HF 2173

as introduced - 90th Legislature (2017 - 2018) Posted on 03/06/2017 01:26pm

A bill for an act
relating to transportation; establishing a legislative commission to carry out and
report on reverse commuting transit studies.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. new text begin LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION ON REVERSE COMMUTING.
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new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Commission establishment; constitution and members. new text end

new text begin (a) A legislative
commission named the Transit Alternatives Commission is established. The commission
must implement the provisions of this section and may govern other transit studies authorized
by law.
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new text begin (b) The commission consists of the following members:
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new text begin (1) three state representatives appointed by the speaker of the house, at least one each
from the majority and minority caucuses, and three state senators appointed by the senate
Subcommittee on Committees of the Committee on Rules and Administration, at least one
each from the majority and minority caucuses. There must be a total of three legislators
from each party, and at least one legislator must be from greater Minnesota;
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new text begin (2) 11 metropolitan area public members, with a minimum of one from each of the
metropolitan counties and a maximum of three elected officials; and
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new text begin (3) two nonmetropolitan area public members, only one of which may be a local elected
official.
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new text begin (c) All public members must be appointed by an up-or-down majority vote of the
legislative appointing authorities appointed under paragraph (b), clause (1), on the entirety
of a list of 13 nominees compiled by them. Appointments under this paragraph must be
made as provided under Minnesota Statutes, section 15.0897. The legislative appointing
authorities are encouraged to propose nominees for the 13 public members so that diverse
interests, experience, and expertise, including with local and regional government, are
represented. At least one metropolitan area member must be transit-dependent at the time
of the member's appointment and primarily rely on public transit and other nonautomotive
means of transportation, including but not limited to a bike, scooter, or Segway. At least
one metropolitan area member must be disabled at the time of the member's appointment,
and familiar with the challenges disabled people face when using transit and transportation.
At least one metropolitan area member must regularly commute by bicycle. The
transit-dependent member may also satisfy the bicycle commuter requirement. Preference
must be given to individuals so that at least one metropolitan area public member is a regular
commuter to downtown Minneapolis or downtown St. Paul from one of the opt-out transit
service providers. Appointments must be made as soon as practicable after the effective
date of this section.
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new text begin (d) The legislative appointing authorities must each designate a legislative appointee to
serve as co-chair of the commission. The presiding chair for each commission meeting must
alternate between the two co-chairs.
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new text begin (e) Meetings of the commission and all task committees are subject to Minnesota Statutes,
chapter 13D. The Legislative Coordinating Commission must provide administrative support
to the commission, including posting meeting notices of the commission and all
subcommittees on the legislative Web site. Legislative staff, the Department of
Transportation, the Metropolitan Council, Metro Transit, Metro Mobility, the Department
of Employment and Economic Development, and other state agencies must promptly provide
staff assistance when requested by the commission. The Legislative Coordinating
Commission may accept gifts and grants as provided under Minnesota Statutes, section
3.303, to support the work of the commission. Gifts and grants may supplement but do not
substitute for money appropriated by the legislature under subdivision 4.
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new text begin (f) The commission may form task committees, and must designate a chair or co-chairs
for each task committee. Task committees may form subcommittees, which may be
organized, scoped, and chaired as necessary to achieve the subcommittee's purpose.
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new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Commission duties; consultation. new text end

new text begin (a) The commission and task subcommittees
must conduct meetings and hearings and solicit written comments to gather information
and analysis.
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new text begin (b) The commission must proactively reach out to all interested parties, including but
not limited to:
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new text begin (1) transit-dependent individuals and organizations that work with or represent
transit-dependent individuals;
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new text begin (2) likely employers of reverse commuters;
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new text begin (3) disabled individuals, who may or may not be transit-dependent, and organizations
that work with or represent disabled individuals;
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new text begin (4) individuals who use the transit services of Metro Transit, Metro Mobility, and the
opt-out providers;
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new text begin (5) local elected officials and staff of metropolitan area cities, counties, and towns,
including board members of boards governing or advising the opt-out providers;
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new text begin (6) commissioners and staff of the Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan
Council, Metro Transit, Metro Mobility, the Department of Employment and Economic
Development, and opt-out transit providers;
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new text begin (7) other state agencies that coordinate transit planning and services, or issue permits to
other entities of government, including the Metropolitan Council;
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new text begin (8) academics and recognized community experts with expertise and interest in transit;
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new text begin (9) former commissioners and senior management of the Department of Transportation,
and former chairs, former members, and former senior management of the Metropolitan
Council;
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new text begin (10) other former state or regional officials with experience and interest in transit;
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new text begin (11) representatives of private service providers, including but not limited to taxi
companies, Uber, and Lyft;
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new text begin (12) manufacturers of cars and buses, and companies that are considering entry into that
market; and
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new text begin (13) corporate and private foundations that may be potential ongoing funding resources.
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new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Commission compensation and expenses. new text end

