Shared mobility in Greater Minnesota | Moving Greater Minnesota Forward
Moving Greater Minnesota Forward Phase 2: Real World Testing
We encourage projects that successfully complete Phase 1 and developed an idea that is ready for real world testing to apply for up to two years of pilot funding in Phase 2. The purpose of Phase 2 grants is to provide funding for demonstration projects of up to two years as a proof of concept for shared mobility projects in Greater Minnesota. Phase 2 seeks to help shared mobility projects that have successfully completed Phase 1 to implement their shared mobility idea in a real-world test that may be used to scale and expand their project after Phase 2 is complete.
Available grant funding
In the 2025, second cohort of Phase 2 grant funding, each grant applicant may only apply for a minimum of $20,000 up to a maximum of $150,000. Using state-funded grants, we have up to $500,000 in total funding available for this round of grants to be distributed to qualified shared mobility pilot projects.
Timeline
- Monday, Jan. 27, 2025: First ILT Lean Startup Refresher workshop for Phase 1 project teams
- Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025: Second ILT Lean Startup Refresher workshop for Phase 1 project teams
- Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025: Phase 2 application opens
- Tuesday, March 4, 2025: Informational webinar
- Monday, March 31, 2025: Phase 2 application closes
- Thursday, April 24, 2025: Project selection finalized and award notices sent to applicants
Eligibility
Applicants must have completed Phase 1 of the Moving Greater Minnesota Forward program to apply for Phase 2 funding.
Eligible applicants
Grant applicant must provide proposal(s) for either of the following:
- Shared mobility projects that support services provided by transit agencies eligible to receive funding under Minn. Stat. § 174.24, subd. 2, as follows:
- legislatively established public transit commission or authority
- tribal government
- county or statutory or home rule charter city providing financial assistance to or operating public transit
- private operator of public transit
- Shared mobility project(s) that support active transportation, as defined in Minn. Stat. § 174.38, subd. 1(b) as “bicycling, pedestrian activities, and other forms of nonmotorized transportation.”
Projects must be located in Greater Minnesota defined as the area of the state outside of the seven counties of the Twin Cities Metro area. Ineligible locations include the following:
- Anoka County
- Carver County
- Dakota County
- Hennepin County
- Ramsey County
- Scott County
- Washington County
Multiple eligible organizations may apply on a single grant application but should indicate which organization is the lead and direct funding recipient. At least one organization on the application must have successfully completed the full Phase 1 Moving Greater Minnesota Forward course, including meeting all attendance and deliverable requirements.
Eligible projects
The goal of the Phase 2 program is to bring project ideas to market and implement pilots. Projects eligible for selection must involve the development of a new shared mobility service or improvement to an existing shared mobility service. Shared mobility is defined as a form of transportation in which transportation services are shared among users. Users may use the service at the same time or independently of one another.
Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Transit
- Van and carpooling
- Rideshare
- Carsharing
- Micromobility (bike, ebike, and scooter share)
- Microtransit
- Delivery service
Any use of Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funded vehicles must follow all required FTA regulations.
Application process
Before you apply
- Review our full solicitation guide (PDF)
- Attend our informational webinar at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4, 2025
- Review the MnDOT Equity Lens Framework & Companion Guide (PDF)
Items to prepare for your application
- Budget narrative (Word)
- Letter of commitment signed by authorized agent - example (PDF)
- Affidavit of noncollusion (PDF)
- Disclosure of potential conflict of interest (PDF)
- Certification of no conviction of felony financial crime by a principal (PDF)
- Lean canvas (PDF)
- Concept canvas (PDF)
- Financial documentation:
- If a nonprofit organization - one of the following documents:
- Grant applicants with annual income of under $50,000, or who have not been in existence long enough to have a completed IRS Form 990 or audit should submit their most recent board-reviewed financial statements.
- Grant applicants with total annual revenue of $50,000 or more and less than $750,000 should submit their most recent IRS Form 990.
- Grant applicants with total annual revenue of over $750,000 should submit their most recent certified financial audit.
- If a for-profit business - all of the following documents:
- The grant applicant’s most recent federal and state tax returns
- Current financial statements
- Certification that the business is not under bankruptcy proceedings
Optional documents you may want to include
- Letter of commitment from any application partners
- Letter of commitment from match funder or award letter
- Letter of support from other organizations
- Planning and development documents for the project
- Market analysis surveys, interviews, or reports
- Visual representations of project
When you're ready to apply
After you apply
- A committee will review and score all applications.
- We'll announce project awards on Thursday, April 24, 2025.
- Grant recipients must submit a scope of work document, quarterly reports for the grant period, and a final project report.
Additional information
Grants will be selected by a review committee using the following scoring criteria.
Base score
| Category | Maximum number of points |
|---|---|
| Quality of proposal | 35 |
| Quality of budget narrative | 15 |
| Match funding | 20 |
| Alignment with MnDOT priorities | 30 |
| Total maximum base score | 100 |
Bonus points
| Category | Maximum number of points |
|---|---|
| Equity bonus | 15 |
| Geographic balance | 10 |
| Total maximum bonus points | 25 |
Quality of proposal/project readiness
Proposals will be rated by their overall quality and project readiness. Project narrative submissions should demonstrate how ready their project is to implement and describe how their project will be implemented, including planning, launch, marketing, and maintenance of the service. Please include a timeline of key milestones and deliverables for the project from funding approval to the end of the proposed project reporting period.
