Shared mobility in Greater Minnesota
Selected projects
Moving Greater Minnesota Forward Phase 1 fourth cohort
Applications for the fourth Phase 1 cohort closed Sept. 9, 2024, and 12 projects were selected for participation in Phase 1 programming from Oct. 9, 2024, to Dec. 11, 2024.
| Organization | Proposed project summary |
|---|---|
| Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota | Employer-based e-bike share service in Duluth and Red Lake Nation. |
| Boreal Holdings LLC dba Lake Wobegon Outfitters | A mobile e-bike sharing charging system for Saint Cloud. |
| Charging North LLC | A battery enhanced EV charging station network in rural MN that can provide EV charging, even during power outages, and also provide host site power backup or local power grid support in times of power strain. |
| Douglas County Car Care Program | Expand volunteer program to connect low-income families with reliable transportation. |
| East Central Regional Development Commission | An electric shuttle vehicle service for students at Pine Technical College |
| EV Rescue | A drone delivery service specifically designed to deliver prescriptions to rural communities. |
| Kulmis Transportation | A culturally sensity transportation service for low-income families and immigrant communities in Saint Cloud and Central Minnesota. |
| MedTrans Connect | An app that makes medical transportation easier for immigrant and disabled communities in Greater Minnesota, starting with Saint Cloud, by offering real-time translation and easy ride booking to help users get to medical appointments and overcome language barriers. |
| Tri-CAP | A volunteer driver program using transit agencies vans to connect public transit riders to first mile/last mile destinations and locations not covered by the regular transit service in Central Minnesota. |
| United Community Action Partnership (Project 1) | A transportation coordination service in southwest Minnesota to make transportation more cohesive for veterans, maintain a single point of contact for all their needs, and strengthen connections between providers of all types. |
| United Community Action Partnership (Project 2) | A carpooling service in Cottonwood, Murray, and Jackson counties that utilizes a paid driver and/or volunteer driver along with a wheelchair accessible van to provide transportation services for individuals in rural and underserved areas. |
| University of Minnesota Extension, Department of Community Development | A free toolkit and workshop designed for community leaders to help them engage with their residents to use the existing shared mobility in their community more effectively and identify opportunities to expand shared mobility options. |
Moving Greater Minnesota Forward Phase 1 third cohort
Applications for the third Phase 1 cohort closed June 6, 2024, and 12 projects were selected for participation in Phase 1 programming from July 17, 2024, to Sept. 18, 2024.
| Organization | Proposed project summary |
|---|---|
| Alliance of Chicanos, Hispanics and Latin Americans (ACHLA) Pata de Perro - Community Bike Club | Development of a bicycle library program in Rochester to provide reliable transportation to those who cannot afford to purchase a bicycle. |
| Automicle | A multimodal trip planning platform connecting ridehail, demand response transit, and bike and scooter share services. |
| City of Northfield | A combination electric carsharing, bikeshare, and scooter share system for Northfield to augment public transit and provide first/last mile connections. |
| City of Winona, MN - Transit Service | An electric trike sharing service in Winona to provide an active transportation option to mobility challenged populations. |
| Ellis Transit LLC | A tribal microtransit service focused on the transportation needs of White Earth Nation. |
| Epimonia Transport LLC | A ridesharing service focused on providing workforce transportation for refugee and immigrant communities in small urban communities in Greater Minnesota. |
| Global Taste Junction | A regular daily commuter bus service between Saint Cloud and Minneapolis. |
| Honeybee | A carsharing service for Rochester and Duluth that offers a wide variety of vehicles customized to the driver's needs. |
| Lighthouse Child & Family Services | A shared van service for underserved communities in Mills Lacs to provide non-emergency medical transportation not currently covered by insurance. |
| Rideable | A ridesharing network that allows drivers and riders directly negotiate fares and is supported by advertising and sales of premium features. |
| SUMN | An electric carsharing service that partners with residential communities and land developers in small urban communities in Greater Minnesota. |
| West Central Initiative | An electric bike service for Pelican Rapids, including cargo e-bikes, focused on the transportation needs of low income individuals and households without reliable transportation. |
Winter 2024 Moving Greater Minnesota Forward Phase 2 grants
We have awarded our first set of grants under Phase 2 of Moving Greater Minnesota Forward, our shared mobility incubator for rural, tribal, and small urban communities in Greater Minnesota. Phase 2 grants fund real world demonstrations of shared mobility concepts to test viability and help communities determine whether to scale, adapt their idea, or to pivot to a different solution. Our winter 2024 Phase 2 solicitation made $500,000 in pilot project funding available for proposals of up to 24 months. Applications opened Feb. 5, 2024 and closed April 30, 2024.