new text begin (a) Legislative members of the
commission may be compensated as provided by the respective bodies of the legislature.
Public members of the commission must receive $50 for each commission or committee
meeting, and must be reimbursed for expenses as provided in Minnesota Statutes, section
15.0575, subdivision 3. With the prior approval of the commission, public members of the
commission, academics, recognized community experts, licensed engineers and architects,
and interns pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees in relevant academic disciplines,
including but not limited to urban and transportation planning, engineering, and architecture,
may be compensated for work performed for the commission or for a subcommittee on an
independent contractor basis only, billed directly and personally, or through a corporate
entity, at a contract rate not to exceed $25 per hour or $15 per hour for interns. Reasonable
and agreed-to expenses, including mileage, must be paid in addition to hourly compensation.
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new text begin (b) Interns may be employed directly by the commission or may be employed by a
corporate entity doing contract work for the commission, with the intern's pay billed to the
commission on a 100 percent pass-through basis. All interns must sign an agreement to
assign and convey all intellectual property resulting from work for the commission to the
intern's employer. Work to complete patent and other applications must be compensated at
$15 per hour. Interns must agree to be available for a reasonable number of hours through
June 30, 2019, to promptly complete patent and other applications. Interns my also receive
academic credit for work performed on behalf of the commission.
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new text begin (c) The commission may hire one person on a contract basis at a rate not to exceed $25
per hour plus reasonable and agreed-to expenses, and not to exceed an average of 20 hours
per week, to administratively manage all services provided to the commission, with particular
attention to the services of paid interns.
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new text begin (d) The commission may lease office space, or alternatively may contract with an
organization in the business of providing collaborative work spaces, to provide a work
environment convenient for the needs and schedules of interns, who may be transit-dependent.
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new text begin (e) With the prior approval of the commission, the Department of Transportation, the
Metropolitan Council, Metro Transit, Metro Mobility, opt-out suburban transit providers,
other state agencies, and other units of government may be compensated for services provided
by their staff on a marginal cost basis. Any service provided by a salaried staff person is
not eligible for compensation unless (1) an extraordinary amount of time is required, and
(2) the commission's total spending for the extraordinary amounts of time does not exceed
$50,000.
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new text begin (f) After final reports are issued, members of the commission must be available to testify
before the legislature during the 2018 regular session. Testifying commission members
must be compensated $50 per hearing, plus expenses.
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new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Reverse commuting study. new text end

