In its 2013 session, the Minnesota Legislature directed the Minnesota Department of Transportation to fund research at the University of Minnesota's Center for Transportation Studies, including research on "transportation policy and economic competitiveness, including, but not limited to, innovative transportation finance options and economic development, transportation impacts of industry clusters and freight, and transportation technology impacts on economic competitiveness."
The Transportation Policy and Economic Competitiveness Program was created in response to this directive. Read more about TPEC: