Map Regional Bicycle Data

• Use the Metropolitan Council regional bicycle system inventory tool to help your community establish and enhance your bikeways data, to facilitate an up-to-date regional bicycle system database, and to access the regional system files for use in planning your jurisdiction’s bicycle network.
• Use tools that assess bicycle demand or infrastructure needs, such as MnDOT’s SPACE tool, to prioritize needs and plans. The Metropolitan Council is currently developing a region-specific bicycle and pedestrian demand estimation tool that is expected to be available at the end of 2026.

Collect Bicycle Data

• Collect bicycle volume data (consistent with guidance from MnDOT) on the Regional Bicycle Transportation Network, key local bike routes that access major employment centers, and along local routes that access schools to aid the region in future planning and investment prioritization.
• Identify and incorporate the regional High Injury Streets and Crash Risk Index for bicyclists from the Regional Safety Action Plan and applicable recommendations.

Adopt Bicycle Policies

• Incorporate policies that address bicycling needs as new development and redevelopment occur in your community.

Assess Barriers

• Identify and discuss any local physical barriers to bicycle travel in addition to regional barriers. Local barriers should be clearly defined but may be defined locally depending on local context.

Minimize Environmental Impacts

• Consider how transportation plans will avoid or minimize impacts on the natural, developed, and cultural environments. Describe any existing policies or programs in place to minimize impacts. This includes identifying local strategies and opportunities for the reduction of impervious surface in a community, this could include land development policies, transportation projects, or other means to limit new impervious surface or mitigate impacts from existing impervious surfaces through stormwater management and restoration or enhancement of tree cover and vegetation.

Address Climate and Weather Risks

• Identify local areas prone to weather and climate related issues. Incorporate Council tools like the Extreme Heat Map, Localized Flood Map, and Growing Shade tool to identify and understand areas of need in climate resiliency efforts.

Support Efficient Land Use

• Examine ways that transportation investments can better support more efficient land use patterns and contribute to statewide VMT reduction targets.

Promote Electric Vehicle Adoption

• Identify plans, policies or programs to encourage electric vehicle adoption. Identify current, planned and still needed public electric vehicle charging station locations. Charging locations may be from local community plans or from the Council’s Electric Vehicle Public Charging Needs Analysis.

Engage the Community

• Ensure broad community participation in transportation planning and decision making by increasing accessibility of public meetings and other engagement events using a variety of means available like virtual meetings, providing meeting information in multiple languages, and other strategies to engage populations who have not been historically engaged.

Evaluate Equity Impacts

• Incorporate maps and discussion of how transportation plans benefit and impact people of color, people with disabilities, and people with low incomes, as well as people who may depend more on transit, walking, and biking. Consider and describe ways in which planned transportation projects will not disproportionately
• impact low-income households, people with disabilities, and people of color. Evaluate local area costs and benefits for environmental justice communities for planned transportation projects in TPP.
• For all communities where major transportation projects are identified, evaluate local area costs and benefits for Environmental Justice communities identified in the 2050 TPP.

Preserve Housing Affordability

• Develop strategies to create and preserve a mix of housing affordability in areas where land values are likely to escalate after a transitway commitment is made.

Address Land Use and Safety Conflicts

• Identify any potentially mismatched roadway and land use combinations that contribute to health, safety, or equity impacts, such as focusing multifamily housing projects along arterial roadways with high air quality or safety impacts.

Assess Freight Mobility Needs

• Describe the relationship of your roadway network to the mobility needs of freight, including any delivery and last mile needs on the local roadway network. Address any identified potential issues.

Map Truck Routes and Freight Corridors

• Include a map of designated truck routes (if your community has adopted such routes) and roads designed to carry 9-10 ton per axle loads.
• Identify and incorporate the Regional Truck Freight Corridors into your community freight map.

Address Freight Rail Safety

• For communities with heavy freight rail traffic, address the need to improve safety at roadway crossings or implement “quiet zones”. If your community already has plans or existing policies in place, identify and describe these.

Plan Last-Mile Freight Connections

• Identify, map and describe last mile connections between major freight terminals or other major freight generators and the regional highway system. Document any issues or opportunities for last mile freight improvements.
• Identify, map and describe potential last-mile parcel distribution microhubs in your community to better facilitate last-mile package delivery efficiency. See the Met Council's Urban Freight Distribution Study and the 2050 TPP Freight Investment Plan or more details.

Identify Truck Parking Opportunities

• Identify, map and describe any truck parking areas of opportunity or known local issues regarding truck parking in your local community.

Plan Safe Routes to Schools

• Integrate planning for safe and active travel to schools. Work with school districts and local partners to develop Safe Routes to School Plans for all districts/community schools.

Collect Pedestrian Data

• Collect pedestrian use volume data (consistent with guidance from MnDOT) on key local routes, on routes connecting to frequently-used transit stops, on routes accessing major employment centers, and along routes used to access schools to aid in future planning and investment prioritization.
• Identify and incorporate the regional High Injury Streets from the Regional Safety Action Plan and applicable recommendations from the regional plans, local safety plans, or the Minnesota Strategic Highway Safety Plan in the pedestrian element.

Assess Pedestrian Barriers

• Describe and identify any pedestrian travel barriers located in your community.

Adopt Pedestrian Policies

• Incorporate policies that address pedestrian needs as new development and redevelopment occur in your community.

Use Demand Assessment Tools

• Use tools that assess pedestrian demand or infrastructure needs, such as MnDOT’s PAWS tool, to prioritize needs and plans. The Metropolitan Council is currently developing a region-specific bicycle and pedestrian demand estimation tool that is expected to be available at the end of 2026.