new text begin (a) The commission must develop a study under
this subdivision to provide a plan for a major expansion of reverse commuting bus routes,
with a goal of providing service from at least 400 individual reverse commute bus runs for
each morning rush hour and at least 400 individual reverse commute bus runs for each
afternoon rush hour. Each reverse commute route must have at least two morning and at
least two afternoon individual bus runs.
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new text begin (b) Reverse commute routes must run from (1) the current downtown Minneapolis
commuter routes running on Marquette and Second Avenue between Washington Avenue
and 12th Street, and (2) one or two hub locations in St. Paul, including at least one downtown
hub, to major employer sites and employer clusters within and near the I-494/I-694 beltway.
To the maximum extent practical, each reverse commute route must use a bus that provides
regular commuter service to downtown Minneapolis or downtown St. Paul. The reverse
commuting route must return the bus to a location from which a regular commuter run is
completed. Each reverse commuting run must proceed at freeway speed to a drop-off run
of up to approximately two miles, provide up to six stops with door-to-door service for
major employment sites or stops central to an employer cluster, and then return to the origin
of a regular commuter run currently operated by Metro Transit or an opt-out service. To
optimize service for both demand load and timing, service may be provided by Metro
Mobility vehicles, Uber, and taxis. Any use of Metro Mobility capacity must not result in
a reduction of its overall service level. In addition to the reverse commuting runs described
in this subdivision, frequent and demand-driven bus service must be provided directly on
a nonstop basis between the Minneapolis reverse commuting routes and the St. Paul hubs.
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new text begin (c) The study under this section must include:
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new text begin (1) an analysis identifying the approximate size and geographic parameters of the reverse
commuting labor pool, based on currently available data and categorizing the available
labor pool using the following levels of educational achievement as a metric: (i) a high
school diploma; (ii) a two-year degree; (iii) a four-year degree; and (iv) a
postgraduate/professional degree;
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new text begin (2) an analysis and identification, relying on both phone and e-mail survey
communication, and currently available statistical data, of up to 1,200 preferred major
employer sites or employer clusters, ranked based on estimates of average annual vacancies.
The survey communication must obtain from each employer an estimate of: (i) the current
total number of people employed at the site; (ii) the average annual turnover; and (iii) the
number of positions that require a high school education, a two-year degree, a four-year
degree, or a postgraduate/professional degree. An estimate of the average number of annual
vacancies must be calculated based on the estimates in items (i) and (ii). Reasonable statistical
methods must also be devised for each identified employer cluster to estimate the average
number of annual vacancies using currently available data; and
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new text begin (3) a plan to establish and maintain ongoing program marketing and support activities
for potential reverse commuting employees, including but not limited to:
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new text begin (i) a plan to periodically contact all major employers on reverse commuting routes, and
all employers associated with employer clusters served by a reverse commuting route, to:
(A) promote the reverse commuting program; (B) solicit feedback, dialogue, and suggestions
for improvement; and (C) ensure all vacancies are posted online at a designated reverse
commuting employment hub;
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new text begin (ii) a plan to coordinate with job placement entities, including but not limited to the
Department of Employment and Economic Development, employment and recruiting
agencies, municipal and county governments, institutions that provide education or health
care, and major job fairs;
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new text begin (iii) a plan to promote the reverse commuting program to potential employees and
additional stakeholders through a variety of sources, including but not limited to local
publications; newspapers; radio and television including mass market, local and public
access; e-mail; and social media;
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new text begin (iv) a plan to communicate and work with additional stakeholders, including but not
limited to government and nonprofit providers of social services, especially in communities
with high concentrations of low-income and minority residents; and
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new text begin (v) a plan to solicit and accept voluntary financial support and contributions from the
general public, businesses served by the system, and grants from governmental entities, and
corporate and private charitable foundations. Marketing activities of the reverse commuting
program must include public relations activity designed to maximize goodwill for
organizations and entities providing financial support;
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new text begin (4) a plan for an alternative series of statistical metrics to enable the operation of reverse
commuting activity to be separated from other bus service activity and to ensure that reverse
commuting service does not artificially or negatively distort other reporting metrics on
service levels and quality;
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new text begin (5) a final report with a complete schedule of preliminary reverse commuting routes to
the locations described in paragraph (c), clause (2);
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new text begin (6) an estimate of the marginal cost to implement the reverse commuting system, with
the expectation that commuter buses are, to the maximum extent possible, scheduled for
reverse commuting runs so that the vehicles are providing service in both directions during
rush hour. Additional drivers may be needed to accommodate required break times when
scheduled routes are running in both directions. The study must identify, to the maximum
extent possible, any additional costs that must be incurred in consequence of establishing
and operating the program;
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new text begin (7) a management and operational plan to implement reverse commuting that fully
addresses all the requirements of this subdivision; and
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new text begin (8) interim recommendations regarding immediate implementation of additional reverse
commuting routes, especially for areas of unusually high demand, including but not limited
to the new Amazon warehouse in Shakopee.
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new text begin (d) The final report may recommend phased implementation, with benchmarks to assess
the impact of the first phase before proceeding to full implementation. The final report may
also provide preliminary information regarding how a reverse commuting hub could be
established near the Minneapolis Convention Center, how reverse commuting and the
Minneapolis Convention Center could be incorporated as an extension of Metro Transit's
blue and green lines to the Minneapolis Convention Center that serves as an alternative to
building the proposed Southwest Corridor and Bottineau light rail lines, and how reverse
commuting might be further integrated with Metro Mobility and other emerging bus-based
and automated driving elements of a 21st century Twin Cities transit system.
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new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Reports; minority reports. new text end

new text begin Final reports on the study described under
subdivision 4 must be completed no later than February 1, 2018. The reports must be
published online in an electronic format on the state legislative Web sites for both the house
of representatives and the senate. If a commission member believes identifies substantive
and unresolvable disagreements on one or more major issues, a minority report may be
prepared and published. Reports, including minority reports, may include drafts of
recommended legislation.
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new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Appropriation. new text end

new text begin $250,000 in fiscal year ....... is appropriated from the general
fund to the Legislative Coordinating Commission to pay the commission's costs. Any unspent
money remaining after the reports under this section are completed cancels to the general
fund.
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new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Expiration. new text end

new text begin The commission expires June 30, 2019, but this date may be
extended if other law designates the Transit Alternatives Commission as the governing
commission for separate studies, which may be conducted concurrently with or subsequent
to the study provided for by this act.
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