The report provides measures of various aspects of Minnesota’s transportation system, indicating areas where the system is working well and areas where it is not meeting performance targets.
“Mn/DOT uses this data to make transportation investment decisions,” said Transportation Commissioner Tom Sorel. “Performance data helps ensure we are good stewards of the taxpayer’s dollar and that the investments we make meet the current and future needs of the traveling public.”
Mn/DOT continues to build on its strengths, and is meeting its goals for clearing snow and ice from roads, maintaining safe bridge conditions, providing good pavement quality on major highways and providing statewide travel connections.
State highway pavement condition improved in 2010 due to increased funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. To further improve pavement condition, Mn/DOT initiated in spring 2011 the Better Roads for a Better Minnesota initiative, which will improve more than 700 miles of poor highway pavements during the next four years.
“The program is an important example of Mn/DOT’s response to system performance trends,” Sorel said.
Mn/DOT’s measures reflect what Minnesotans have said they expect from their transportation system and are similar to those used by other states and the U.S. DOT. The report uses 22 performance measures to track progress on nine policy goals:
•Traveler safety;
•Infrastructure preservation;
•Maintenance;
•National and global connections;
•Statewide connections;
•Twin Cities mobility;
•Greater Minnesota metropolitan and regional mobility;
•Community development and transportation; and
•Energy and the environment.
Mn/DOT issued the state’s first transportation performance report in 2008 and has been recognized nationally for excellent transportation performance reporting. The 2010 Minnesota Transportation Report is available online at www.mndot.gov/measures/ .