Roadway Functional Classification

• The existing Roadway Functional Classification network may be updated from what is found in your local System Statement. Communities are encouraged to work with MnDOT as they conduct their review and update of the statewide functional classification system to propose any changes to your local functional classification network. Any proposed changes to the principal or minor arterial systems must follow Council classification guidance and be approved by the Council before being implemented.
• Include any planned new roadway alignments and expected classification on the local classification map. Planned roadways should be clearly marked to be distinct from the existing system.
• Include the following additional information on the principal and minor arterial roadways:
  • Potential future right-of-way needs for roadway improvements.
  • Describe access management policies or practices – include local, county and state guidelines, if applicable.
• Identify and describe any planned or potential jurisdictional transfers of roadways between agencies.

Highway Investment Opportunities

• Incorporate and map the following additional opportunities for investments outlined in the 2050 TPP Highway Investment Plan. Consider local efforts or studies to better identify projects for these locations. If showing regionally significant highway mobility improvements on the principal arterial system beyond those shown in the fiscally constrained 2050 TPP, these projects should be clearly identified as unfunded:
  • Figure 10. Regional Mobility Investments: Managed Lanes (vision and under study only)
  • Figure 11. Regional Mobility Investments: Targeted Regional Capacity (vision only)

Complete Streets Planning

• Describe any policies, programs, practices, or ordinances relating to Complete Streets planning in your local community. Complete Streets should consider the needs of all users (including the safe movement and delivery of freight and goods) in the planning, design, construction and maintenance of roadway improvement projects. Complete Streets should also address the needs of pedestrians and bicyclists as an integral part of right-of-way planning. Communities should consider establishing Complete Streets policies or programs to prepare for new local funding sources that must consider Complete Streets planning in the selection of projects.
• Consider the needs of goods delivery to residents and businesses and provide curbside space for these activities in your Complete Streets planning, policies and programs.

Roadway Safety and Speed Management

• To get more out of your safety analysis, include the following:
  • Identify and incorporate any regionally identified corridor or intersections in your community that are identified on the regional High Injury Streets, Crash Risk Index, or the crash rates from the Regional Safety Action Plan within your community’s safety analysis.
  • Include applications for implementing proven and emerging safety strategies included in the Minnesota Strategic Highway Safety Plan.
  • Identify areas of opportunity for speed management and traffic calming measures on roadways where there is excess roadway capacity, safety concerns, or high demand for non-motorized travel.

Curb Management and Traffic Studies

• Include curb management planning in the transportation section of your local comprehensive plan that addresses conflicts at curb spaces to balance multimodal needs including urban freight delivery, shared mobility and electric vehicle charging.
• Include or reference more detailed traffic forecasting and studies for areas where there is significant planned growth – including the managing and mitigating of potential travel demand. Address street connectivity, traffic distribution, and access for non-motorized travel at employment and other activity centers.

Include "Beyond the Current Plan" Transitways in Your Plan

• For communities with transitway(s) identified in the 2050 TPP as an Opportunity for Investment Beyond the Current Plan, consider the following:
  • These transitways may be included in your comprehensive plan. However, identify them as unfunded and distinguished from improvements identified in the fiscally constrained plan.
    • Describe your community’s role and responsibilities with regard to the transitway development process including analysis of modes, alignments and station locations.
    • Describe and map the transitway(s) in your community including any alternative alignments and station locations under consideration
  • Set a vision for potential future transit stations and corridors with goals for land use patterns and street networks that can support transit-supportive densities.
  • Work with agencies leading transit planning to evaluate the land use and accessibility advantages and disadvantages of alternative transitway alignments and to identify important opportunities for existing and planned transit.
• Discuss transit expansion opportunities with your transit providers and identify potential transit expansion opportunities and target higher-intensity uses and pedestrian-supportive urban forms in nodes along these potential expansion opportunities.

Analyze Transit Opportunities and Challenges

• Address the opportunities and challenges for transit related to your Transit Market Area and your Community Designation. Explore how new development and infrastructure policies might improve the cost-effectiveness and attractiveness of transit, ridesharing, bicycling, and walking.
• Explore how transit and microtransit can contribute to regional equity goals by better connecting all residents to a wider range of employment, training, and educational opportunities in your local community.

Map Data and Supportive Transportation Improvements

• Include ridership data on maps for transit stops and stations in your community.
• Identify needed local transportation improvements in other modes to support transit use and the land use vision in your comprehensive plan.

Coordinate Transit and Road Projects

• Describe any policies or processes that coordinate the timing of road and transit projects to minimize disruptions and cost for commuters and residents.

Map and Illustrate Growth by TAZ

• Include maps of growth by TAZ using Metropolitan Council’s official TAZ system, to illustrate the relationship between land use, forecasted growth, and use of transportation infrastructure.
  • Transportation Analysis Zones allocation of the forecast is waived for cities and townships with population and employment fully contained in one TAZ.

Implement Development-Based TDM Programs

• Consider implementing development-based trip reduction programs or requirements for developers. Consider implementing a TDM ordinance to create a specified development review process for developments and link the ordinance to regional TDM programs.

Prioritize TDM Strategies

• Identify areas or land use types where travel demand management strategies should be prioritized by transportation partners, developers, and businesses. Work closely with potential partners in these areas to develop specific TDM strategies.

Integrate TDM into Projects

• Identify ways to incorporate TDM activities into local transportation project development (e.g., highways, bike paths, sidewalks), including long-term mode-shift activities.

Plan Mobility Hubs

• Identify, describe and map any existing or planned mobility hubs in your community. If planning to implement mobility hubs, see the Mobility Hub Planning and Implementation Guidebook for siting and designing mobility hubs in your community.