Relating to transportation; modifying provisions governing transportation and public safety policies; preventing prohibition of electric-assisted bicycles on any state trail where bikes are allowed; preventing local governments from prohibiting electric-assisted bicycles on any trail in which bikes or nonmotorized use are allowed; preventing a county, city, town, park board, or other local unit of government from prohibiting electric-assisted bicycles on dedicated bicycle paths, bicycle lanes established on a roadway, roadways, and shoulders; requiring the department of transportation (DOT), in conjunction with local authorities and the department of natural resources (DNR) to identify a Mississippi River Trail bikeway; adding exceptions to a general prohibition on tolled roads, for a lane that adds capacity, is temporarily operated as a general purpose or auxiliary lane, and is subsequently converted to a high-occupancy toll lane, an auxiliary lane that is converted to a high-occupancy toll lane and a general purpose lane that is converted to a high-occupancy toll lane, if capacity is added in the same segment of highway and the segment has been formally designated a MnPASS corridor; clarifiying that user fees (tolls) can be imposed in high-occupancy toll lanes; amending the allocation of revenue collected from user fees (tolls) on the trunk highway system, implemented through the MnPASS program, removing a provision on initial repayment to the trunk highway fund, requiring funds to go to MnPASS system operation, and requiring that remaining funds for each MnPASS corridor set up in the future be used by MnDOT for capital improvements within that corridor; eliminating a reference to the route number identified in state statute for a portion of trunk highway #200 running from the North Dakota border that is named veterans memorial highway; designating a pedestrian bridge over trunk highway #14 in Rochester as the Arianna Celeste MacNamara memorial bridge, requiring department of transportation to erect signage near the bridge; designating a portion of I-35 that runs through Rice county as Deputy John. W. Liebenstein memorial highway; revising DOT targeted group business program for providing preferences in state-funded transportation contracts; narrowing eligibility for the working capital fund to small businesses, updates terminology, and revises references to federal regulations; setting a city population at 5,000 for purposes of receiving municipal state-aid street (MSAS) funds, if the city had a 5,000 or higher population just before the federal census but dropped to under 5,000 in the census such cities to continue to receive MSAS funds for four years; modifying a requirement on the source of funds to be used for paying debt service on bonds issued by a city that are backed by municipal state-aid street funds, so that it does not apply when the city is not receiving municipal state-aid; requiring DOT to continue providing municipal state-aid street funds to a city whose population fell below the eligibility cut-off for the aid, if the city had issued bonds against this funding stream prior to the effective date of the provision; allowing department of natural resources (DNR) vehicles used by DNR conservation officers to be unmarked when registered as tax-exempt; requiring driver and vehicle services (DVS) in the department of public safety to include procedures for vehicle owners to donate $2 for organ donation educational programs as part of payment of vehicle registration taxes; eliminating an optional $2 donation procedure for organ donation educational programs, made available as part of the vehicle registration renewal process; requiring certain impound lots to be treated in state statutes as nonpublic lots instead of public lots, if the lot is privately owned and does not operate under an exclusive contract with a local governmental unit for public use, for applicable lots, the change has the effect of allowing the lot operator to retain all proceeds from sale of a vehicle and its contents after following statutory procedures and providing that the lot operator can make a deficiency claim against the vehicle owner for any losses incurred in towing and storing the vehicle; amending the definition of electric-assisted bicycle to clarify an inconsistency on vehicle type, eliminate three-wheeled devices, and including bicycles that are regulated by the consumer products safety commission (CPSC); increasing the exceptions from weight limits on vehicles operated for road authorities to add an exception for preparation and movement of equipment to handle snow, ice, and slippery conditions and extend the weight limits exception for those performing snow or ice removal to cover all persons operating a vehicle on behalf of the road authority; exempting train engineers, conductors, and other train crew members from being required by a peace officer to provide a drivers license in relation to operation of a train or other on-track equipment, and issuance of a citation for violating drivers license or traffic regulation prohibitions that involve operation of a train or on-track equipment; clarifying signage, driving, and right-of-way rules with circular green signals; clarifying driving and right-of-way rules with flashing circular yellow signals and flashing