Best Practice Action 12.4
GreenStep City Best Practices: Transportation
Mobility Options No. 12
Increase active transportation and alternatives to single-occupancy car travel.
Best Practice Action Detail
Best Practice Action 4
Promote carpooling, ridesharing, carsharing, and bikesharing.
- Rideshare programs help connect people to travel together to the same or similar destinations. Carsharing is a form of shared vehicle ownership to provide members with vehicles for personal use without the costs and commitment of individual car ownership. (AFDC)
- The Metro Transit Guaranteed Ride Home program helps get alternative transportation (i.e. carpool, bike, walk, transit) users home for FREE in the case of an emergency by taxi, rideshare, carshare, or other transit.
- Ridesharing:
- See, for example, the rideshare service set up at Carleton College in Northfield, MN.
- Smart phone-based "peer-to-peer" ride-sharing networks active in Minnesota include Lyft and Uber.
- Carsharing:
- Evie Community Carshare is an all-electric, free floating carshare service with over 170 vehicles throughout the Twin Cities.
- HourCar is a non-profit carsharing service in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Rochester with fixed sites to pick-up cars.
- Bike/Scooter Sharing:
- Many public-share bike and scooter options like Nice Ride, Lime, Lyft, etc. are available in Minnesota.
- Recent research indicates that people interested in electric bikes and electric scooters tend to use them to replace car trips, not manual bike trips. A city with a municipal utility might want to emulate Austin, Texas, which has a rebate program for e-bikes sponsored through their utility.
- For help in managing new mobility data from electric scooter companies, transportation network companies, and the like, see guidance from The National Association of City Transportation Officials.
- Integrating Bike Share Programs into a Sustainable Transportation System (National League of Cities, 2011) highlights successful bike share programs from Denver, Colo., Washington DC, Minneapolis, and Buffalo, New York.
- The Bike-Share Planning Guide (Institute for Transportation & Development Policy, 2013) focuses on the five top factors that determine whether a bike-share system thrives: station density, bikes per resident, coverage area, quality of bikes, and easy-to-use interfaces for checking out and paying for a bike.
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Develop and/or distribute education materials. |
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Assist in the creation of or promote the existence of a carsharing business or bike/scooter sharing service; develop a public rideboard or partner with a ridesharing online service to create a rideboard/carpool matching service. |
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Facilitate carpooling/ridesharing via an annual challenge campaign; create a park-and-ride lot; utilize zero-emission vehicles like EVs; bike/scooter-sharing in a small city; incorporate payment for both ride/bike-shares and local transit (and connections between the two) on a single smartphone app. |
Who's doing it
Golden Valley -
Date action report first entered:
Date of last report update:
Year action initially completed: 2008
Implementation details:
Golden Valley has two park and ride lots at General Mills Boulevard and Interstate 394 and at Highway 100 and Duluth Street. These lots give access to bus routes and car-pool services.
Outcome measures/metrics/money saved:
Descriptive File:
Descriptive links:
For more information contact:
Jason Zimmerman (City staff) | jzimmerman@goldenvalleymn.gov | (763)-593-8099
Partners: Metro Transit
Moorhead -
Date action report first entered:
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Year action initially completed:
Implementation details:
The City of Moorhead and MATBUS promote commuting to work and school through transit, biking, walking, and carpooling through an annual promotion called the iGoEco Challenge. This promotion is based on the Minnesota State-wide campaign entitled the Commuter Challenge. Residents are encouraged to leave their car at home and take alternative transportation at least once per week. This five-week promotion is held in the spring and weekly prize drawings are held for those who complete the challenge. Area businesses provide the prizes and encourage their employees to participate. The promotion was first launched in 2011 and nearly 400 people participate each year.
Outcome measures/metrics/money saved:
Descriptive File:
Descriptive links:
For more information contact:
Dan Mahli (City staff) | dan.mahli@cityofmoorhead.com | 218-299-5314
Partners:
Coon Rapids -
Date action report first entered:
Date of last report update:
Year action initially completed: 2021
Implementation details:
In 2020, Coon Rapids' City Recreation Manager purchased bicycles to be housed at the Civic Center and made available for seniors or staff to check out and use on the trail system. Special event transportation options are advertised on the website such as for holiday and sporting events. The Senior Center also offers free transportation to the center and provides seniors transportation carpooling to various planned outings.
Outcome measures/metrics/money saved:
Descriptive File:
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For more information contact:
Colleen Sinclair (City staff) | csinclair@coonrapidsmn.gov | 763-767-6485
Partners:
Hopkins -
Date action report first entered:
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Implementation details:
Hopkins currently has a park and ride lot at the Hopkins Transit Center located on Excelsior Blvd. This lot gives access to bus routes and car-pool services. The City also takes part in the Minnesota Rideshare carpooling program offered through Metro Transit.
