One of the most popular events at our annual Designing Cities Conference, the Meet the Cities poster session gives every NACTO member agency the opportunity to share their projects, successes, and works-in-progress with their peers. Minneapolis prepared the content below for its 2025 Meet the Cities poster.

Racial Equity Framework for Transportation

Adopted in 2023, the Minneapolis Racial Equity Framework for Transportation (REF) serves as a guide to create transportation policies, practices, and systems that benefit all people. The work to incorporate the REF in planning, designing, building, and maintaining street and other transportation projects is a part of building an actively anti-racist culture in the City of Minneapolis.

Among its major elements, the REF identifies 64 community-informed racial equity actions to implement through 2030. Each action was given a timeline for completion, with 23 identified as year one (2023) actions.

This framework called for the development of new community engagement tools. This work has been completed, and community engagement tools are now used regularly in the planning of capital projects.

Community Engagement Planning Tools

Engagement goals and planning guide. New public engagement guidance for developing engagement goals and engagement plans is available for all project managers. The tools help ensure that projects consider equity needs when identifying stakeholders and determining strategies for engagement.

Community Consulting Pool. A new master services contract allows City departments to direct-select businesses and organizations for public engagement needs. The pool consists of businesses, neighborhood organizations, community-based organizations, and non-profits working with Minneapolis communities and neighborhoods. The pool simplifies the process and requirements for planners to contract with organizations with direct ties to the communities where projects are being planned.

Community Street Survey toolkit. A new toolkit has been developed to gather public input on community infrastructure needs on-site. The toolkit helps raise awareness about the project, helps City staff build relationships with local organizations, and educates residents about street design elements that support safety, comfort, and mode shift goals.

Putting new tools to use: Green Central Safe Routes to School Project

The Green Central Safe Routes to School project is an example of how using community engagement tools in the planning process can inform and help guide the design of a capital project.

This project used a Community Street Survey and a temporary demonstration project to engage community members in the planning process. The City hosted an As You Go MPLS event—a City initiative that promotes traveling by walking, biking, and taking public transit in Minneapolis— as a celebration of the new street design and to highlight how community members can take advantage of the newly installed protected bikeway, traffic calming treatments, and green spaces.

These tools helped City staff engage with a wider audience, incorporate community input into the project design, and promote the use of the new street improvements among students and families.

Check out all of the posters from Meet the Cities 2025.