yellow arrow signals; establishing that a driver must yield right-of-way to certain pedestrians and other vehicles when facing a flashing yellow arrow; exempting a motorist from having to signal a turn 100 feet prior to turning, when exiting a roundabout; establishing that unless specifically prohibited, a person can operate an electric-assisted bicycle on a dedicated bicycle path, a bicycle lane established on a roadway, a signed bicycle route, and a state trail that permits other bicycles; expanding authority for buses to operate on the shoulder of freeways (divided highways with limited access) and expressways (divided highways with partial access control), so that counties and towns having jurisdiction over the road can authorize the bus; permitting a vehicle to have red or other colored lights that do not meet lighting requirements in law, if the vehicle was originally manufactured as an emergency vehicle (such as a fire truck), bears one of various collector and classic car license plates, and is not used for general transportation purposes, the lights can only be used in special events; eliminating an exception for certain lighter school buses from mandatory use of child restraints,the exception that applies to some type III vehicles (that are manufactured as buses) as well as type A-I school buses is removed, so that child restraints are required for a type III vehicle or school bus having a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less; permitting
carrying an electronic instead of physical permit when transporting an overdimensional load by special permit; adding an additional weight class (145,001 to 155,000 pounds) and corresponding fee ($900) to an alternative fee schedule that is in statute for certain overdimensional vehicle annual permits; recodifying language on license revocation periods for DWI-related offenses to place all relevant provisions into one section of statutes; narrowing the alcohol concentration cut-off allowed for a reduced drivers license revocation period (of 60 or 90 days) instead of a longer period (of at least one year) for DWI violations under certain conditions; circumstances; exempting train engineers, conductors, and other train crew members from the requirements of holding a driver' license to operate a train or other on-track equipment; modifying drivers education requirements for a person under age 18 to obtain an instruction permit, so that the classroom/theory portion of drivers education can be completed through an online program approved by the department of public safety; establishing a completion certificate and imposes a $2 per certificate fee on online drivers education providers, which blinks off once the department costs to implement the program are covered via a statutory appropriation that is also made; allowing payment of drivers license and identification card fees by credit or debit card, and authorizes drivers license agents to impose a convenience fee; requiring the department of public safety to include, in its rulemaking on online drivers education, a maximum of three hours per day of online instruction; prohibiting speed limit violations of up to ten miles per hour over the speed limit in both 55 and 60 miles per hour zones from going on the driving record of a person; authorizing DOT to undertake a pilot project that uses alternative financing under agreement with a governmental or nongovernmental agency as a financing or investment source, subject to funding availability and sign-off from the department of management and budget (MMB), requiring legislative reporting on the financial details of the agreement; expanding and centralizing DOT reporting on highway project and trunk highway finance, reducing the project cost threshold for including projects in the report, adding additional detail to be provided, and recodifies a separate report on trunk highway fund expenditures; modifying the requirements for a commercial vehicle driver to be able to obtain a state waiver from certain physical and physician certification requirements, applicable to intrastate vehicle operation; modifying a provision on state rail bank property, to expand the list of restricted activities on the property; allowing for placement of fencing and signs if authorized by DOT and make knowing violations of the statute a misdemeanor instead of a petty misdemeanor; requiring DOT to issue a variance for licensing a public seaplane on Flekkefjord Lake, which abuts the Elbow Lake Municipal Airport, and allowing the agency to establish any necessary conditions on the license; adding requirements to a MnDOT legislative report so that for the 2012 and 2013 issuances of the report, MnDOT must perform evaluations of certain agency data management systems either by internal or external audit; adjusting the allocation of municipal state-aid street funds for the calendar year 2013 distribution, to first provide funds to cities that did not receive aid in 2012 (due to declines in population that brought the cities below the eligibility cut-off for the aid); repealing provisions relating to a DOT report that is recodified, requiring display of the DNR name on both sides of a vehicle, DWI license revocation, and a definition of a federal rail program that no longer exists
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