADA plan.
Equity impacts and results
The 2021 budget reductions affected general citywide service levels without specific impacts to particular neighborhoods or areas. This funding restores more of those services. Public Works is committed to advancing the City’s Racial Equity Action Plan within these funding levels and will monitor service level impacts in 2023 to ensure they are consistent with the City’s equity goals.
Performance metrics
Goal: All streetlight infrastructure is operational and in safe condition.
Objective: Audit the streetlight system every five years to ensure needed repairs and replacements can be made. Currently, Public Works audits the streetlight and traffic signal system every five years and documents asset conditions with asset management software. From this audit, maintenance and replacement work is identified and scheduled. The goal is to complete the identified maintenance and repairs from each audit before the next five-year audit occurs.
Metric: % of identified repairs and replacements made each year (five-year cycle).
Transportation Operations and Mobility - End of Life Street Light Improvements
Program: Transportation Operations and Mobility
Fund: Capital Fund
FTE: 0
Proposal detail and background
The Council approves $4,500,000 in capital funding in each of 2023 and 2024 to repair and/or replace pedestrian-level street light systems at the end of their service life.
Description of the change
Then approved funding will provide for repair and/or replacement of pedestrian-level street light systems at the end of their service life, such as those in Stevens Square, Loring Park, Como, University of Minnesota area, etc. This requires updates to the Council-adopted street light policy and will include a conversation about the assessment policy for this work.
Equity impacts and results
- Residents of the Stevens Square-Loring Heights neighborhood are 35% people of color and 21% have incomes below the poverty line. This neighborhood is home to pedestrian priority network streets on Franklin Avenue, 3rd Avenue, Nicollet Avenue, 1st Avenue, and LaSalle Avenue, as well as multiple transit lines. The neighborhood is an important connector between some of the City’s most diverse neighborhoods and the job and recreation center of downtown Minneapolis.
- Residents of the Como neighborhood are 35.2% people of color and 43.7% have incomes below the poverty line. The neighborhood is 77.3% renter-occupied.
- Residents of the Near North neighborhood are 78.1% people of color and 29.8% have incomes below the poverty line.
- Residents of the Marcy Holmes neighborhood are 25.6% people of color and 46.7% have incomes below the poverty line. The neighborhood is 86.5% renter-occupied.
Performance metrics
Goal: All streetlight infrastructure is operational and in safe condition.
Objective: Audit the streetlight system every five years to ensure needed repairs and replacements can be made. Public Works currently audits the streetlight and traffic signal system every five years and documents asset conditions with asset management software. From this audit, maintenance and replacement work is identified and scheduled. The goal is to complete the identified maintenance and repairs from each audit before the next five-year audit occurs.
Metric: % of identified repairs and replacements made each year (five-year cycle).
Transportation Operations and Mobility - Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
Program: Transportation Operations and Mobility
Fund: General Fund
FTE: 0
Proposal detail and background
The Council approves $200,000 in one-time funding in 2023 to build upon recent work to develop a citywide Electric Vehicle (EV) Plan parallel to the statewide MnDOT EV Charging Plan and other city and regional plans. This effort includes future planning, data analysis, and public engagement work to support building and expanding our urban EV network.
The Council also approves $500,000 in one-time funding in 2024 for a local match required to access federal funds for a Phase 2 EV Spot Network expansion of 25 more charging stations. Minneapolis and St. Paul are working together with other partners to support public EV charging options. The City and its partners are implementing 70 curbside charging stations (EV Spot Network) in a 40 square-mile area in Minneapolis and St. Paul, along with the Evie car share service.
Description of the change
Based on city climate policy, the 2040 Plan, the Transportation Action Plan, and the large amount of new federal funding dedicated to EV charging, the City needs to prepare and document our EV Plan, develop expansion projects to leverage these new federal funds, and determine our operational plans and costs. The approved 2023 funding will provide consultant assistance for project management, research and data analytics, community and private stakeholder engagement, and EV Plan documentation in coordination with CPED, Sustainability, and Public Works. These efforts will begin in 2022 and continue through 2023.
Based on this new EV Plan, the approved 2024 funding will provide for expansion of our EV charging network to 25 more on-street locations. By adding to the 33 current Phase 1 stations, this Phase 2 project will expand the system by 75% across our cultural corridors, mobility hubs, and ACP50 areas. We estimate receiving $2.5M to $3.0M in federal funding for this work after contributing the approved $500,000 local match.
Equity impacts and results
This funding is expected to reduce racial disparities by expanding our current on-street EV charging network to cover more cultural corridors, mobility hubs, and ACP50 areas, where there are less likely to be private sector off-street charging facilities. This is supported by data-driven evidence provided by the Met Council and Census, which Public Works has used to advance other programs and projects. We have and will continue to involve internal and external stakeholders in this work, including communities of color and lower-income residents. Specifically, we have already been awarded a DOE LEAP grant with Hennepin County focused on transportation electrification education and engagement in our Green Zones starting in 2022-2023.
This work aligns with SREAP goals to expand the number of EV charging stations. By expanding access to more sustainable transportation modes, mobility hubs can address inequities in our communities by improving access to jobs, human services, and other important locations that build a sense of community. Mobility hubs aim to increase access to mobility options and multimodal trips in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which disproportionally impact economically disadvantaged areas. Residents of these areas are also have lower car ownership levels. Mobility hubs aim to provide a safety community environment where people can learn to use EV charging stations, scooters, bikes, and e-bikes; and learn the basics of bike parking, transit, and microtransit. Mobility hubs serve as a natural community space that can help residents sign up for low-income pricing programs, interact with new modes, and get comfortable with utilizing new technology and modal options.
Performance metrics
Goal: Provide more high-quality shared mobility vehicle options to help replace single occupancy vehicle trips.
Objective: Connect to more sustainable transportation options.
Metric:
- Number of new trips generated by each hub.
- Cost of each mobility hub in capital program or pilot program.