Applicants should outline the market need for their service, who their intended customers are, estimate market size for end users during the project, and what the current market alternatives are.
Applicants should explain any community outreach work they have done and/or any market testing from proposed customers or users to demonstrate that their service is well aligned to address the problem or market need.
Depending on the proposal, applicants should explain any existing partnership agreements/contracts with project partners they have in place, match funding they have already secured, and summary of staffing and service plans. If any further infrastructure like vehicle charging, updates to local ordinances, or other changes are required before the project is implemented, the applicant must disclose these and explain how they are going to address these barriers to entry to stay on schedule.
Applicants should share their experience implementing any similar projects previously and include the name, title, and relevant work experience of any key staff planned to work on this project.
Grant reviewers will rate how well the submission covers these requirements for a maximum of 35 points.
Quality of budget narrative
Applicants must include a separate budget narrative in a PDF format with their application, using MnDOT’s budget narrative template. The narrative should include a total project budget table including all proposed funding sources by year, for no longer than 24 months. Please include any matching funds in the funding sources section of the total project budget, including what percentage of the total project budget these funds represent, and a description of the source of the match funding and whether the funding is secured.
In addition to the tables, the applicant must include a description of each project expense category and the method they used to determine this cost estimate. The following expense categories must be included in the budget submission: operations, software, vehicle purchase or leasing, marketing, staff salaries, and fringe.
Primary planning and engineering design should have been completed before applying for Phase 2 funding, and these expenses should not make up more than 20% of the total project budget. Any administrative costs should not exceed 15% of the total project budget.
Grant reviewers will rate how well the submission covers these requirements for a maximum of 15 points.
Match funding
Applicants should include any secured or planned matching funds in the funding source section of their budget narrative document. Submissions will receive 1 point per 4% of total project budget provided by matching funds up to a maximum of 20 points, or 80% of the total project budget.
MnDOT priorities
MnDOT is especially interested in projects that address the following needs:
- Services that complement existing public transit by providing first mile/last mile connections to transit services or by meeting a travel need public transit is currently unable to meet
- New shared mobility services to meet the needs of historically underserved communities not currently served by public transit
- Improved efficiencies or business models for existing shared mobility services that result in lower operational costs, increased revenue, lower greenhouse gas emissions, or improved service delivery
- Winterization models for existing shared mobility services
- Electrification of shared mobility services
Applicants should demonstrate how their project will address one or more of these priorities for the Moving Greater Minnesota Forward program. Submissions that demonstrate they address at least one priority will receive 10 points, and will then receive 5 points for each additional priority they address for a maximum of 30 points.
Equity bonus
Projects will receive 15 additional points on top of their base score if their project serves an Area of Higher Transit Need.
- Map of Areas of Higher Transit Need in Northeast Minnesota - MnDOT District 1 (PNG)
- Map of Areas of Higher Transit Need in Northwest Minnesota - MnDOT District 2 (PNG)
- Map of Areas of Higher Transit Need in Central Minnesota - MnDOT District 3 (PNG)
- Map of Areas of Higher Transit Need in West Central Minnesota - MnDOT District 4 (PNG)
- Map of Areas of Higher Transit Need in Southeast Minnesota - MnDOT District 6 (PNG)
- Map of Areas of Higher Transit Need in Sounth Central Minnesota - MnDOT District 7 (PNG)
- Map of Areas of Higher Transit Need in Southwest Minnesota - MnDOT District 8 (PNG)
Geographic balance
MnDOT wishes to make distribution of Moving Greater Minnesota Forward Phase 2 grant funding geographically balanced throughout Greater Minnesota. MnDOT divides Greater Minnesota into eight districts. If the project is the only submission from their MnDOT District, they will receive 10 additional point on top of their base score.
Responders must adhere to all terms of this RFP. All costs incurred in responding to this RFP will be borne by the responder.
MnDOT not obligated to complete project
This RFP does not obligate MnDOT to award a Contract or complete the project, and MnDOT reserves the right to cancel the solicitation if it is considered to be in its best interest.
Proposal certifications
By submitting a Proposal, responders warrant that the information provided is true, correct and reliable for purposes of evaluation for potential Contract award. The submission of inaccurate or misleading information may be grounds for disqualification from Contract award and may subject the responder to suspension or debarment proceedings, as well as other remedies available to MnDOT, by law.
- Names and addresses of grant applicants will be public data once proposal responses are opened.
- All remaining data in proposal responses (except trade secret data as defined and classified in §13.37) will be public data after the evaluation process is completed (for the purposes of this grant, when all grant agreements have been fully executed).
- All data created or maintained by MnDOT as part of the evaluation process (except trade secret data as defined and classified in § 13.37) will be public data after the evaluation process is completed (for the purposes of this grant, when all grant agreements have been fully executed).