North Dakota Mobility Plan

SURTC has been asked by the North Dakota Department of Transportation to collect information and coordinate a statewide discussion of passenger mobility needs that will result in a statewide Mobility Plan for North Dakota. The DOT committed to this plan as one of the action items of its recently completed long range transportation plan, TransAction. (Opens a new window)

The purpose of the mobility plan is to provide North Dakota policy makers with a guide to future development of public transportation options, and to identify gaps that either now exist in mobility services or are likely to exist in the near future as the result of service curtailments. The planning process itself will serve as an opportunity for key stakeholders to discuss the desired level of personal mobility that should be the goal within the state and to review ways to provide the financial and operational resources needed to accomplish these goals. The scope of the mobility study includes all forms of local and intercity passenger transportation including AMTRAK intercity rail service, scheduled commercial and air taxi aviation, local and intercity bus, public and human service paratransit services, and local taxi services.

Once the plan is completed, it will be used by the North Dakota Legislature to identify programmatic and funding needs for passenger transportation. It can also be used by the North Dakota DOT to help determine funding priorities for the use of state funds and federal funds under state control. Further, the data collected can be used by local and regional agencies to plan for new or revised local services.

The 18-month study will begin in the spring of 2003 and will seek to determine the adequacy of local and intercity passenger transportation services in North Dakota, and to make recommendations concerning policies and specific programs and projects that can improve personal mobility for North Dakota residents. A key to this task is to agree upon the desired end state, i.e., how much local and intercity passenger transportation is desired or possible in North Dakota. There are no national standards or technical guidelines that can help establish this desired level of service. Rather, key stakeholders, including individuals at all levels of government, public and private sectors, users and providers of service will need to discuss and debate this issue and agree upon an achievable goal for future services. This will be accomplished through focus group meetings. For example, is it reasonable to expect that some form of public transportation be available to every resident of the state? If so, how much service - daily, weekly, etc? In terms of intercity service, what is a reasonable expectation for access to rail, air, or intercity bus service? Further, at the request of the North Dakota Department of Transportation, we will address levels of service with regard to accessibility, scheduling, modal choice, affordability, comfort, intermodal connections, reliability, and congestion.

A website will be established to help the various committees and stakeholders communicate with the study team. In addition, all of the data on passenger services and demographic trends will be available through the website to help local providers, users, and decision makers better understand the current status of passenger mobility in the state.

For more information on this mobility plan contact Jill Hough (jill.hough@ndsu.edu) or Dr. James Miller (jmiller45@mindspring.com).