The following is a guest blog post submitted by Greater Mankato Growth member, Regional Transportation Coordinating Council (RTCC). The blog post is about planning reliable transportation for workers.

Are you part of a Greater Mankato member business and have an interest in writing a guest blog for us? Send 500-800 words to [email protected] or reach out to Greater Mankato Growth with further questions.

Call for input:  Planning for a Regional Transportation Coordinating Council (RTCC)

Are you a regional transportation stakeholder? If you provide leadership at a major business in the Greater Mankato area, you are!  Provide input toward planning for an RTCC servicing our region.

Reliable transportation for workers, particularly for second-and third-shift workers, is a common issue statewide. This challenge is also present in our south-central Minnesota region. Providing reliable workforce transportation will be just one of the issues posed to the Regional Transportation Coordinating Council (RTCC).

Program overview

The Minnesota Departments of Transportation and Human Services, in collaboration with other state agencies through the Minnesota Council on Transportation Access (MCOTA), are working with local governments and organizations to create Regional Transportation Coordinating Councils (RTCCs) as appropriate throughout Greater Minnesota. Coordination between transportation providers, service agents, and the private sector is a goal to fill transportation gaps, streamline access to transportation and provide individuals more options of where and when to travel.

What is an RTCC?

RTCCs consist of stakeholders interested in improving mobility for “transportation disadvantaged” – older adults, individuals with disabilities, individuals with low incomes, and/or military veterans. Successful RTCCs will include representatives from a wide range of agencies and interests. RTCC board membership will be diverse and as comprehensive as possible, and include representatives from the region’s county department of social services, Minnesota Area Agencies on Aging, Workforce Development, transportation providers, human services agencies, transportation and human services advocates, veteran service organizations, Minnesota Continuum of Care Coordinators, Centers for Independent Living and public and private funders of transportation services.

Our region

Through a grant from MnDOT, the Mankato/North Mankato Area Planning Organization (MAPO) is leading Phase 1 Planning for an RTCC servicing the south-central Minnesota region. MAPO is conducting a broad public input process to engage stakeholder groups. Please submit comments through any of the below venues:

Direct input to:

Charles Androsky, Transportation Planner

Mankato/North Mankato Area Planning Organization (MAPO)

507-387-8389

[email protected]