Outcome measures/metrics/money saved:
Currently routes 12, 615, 664, 664, 668, and 670 run to and from downtown Minneapolis to Hopkins.
Descriptive File:
Descriptive links: http://www.hopkinsmn.com/development/plan/pdf/08-transportation.pdf; http://www.metrotransit.org/rideshare-carpool.aspx
For more information contact:
Kersten Elverum (City staff) | kelverum@hopkinsmn.com | 952-548-6340
Partners:
Saint Paul -
Date action report first entered:
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Implementation details:
The City partners with St. Paul Smart Trips to promote alternative commuting options for workers in Saint Paul, specifically in the downtown area. St. Paul Smart Trips is able to offer employers various benefits for promoting alternative commuting options to their employees.
The City also has a vehicle fleet available for eligible employees who may not drive to work to use if needed.
Car2Go (https://www.car2go.com/en/minneapolis/) and HOURCAR (http://www.hourcar.org/), two car sharing programs, also operate in the city of Saint Paul, giving the Saint Paul community more transportation options.
The City also has a vehicle fleet available for eligible employees who may not drive to work to use if needed.
Car2Go (https://www.car2go.com/en/minneapolis/) and HOURCAR (http://www.hourcar.org/), two car sharing programs, also operate in the city of Saint Paul, giving the Saint Paul community more transportation options.
Outcome measures/metrics/money saved:
Descriptive File:
Descriptive links: http://www.smart-trips.org/
For more information contact:
Kurt Schultz (City staff) | kurt.schultz@ci.stpaul.mn.us | 651-266-6590
Partners:
Austin -
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Implementation details:
AMCAT works with Mayo Health Systems- Austin to drop off/pick up elderly and disabled in effort to cut down on parking overload
Outcome measures/metrics/money saved:
Descriptive File:
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For more information contact:
Janet Anderson (Community volunteer) | janetanderson2840@gmail.com | 5072190680
Partners: AMCAT/Mayo Health Systems- Austin
Elk River -
Date action report first entered:
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Year action initially completed:
Implementation details:
The City promotes carpooling/ride sharing through its Project Conserve Program. Residents receive information about carpooling during our fall workshop and were encouraged to join a ride share program in our May Project Conserve Newsletter to promote environmentally friendly actions in the workplace.
Outcome measures/metrics/money saved:
Descriptive File: view file
Descriptive links:
For more information contact:
Amanda Bednar (City staff) | ABednar@ElkRiverMN.gov | 763-635-1068
Partners:
Fridley -
Date action report first entered:
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Implementation details:
The City of Fridley has been working with Anoka Commute Solutions to promote increased use of the NorthStar Commuter Rail. Fridley is the last stop prior to the NorthStar's arrival into downtown Minneapolis, and has yet to reach its full potential as a City asset. The City with Katie Kasten of Anoka Commute Solutions, set up listening sessions last July, about the possibilities of incorporating a Nice Rides unit at the station. Commuter bicyclists said this would not help them and doubted that it would entice others to use the NorthStar. A grant for a dedicated van pool in partnership with the City's largest employers is now being pursued.
Outcome measures/metrics/money saved:
Descriptive File:
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For more information contact:
Rachel Workin (City staff) | rachel.workin@fridleymn.gov | 763-572-3594
Partners: Anoka County Commute Solutions
Maplewood -
Date action report first entered:
Date of last report update:
Year action initially completed:
Implementation details:
The City of Maplewood promotes car pooling and ride sharing between their employees whenever practical/possible as required by the sustainable purchasing policy 4.2.9. Many city events have car pool notices and suggestions at the end of the event invitation.
Outcome measures/metrics/money saved:
Descriptive File:
Descriptive links: http://mn-maplewood.civicplus.com/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2377
For more information contact:
Blank Blank (City Staff) | Blank | Blank
Partners:
Victoria -
Date action report first entered:
Date of last report update:
Year action initially completed:
Implementation details:
The City of Victoria has a limited parking lot for employees - we try to use the parking lot for citizens or visitors who are shopping and dining in the downtown Victoria area. City employees are given information on the benefits of carpooling. We are trying to implement incentives for employees who carpool on a regular basis.
Outcome measures/metrics/money saved:
Descriptive File:
Descriptive links: http://www.metrotransit.org/carpool
For more information contact:
Madison Fox-Christensen (City staff) | mfoxchristensen@ci.victoria.mn.us | 952-443-4219
Partners: