Virtual File - Item

Text: August 8, 2017

The Honorable Elaine L. Chao
Secretary, U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Ave. SE
Washington D.C. 20590

via electronic and postal delivery

Dear Madam Secretary,

We, the undersigned legislators of the Minnesota House of Representatives and the Minnesota
Senate, want to stress the importance of funding the New Starts program and future Minnesota
transit projects. Throughout the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area, there is broad support from local
communities, citizens and businesses for the investment in these projects.

Minneapolis, St. Paul, and the surrounding communities are growing, and the Minnesota State
Legislature is committed to investing in a multi-modal transportation system that spurs economic
growth and increases mobility. Building out a comprehensive transit system is an important part
of these goals and both light rail (LRT) and bus rapid transit (BRT) will play an integral role.
Our businesses and residents, many of them transit-dependent, are counting on the expansion of
our transit system which is currently anchored by the Blue Line LRT (connecting downtown
Minneapolis with the Mall of America in suburban Bloomington) and the Green Line LRT
(connecting downtown Minneapolis with downtown St. Paul).

Both the Blue and Green light rail line have exceeded expectations in ridership, farebox recovery
and corresponding economic development. There have been $6.2 billion dollars of new
development along both lines and millions more in anticipation of their expansion. This and the
potential for future investment are two of the many reasons that there is such strong support
among the business community and the surrounding communities for the robust expansion of our
transit system. Of particular note, the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, along with 44 of its
affiliates, have written numerous letters of support to the legislators at the Capitol and local
newspapers. A TwinWest Chamber survey found that 75 percent of respondents in the seven county metro area support light rail and 79 percent of respondents support transit expansion in
general.

Nearly one million more people are expected in the metro area by 2040 and transportation
infrastructure must be invested in to accommodate that growth. Our current bus transit system is
as much as 50 years old and does not have the capacity to support that future need. We firmly
believe that we cannot pave our way out of the expected congestion and that rail transit is an
essential part of the solution.

As you may know, the Southwest Light Rail Transit (SWLRT) project is the planned extension
of the current Green line that runs between Minneapolis and St. Paul. This extension will run
southwest from Minneapolis through the suburbs of St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka and
Eden Prairie. The project has undergone two decades of discussion and planning, millions of
dollars of local and state investment, thousands of hours in community input and generated
countless letters of support from local elected officials, the business community and residents.
The SWLRT project is the next crucial step in the future economic competitiveness of
Minnesota's largest metropolitan area as well as the entire state.

In addition to the SWLRT project, we are quickly working to advance many Bus Rapid Transit
projects including the Orange Line and the Gold Line which have been conceptualized and
brought to this point through the utilization of strong data-driven practices. Combined with the
Bottineau LRT project (the Blue Line extension) these important projects will spur economic
growth and improve mobility throughout our region. Each of these projects mentioned are
critical to the future economic success of our metropolitan region.

You have recently received a letter from a minority of legislators in the House and Senate. That
letter is not an accurate portrayal of the support for the project by the local and state levels, the
business community, and countless other stakeholders. With this in mind, we would like to
dispel any notion that the Minnesota Legislature does not support this project. Support for this
project is more accurately gauged by the letters you have received from the business community
and local elected officials from communities along the line.

We, the undersigned, would like to add our voices of support. We respectfully ask that you
encourage President Donald Trump and your Department to work with Congress to retain the
Capital Investment Grant Program which is critical not only to LRT projects but to various Bus
Rapid Transit projects currently being pursued in our region. Further, we urge you to approve the
full funding grant agreements for the SWLRT and future Minnesota projects. We thank you for
your review and consideration of our request.

Sincerely,

Senator Ron Latz
District 46
Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk
District 3
Senator Jim Carlson
District 51
Senator Bobby Joe Champion
District 59
Senator Greg Clausen
District 57
Senator Richard Cohen
District 64
Senator Steve Cwodzinski
District 48
Senator D. Scott Dibble
District 61
Senator Kari Dziedzic
District 60
Senator Chris Eaton
District 40
Senator Melisa Franzen
District 49
Senator Nick Frentz
District 19
Senator Foung Hawj
District 67
Senate Asst. Minority Leader Jeff Hayden
District 62
Senate Asst. Minority Leader Susan Kent
District 53
Senator Matt Klein
District 52
Senate Asst. Min. Leader Carolyn Laine
District 41
Senator Tony Lourey
District 11
Senator John Marty
District 66
Senator Jerry Newton
District 37
Senator Sandra L. Pappas
District 65
Senator Ann H. Rest
District 45
Senator Erik Simonson
District 7
Senator David Tomassoni
District 6
Senator Patricia Torres Ray
District 63
Senator Chuck Wiger
District 43
Senator Melissa Wiklund
District 50
Rep. Cheryl Youakim
District 46B
House Minority Leader Melissa Hortman
District 36B
Rep. Susan Allen
District 62B
Rep. Jon Applebaum
District 44B
Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn
District 42B
Rep. Connie Bernardy
District 41A
Rep. David Bly
District 20B
Rep. Andrew Carlson
District 50B
Rep. Lyndon Carlson
District 45A
Rep. Karen Clark
District 62A
Rep. Jack Considine
District 19B
Rep. Jim Davnie
District 63A
Rep. Ray Dehn
District 59B
Rep. Rob Ecklund
District 3A
Rep. Peter Fischer
District 43A
Rep. Peggy Flanagan
District 46A
Rep. Mike Freiberg
District 45B
Rep. Rick Hansen
District 52A
Rep. Alice Hausman
District 66A
Rep. Deb Hilstrom
District 40B
Rep. Clark Johnson
District 19A
Rep. Sheldon Johnson
District 67B
Rep. Erin Koegel
District 37A
Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein
District 41B
Rep. Fue Lee
District 59A
Rep. Tina Liebling
District 26A
Rep. Ben Lien
District 4A
Rep. Leon Lillie
District 43B
Rep. Tim Mahoney
District 67A
Rep. Carlos Mariani
District 65B
Rep. Sandy Masin
District 51A
Rep. Erin Maye Quade
District 57A
Rep. Jason Metsa
District 6B
Rep. Michael Nelson
District 40A
Rep. Liz Olson
District 7B
Rep. Ilhan Omar
District 60B
Rep. Dave Pinto
District 64B
Rep. Laurie Pryor
District 48B
Rep. Paul Rosenthal
District 49B
Rep. Julie Sandstede
District 6A
Rep. Jennifer Schultz
District 7A
Rep. Linda Slocum
District 50A
Rep. Mike Sundin
District 11A
Rep. Paul Thissen
District 61B
Rep. Jean Wagenius
District 63B
Rep. JoAnn Ward
District 53A