When the Minnesota Legislature and then-Governor Harold Levander created the Metropolitan Council in 1967, they were inspired by the conditions in our region to imagine a better, coordinated way forward. We were given the challenge to consider the long-term future of our communities. To effectively apply that long-term lens, we need to be able to imagine what is possible in the future.
From the pandemic to economic and social challenges, to the ever-growing impacts of climate change – new experiences have broadened the region’s ability to imagine what can happen.
A name for our 2050 regional plan
To capture the power of that imagination, the Met Council is naming the 2050 Regional Development Guide – Imagine 2050: The Region’s Plan for an Equitable and Resilient Future.
Imagine 2050 is grounded in policymaking and initial phases of engagement. Our Met Council members have high expectations that require all of us to be creative, to step outside our comfort zones. That means we must engage our imaginations.
People are ready to go there, to think big-picture and imagine the community we want in the future. Given the distance of looking into the future paired with the possibility of providing something for our children, our grandchildren, and our communities, we can imagine.
Let’s imagine the region of the future.
Ongoing engagement as we develop the plan
Work on the 2050 Regional Development Guide and the accompanying policy and system plans, including the 2050 Transportation Policy Plan, has been ramping up this year. The final product will reflect imaginative solutions for today’s challenges. We will be setting policy and investment direction for the region’s future to guide our work together for years to come.
We anticipate releasing the draft for public comment later in 2024. You can learn more and follow our progress on our website.
Transportation objectives
Working 2050 Transportation Policy Plan objectives are available on our website. These objectives tie transportation investment and planning back to the working 2050 regional goals. These working drafts came out of a collaborative process throughout 2023 with the 2050 TPP Advisory Work Group and Technical Working Group and engagement with regional transportation partners and communities. The Technical Working Group also received a preview of goals content for the 2050 Transportation Policy Plan at their October meeting.
Developing transportation policies and actions
Eight teams of experts from local, regional, and state government, and non-profits have been developing policies and actions for the 2050 Transportation Policy Plan. Throughout late summer and fall, these teams met multiple times to identify policies and actions that provide guidance on regional funding considerations, comprehensive planning and project development, technical assistance, and work program items for further study.
Staff presented the results of their work at three workshops held in early November. These workshops included an open house with all policies and supporting actions displayed in the Met Council Chambers and then two breakout sessions for small group conversations. More than 80 people from partner agencies attended and provided hundreds of comments. In December, the eight teams reviewed the comments from the workshop to make their final recommendations for policies and actions, which will be shared with the Technical Working Group in February.
Review of early plan drafts
The 2050 Transportation Policy Plan passed a major milestone in November. Staff shared the first set of content for early review by the project’s Technical Working Group. The group received drafts of the Travel Demand Management Investment Plan, Bicycle Investment Plan, and Pedestrian Investment Plan, and it heard summary presentations of those plans. Met Council staff received and reviewed over 500 comments on these three documents. In December, the group received overview presentations on the Highway Investment Plan and Finance Chapter and will be reviewing those documents into January. These reviews will continue with additional documents in January, February, and March.
Tie to Regional Solicitation
The Regional Solicitation is one way the Met Council invests federal transportation funding in regional roads, bridges, transit, walking, rolling, and biking infrastructure. Historically, the Transportation Policy Plan provided the base for setting priorities and scoring measures. Studies identified in the plan, like the Intersection Mobility and Safety Study or the Regional Bicycle Transportation Network, are also used in the solicitation’s scoring processes. The Transportation Policy Plan uses the Regional Solicitation’s modal funding ranges to develop revenue assumptions and the expected funding available.
The Met Council also began the 2026 Regional Solicitation Evaluation, which will establish an updated Regional Solicitation approach and process for the next 10 years. Doing this work together with the long-range plan provides an opportunity to align funding more directly with the 2050 policy plan goals, objectives, policies, and actions.
While the plan will provide guidance to the Regional Solicitation evaluation, it will be up to the evaluation team and the Transportation Advisory Board to determine how to implement that guidance. For example, if the long-term plan says prioritize safety in all funding programs, the Regional Solicitation Evaluation could implement that through a new safety application category, creating new or expanding existing safety criteria or scoring measures, or establishing a qualifying requirement that any project submitted must improve safety in some way.
Staff recently presented these connections to the Transportation Advisory Board.
Supporting studies
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The Transportation Needs in Daily Life Study collected stories about how people travel using interviews and small group discussions. This research builds on existing household survey travel data to help inform decisions about regional transportation policies. Staff presented preliminary findings in a storytelling format. Complete results will be posted on the study’s web page.
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Maximum Mode Shift: a Vehicle Miles Traveled Reduction Study estimates how much travel can be shifted away from driving toward less carbon-intensive modes, grounded in the reality of existing land-use patterns and peoples’ real travel needs. This study will help staff understand how the region can give people more freedom of choice in their travel options. Read more about the study and its early outcomes on the study's web page.
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The Regional Travel Demand Management (TDM) Study Action Plan was finalized and posted on the study’s web page. This document will help inform the TDM Investment Plan in the 2050 TPP.
- The 2050 TPP Technical Working Group will continue review of additional draft documents in January, February, and March.
- In February, the Technical Working Group will receive the draft Policies and Actions Chapter for review. Staff will review comments and work with external experts from the Policy Development Teams, as needed, to recommend changes.
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Updated regional forecasts. As directed by state law, the Met Council develops forecasts of when, where, and how much population, household, and job growth the seven-county region and local jurisdictions can expect over a 30-year horizon. Forecasts provide a shared foundation for coordinated, comprehensive planning. Region total forecasts are updated every two years; the major update of local forecasts occurs every ten years. In 2023, we published regional population and jobs forecasts. Preliminary local forecasts will be released in January 2024. We will make additional inputs to the local forecasts through the first half of 2024 and release a second version in the summer. At both stages, we will invite public comment on the forecasts. The local forecasts are expected to be approved by the Met Council in conjunction with Imagine 2050, the regional development guide.
Thank you for your interest in the 2050 Transportation Policy Plan. We encourage you to share this bulletin with others who may also be interested in this work, and encourage them to sign up for email updates.
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