ITS Deployment and Improvements in Smaller Cities: Minnesota Case Studies

Minnesota is widely known for not only its great lakes, but also for its metropolitan area including the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. With combined populations of more than 2 million residents, much focus is given to the rising congestion in these areas and transportation management. Yet there is another significant transportation story in Minnesota – that of the needs of the rural areas and smaller urban areas. Minnesota has a great deal of weather-related traffic issues, special events throughout the state, seasonal tourism, and challenges affecting roadways without traditional communications or power infrastructure. Minnesota has addressed these issues through a concept known as Transportation Operations and Communications Centers, or TOCCs, using co-location of state patrol and DOT personnel and a variety of technologies to manage traffic outside of the major metropolitan area of the Twin Cities. There are currently 9 TOCCs located in smaller Minnesotan cities. Five of these TOCCs have been upgraded to include a variety of costeffective intelligent transportation system technologies which facilitate traffic challenges. The TOCCs also complement the Twin Cities Regional Transportation Operations Center (RTMC), which includes several workstations accessing TOCC and related transportation information from the corresponding cities. This paper will focus on several of these cities and surrounding rural areas including Duluth, St. Cloud, and Rochester Minnesota. It will look at the transportation tools used to effectively manage unique challenges. This paper will also discuss the foundational public-private partnership model, recent operations and system enhancements, related ITS planning for additional implementations, linkage with the Twin Cities transportation operations, and lessons learned.