1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to transportation; appropriating money on a 
  1.3             matching basis for a road powered electric vehicle 
  1.4             (RPEV) demonstration project, a study of RPEV 
  1.5             applications for Minnesota transportation and transit 
  1.6             system options, and development of an electric vehicle 
  1.7             consortium. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  [STUDY; APPROPRIATION.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [STUDY.] The commissioner of transportation 
  1.11  shall test and install a road powered electric demonstration 
  1.12  system, either with high occupancy vehicles (HOVs), shuttles, or 
  1.13  full-size buses, under the Saints Road Project in St. Cloud, 
  1.14  Minnesota, in coordination with the St. Cloud Area Metropolitan 
  1.15  Transit Commission.  The commissioner shall make findings and 
  1.16  recommendations specifically discussing:  (1) road powered 
  1.17  electric vehicle (RPEV) application and preliminary cost 
  1.18  estimates for a surface lane freeway system, surface lane HOV 
  1.19  system, and overhead freeway system, and as a people mover 
  1.20  system for the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport; and 
  1.21  (2) the formation and development of an upper midwest electric 
  1.22  vehicle consortium for the purposes of research, development, 
  1.23  networking, and promoting electric vehicle development in 
  1.24  Minnesota in conjunction with RPEV technology under the Saints 
  1.25  Road Project. 
  1.26     Subd. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] $1,200,000 is appropriated from 
  2.1   the general fund to the commissioner of transportation for the 
  2.2   purposes of subdivision 1 as follows:  $750,000 as a direct 
  2.3   appropriation and an additional $450,000 only if matched with 
  2.4   $250,000 in money or in-kind funding from private or other 
  2.5   public sources.  The commissioner shall disburse money from this 
  2.6   appropriation for the purposes of subdivision 1.  The 
  2.7   commissioner shall seek federal funding as well as local 
  2.8   matching funds.