About
Students Speak Out Minnesota GO! is all about the future. Today’s teens, and your future families, will be major users of transportation over the next 50 years, and this project is about making sure the state is making good investments to support your future transportation needs. It’s crucial that your ideas and expectations are included as part of this important conversation.
What’s the purpose? Will your time invested here be worthwhile?
Yes! We’re not "all talk" here. Your work on SSO Minnesota GO will influence something real. Teens’ perspectives gathered in this project (as well as perspectives gathered from a broad range of people in other forums) will influence the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) as it crafts a long-range vision for all types of transportation in the state (a vision statement is due out in early 2012). This vision will help to better align the transportation system with what Minnesotans expect for their quality of life, economy and natural environment.
To influence the Mn/DOT vision, Minnesota's teens will take a three-phased approach:
Phase I: Envision life in 2060 (March - April 2011)
Any wise vision for MN transportation investment should consider what the world might be like in the future. So setting transportation aside for a bit, let's identify some current trends and predictions and use them to envision how we might live our lives in 2060. We know that it’s unlikely we’ll accurately predict the future, so let’s focus on what do you think is possible? What sort of choices might people make based on the future state of the world (globalization, changes in consumer behavior, water needs, petroleum availability, and other possibilities). How will people work? Learn? Live?
In this phase we’ll work mostly online. You’ll post your own ideas, as well as react to the ideas of others. Mn/DOT will use your insights from this phase (as well as the insights from others engaging in this exercise) to develop a few specific "future scenarios" for Phase II work.
Phase II: Identify future transportation needs (May – June 2011)
Based on Phase I work by teens and other groups, Mn/DOT will select a few specific future scenarios for your Phase II work. Your job now? Imagination. If these scenarios were to take place, what transportation needs would Minnesotans have? You’ll have both online and in-person opportunities to creatively and thoughtfully consider this question.
Phase III: Review and provide feedback on Mn/DOT’s draft vision (July 5 – July 31 2011)
Mn/DOT will use everything learned from you and others in Phases I and II to draft its long-term vision. Phase III will offer you online and in-person opportunities to review Mn/DOT's work and offer your feedback. Mn/DOT intends to hold a public hearing on the draft vision in mid- to late-July prior to adoption.
Some other things Mn/DOT wants you to know about Minnesota GO:
Objectives
- Learn Minnesotans’ ideas and outlook on issues relating to transportation
- Create a vision for transportation in Minnesota
- Affirm existing or develop new principles for long-range policies and strategies
- Highlight possibilities to include in the next Statewide Multimodal Transportation Plan
FAQs
- Why develop a vision?
- A vision will help Mn/DOT and its partners set priorities, goals and expectations for our transportation system. It will help to better align the transportation system with what Minnesotan’s expect for their quality of life, economy and natural environment.
- Why 50 years?
- Fifty years simply represents a longer planning horizon rather than a specific year or date that can bring additional trends and scenarios in the picture. It also necessitates consideration of future generations.
- What’s the final product of Minnesota GO and how will it be used?
- The final product of Minnesota GO will be a vision statement – a description of the future Minnesotans desire – and set of objectives and principles to guide policies and strategies. These will form the framework for the next statewide multimodal transportation plan, which will advance the vision and guide investments in specific systems (highway, rail, non-motorized, etc.) over the next 20 years.
- What’s the timeline?
- February to August 2011. Mn/DOT intends to hold a public hearing on the draft vision in mid- to late-July prior to adoption.
- Will the vision address all modes of transportation or just highways?
- All modes, in addition to related topics.
- How can I be involved?
- A range of opportunities will be offered online here on CitiZing throughout the public process (March – July), and in-person workshops will be held throughout the state in May and June.
Questions?
Contact Philip Schaffner at 651.366.3743 or by email at philip.schaffner@state.mn.us.
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