Awards were highly competitive, with 13 proposals received requesting $2.7 million in project funding. After review of the applications, we have awarded Phase 2 grants to the following five projects. Projects are expected to begin work in fall 2024.
| Applicant | Project description | Length of project in months | Awarded amount | Total Project budget | Award as a percentage of total project cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota | Employer-based e-bike share pilot in Duluth and Red Lake Nation (Funding Year 1 of request only) | 24 | $147,493 | $309,090 | 48% |
| Cook County Public Health and Human Services | Support of new Boreal Partners Transit demand response service for adults 65 years old and older in Cook County | 24 | $4,215 | $78,097 | 5% |
| Leaf Rides | Public shared e-bike service expansion to historically underserved communities in Duluth | 24 | $62,550 | $221,550 | 28% |
| The Plum Catalyst | Expansion of goMARTI electric vehicle microtransit service area to east side of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe reservation area (Funding Year 1 of request only) | 24 | $265,742 | $9,448,808 | 3% |
| Waypoint Transit Solutions | Pilot of low-cost electronic bus arrival signs in partnership with Duluth Transit Authority | 16 | $20,000 | $43,955 | 46% |
Disadvantaged Communities Carshare Grant
MnDOT has awarded $500,000 to HOURCAR from the Disadvantaged Communities Carshare Fund for their East Side Expansion proposal. The funds will be used to provide operational and marketing support to expand HOURCAR’s Evie Carshare services to eastern Saint Paul, including five two-way carshare hubs along the planned Metro Transit Gold Line route. The entire proposed East Side expansion area, including all the Gold Line stations except Sun Ray, is located in census tracts identified as "Disadvantaged" under the U.S. Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool (CEJST). HOURCAR is creating two new positions with the grant funds in 2024, a Community Engagement Manager and a Marketing Coordinator, whose work will support expanded awareness of our services in disadvantaged communities. The award will also cover insurance, electric fuel, and technology costs for current and future electric vehicles operating in CEJST disadvantaged communities, including the 50 vehicles to be procured for the East Side expansion.
The Minnesota Legislature established a one-time appropriation of $500,000 in the 2023 Transportation Omnibus Bill to support the growth of carsharing in disadvantaged communities through programs, marketing, and community engagement. MnDOT issued a solicitation for proposals under these funds, and HOURCAR's proposal was selected for funding by the grant review committee. Evie Carshare is a public-private partnership between HOURCAR and the cities of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, and is the nation’s first all-electric carshare service fueled by 100% renewable energy.
Moving Greater Minnesota Forward Phase 1 second cohort
Applications for the second Phase 1 cohort closed Dec. 8, 2023, and 11 projects were selected for participation in Phase 1 programming from Jan. 17, 2024, to March 20, 2024.
| Organization | Proposed project summary |
|---|---|
| BEC Enterprises | Starting up a rideshare company in Blue Earth, Nicollet, Kandiyohi, and Aitkin Counties focusing on nonemergency medical transportation. |
| Headwaters Regional Development Commission | Creating a vanpool resource in Bemidji utilizing drivers living in the low-income housing development to provide rides for the residents to improved access to medical appointments, employment, basic needs, social interactions and community events. |
| Megan Knowles | Starting a rideshare company by women for women to help add safety for moms, wives, girlfriends, and other vulnerable communities. |
| The Plum Catalyst LLC | Creating an on-demand microtransit for the east side of the Leech Lake Reservation in the Deer River and Ball Club communities. |
| Project Spark | Developing a commuter transportation services for workers without access to a personal vehicle, initially between New Ulm and Mankato and then later between New Ulm and Sleepy Eye, Springfield, and Comfrey. |
| Rides2U, Inc | Implementing a ride app that assists college students, high school students and the communities surrounding these select college communities in getting safe, reliable, high quality guaranteed rides locally and to airports. |
| Ryan Johnston | Building a low cost, easy-to-install transit information sign that relays bus arrival times for smaller urban and rural transit systems. |
| Thrive Bridge Transport | Establishing a transportation service of wheelchair accessible vans and buses between Moorhead and Dilworth, possibly with trips to the Twin Cities. |
| Trunkdrop | Implementing an on-demand delivery platform in Saint Cloud and Duluth that matches customers needing delivery with drivers willing to pick up the delivery, negotiating price, time, and distance between the parties. |
| Nick Winings | Establishing a nonprofit dispatching center that helps small taxi companies find rides for a fee that would be more affordable than hiring an in-house dispatcher and also helps by matching certain runs. |
| Zeitgeist Center for Arts & Community | Building a micromobility hub with access to a fleet of ebikes for families without access to a personal car at Myers-Wilkins Elementary School in Duluth. |
Moving Greater Minnesota Forward Phase 1 first cohort
Applications for the first Phase 1 cohort closed Sept. 5, 2023, and eight projects were selected for participation in Phase 1 programming from Sept. 20, 2023 to Nov. 29, 2023.
| Organization | Proposed project summary |
|---|---|
| East Central Regional Development Corporation | Exploring the creation of a transit transfer station or mobility hub connecting planned Northern Lights Express train from Twin Cities to Duluth to local transit agencies Timber Trails Transit and TriCAP Transit |
| Blue Earth Taxi | Looking at ways to use taxi services to expand intercity bus services and/or connect to existing intercity bus routes in Southern Minnesota |
| Center of Human Environment | Investigating how to replace shared van that is at end of life with new service or vehicle to provide transportation options for their clients, residents of a 28 bed facility in Mahnomen that houses both men and women with chronic alcoholism, developmental disabilities and serious and persistent mental illness |
| City of Warren | Researching viability of golf cart based car sharing model in Warren for residents to run errands, get to medical appointments, and attend social events |
| Cook County | Developing a service model for a planned shuttle service with liftequipped vehicle to fill health related transportation gaps for individuals aged 65 and older in Cook County |
| Leaf Rides | Investigating ways to expand the size and availability of scootershare in Duluth, including winter appropriate vehicles and business models |
| Navota Mobility | Developing concept around a new microtransit app, TransitConnect, to expand transportation choices in Saint Cloud |
| United Way of Bemidji | Working to create a new shuttle program to meet the transportation needs for clients of Village of Hope, Bemidji local family homeless shelter, called Shuttles for Shelters |