Bonding bill may incubate transit system

BY CHRIS HAMILTON
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
       A new Minnesota legislative bill would help pay for the construction of a demonstration track for a proposed Disney-like personal transport system in Duluth.
       The bonding bill, which does not give a dollar amount, would establish a .4-mile "certification track" that could someday connect to a larger system throughout the city. Local officials said that having the test facility in Duluth could someday lead to the creation of manufacturing jobs.
       The Duluth Transit Authority was named in the bill to oversee the high-tech system, which involves driverless, three-person pods, running on-demand and nonstop on an electrically-powered elevated monorail.
       The bonding bill doesn't name a private company to partner with on the project. But the Duluth City Council has worked closely with Taxi 2000 Corp., a Fridley, Minn., company, that created a personal transport system called Skyweb Express.
       Last month, the City Council approved a resolution supporting establishment of the test track with Taxi 2000. The city, though, has no formal partnership agreements with the company.
       Mike Lester, chief operating officer at Taxi 2000, said the system initially would not be for public use. Instead, it would give the company a chance to finalize engineering and prove to everybody that the Skyweb is a viable commercial product, Lester said. "We are truly at the beginnings of launching an industry," he said.
       Rep. Tom Huntley, DFL-Duluth, who co-sponsored the bonding bill, said the state share in the test track could reach about $10 million, but legislators would expect a two-to-one match from private investors.
       Lester said the total price tag for his company's demonstration project would be about $24 million.
       This is an opportunity for Minnesota to take the lead in the development of rapid personal transport systems, Huntley said.
       Dennis Jensen, DTA general manager, said the DTA would act primarily as a conduit to attract federal and state funds, then oversee how they are distributed. Actual project construction and operation most likely would fall to Taxi 2000. But Jensen reiterated that details are still unresolved.
       Canal Park has been touted as a site for the test track. No matter where it goes, Jensen said they aren't concerned that the project would compete with the DTA for riders.
       "I think the city and the DTA view this more as an economic development tool rather than an answer to any transportation problems," Jensen said.
       Two Duluth companies, Krech Ojard & Associates and Bend Tec Inc., have worked with Taxi 2000 to develop the project. Cirrus Design Corp. also has been mentioned as a potential builder of the composite pods.
       Rep. Mark Olson, R-Big Lake, a longtime proponent of rapid personal transit, wrote the bonding bill. Olson also wrote a bill that would make privately owned public personal transit companies tax exempt as long as they don't receive government subsidies.
       A third bill by Olson would introduce a statewide referendum this November on whether to exclusively dedicate motor vehicle state sales taxes to public transportation.
       Huntley said a lot of the bonding details will be hammered out in legislative hearings; the first is with the House transportation finance committee.
       This is a bonding year at the state Capitol, and legislators report to work Feb. 2. Jensen said city officials first will need to decide where the project fits in its list of bonding requests for the Legislature.
       Here are some of the bills' key provisions: