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MINNESOTA: FAST Miles in the Twin Cities

The VPP program funded outreach efforts in FY1999, FY2002 and FY2004. This led to the implementation of I-394 MnPASS HOT lanes in May 2005. The HOT lanes are currently operating successfully. MnDOT was awarded $60,000 in FY 2006 to explore the political feasibility of an innovative pricing concept called "FAST Miles". Under the FAST Miles concept, each motorist is provided a number of dollar credits per month, analogous to the "free minutes" given by cell phone providers. The motorist, at his or her discretion, can apply those credits to use priced lanes. Once credits are exhausted, the motorist is charged the going rate to use the priced lanes, analogous to the process when a cell phone user consumes more than his or her allocated "free" minutes. FAST Miles promotes carpooling by allowing motorists to "pool" their credits. For instance, a four-person car pool has at its disposal four times the "free" miles of a single occupancy vehicle.

Project Completed June 2010

A high level concept of operations was developed as a tool to present the FAST Miles concept to six focus groups which were held in May of 2009. This concept involves the potential conversion of general purpose lanes to Flexible-Efficient-Express (FEE) lanes (where all users on the lane pay except transit) during peak periods. Dynamic shoulder lanes are provided to avoid the take-away argument, and the toll credits are introduced to address equity issues. The purpose of the focus groups was to test the public acceptability of several concepts with transportation users and stakeholders. The make-up of the focus groups included rush hour commuters, commuters who are not now taking advantage of MnPASS HOT lanes, occasional or frequent transit riders, non- peak hour drivers, employers and the business community.

In the focus groups, a series of concepts were graphically presented with a description of operating rules and participants were asked about their likes and dislikes of the concepts. A draft final report has now been prepared that summarizes the focus group findings. These findings were presented at a roundtable on transportation financing to get high level reaction from transportation professionals. A paper titled "User Perceptions of FEE Lane Concepts in Minnesota" was submitted and presented at the 2010 TRB Annual Meeting. The final report is now complete is available on MnDOT's Research Web site.

For More Information Contact

Kenneth R. Buckeye
Program Manager Value Pricing
Phone: (651) 366-3737
E-mail: kenneth.buckeye@dot.state.mn.us


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