Multimodal Accessibility has been well-considered in cities, but can the principles of access to destinations apply in a rural context, where the stereotype is "everybody drives"? Motivated by the reality that large non-driving fractions of the population (including those too young, too old, or unable to drive) still need to connect to destinations to meet their daily needs, we explored access to educational, grocery, and health care destinations in rural Minnesota. Whether reaching a high school by bicycle, a grocery store walking or rolling, or being transported to urgent care, we document how all rural is not alike in destination access. The land use and transportation systems synthesized into Accessibility can help better describe what opportunities are like in different parts of the state, and point to specific places where transportation interventions might make a big difference.

Since the early 2010s, American transit systems have faced declining ridership, particularly on bus routes, a trend exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Key contributing factors include the convenience of driving, inadequate transit services leading to first/last-mile access challenges, and the perceived higher cost of transit compared to driving. To address these issues, transit agencies are exploring solutions such as expanding frequent and reliable services (e.g., light rail or bus rapid transit) in large urban areas and leveraging new transportation technologies to enhance accessibility and reliability in smaller urban and rural areas.

This presentation analyzes transit ridership trends in urban and rural Minnesota, examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ridership and user behavior. It also evaluates the effectiveness of emerging transit technologies, including Autonomous Mobility-on-Demand (AMoD) services for last-mile access and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) for rural transit integration. Finally, policy recommendations will be discussed to support the adoption of these technologies in addressing transit challenges.