FY19 MCOTA Outreach Support Potential Ideas March 15, KEY WORDS Transit coordination, Minnesota, community transportation, rural transportation

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Millicent Ward
5 years ago
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1 Principal Investigator: Arlene Mathison Director of Digital Information and Library Services, CTS, University of Minnesota Phone: ABSTRACT This proposal is for continued information and outreach support to assist the Minnesota Council on Transportation Access (MCOTA). To accomplish this, CTS will: maintain and update the MCOTA website, prepare the MCOTA annual report, assist in the development of meeting agendas and minutes, coordinate meeting presentations, and work with MCOTA members to create a quarterly to stakeholders. In addition, the University will assist the Council with its work alongside the Regional Transportation Coordinating Councils in addition to other policy areas. KEY WORDS Transit coordination, Minnesota, community transportation, rural transportation IMPLEMENTATION WHAT METHODS, PROCEDURES, PRODUCTS, AND/OR STANDARDS SHOULD CHANGE AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT? This work will assist MCOTA in advancing transportation coordination in Minnesota. WHAT ARE THE SPECIFIC BENEFITS OF THIS CHANGE(S)? WHY WOULD THIS CHANGE(S) BE IMPORTANT AND HOW CAN THESE BENEFITS BE MEASURED? The benefits may include cost savings and efficiencies in human services transportation services, as well as enhanced services for customers. BACKGROUND Since 2000, the Center for Transportation Studies (CTS) has worked with local partners on community transportation issues. During this time, significant progress has been made in identifying problems and potential solutions for agencies that provide transportation and other services to disadvantaged populations. In 2004, Hennepin County contracted with CTS to develop outreach mechanisms to disseminate information about community transportation topics and innovations. Products from this project included a website and a quarterly electronic newsletter, the Community Transportation E-news. Since 2006, MnDOT has contracted with CTS and with University of Minnesota researchers for assistance with transportation coordination communication, outreach, and research, including the CoordinateMNTransit.org website, developing communications materials and templates about Page 1

2 MCOTA, a synthesis of the 2011 Greater Minnesota regional transportation coordination plans, a mobility management webinar series, the costs and benefits of transportation coordination case studies, the development of a strategic action plan, a primer of funding sources for the transit public in Minnesota, common standards for financial records, data collection and analysis of vehicle sharing, an online map of human services transportation providers areas of service, and a webinar and four workshops to help MCOTA formulate a regional coordination council/collaboration model and to identify ways to implement it. OBJECTIVE The goals of this project are to inform MCOTA members, policymakers, practitioners, and local human services transportation stakeholders of effective options for improving transportation services through coordination. SCOPE This proposal is for continued information and outreach support to assist MCOTA. To accomplish this, CTS will: maintain and update the MCOTA website, prepare the MCOTA annual report, assist in the development of meeting agendas and minutes, coordinate meeting presentations, and work with MCOTA members to create and distribute a quarterly to stakeholders. In addition, the University will assist the Council with its work alongside the RTCCs and other policy areas as needs arise. Potential other policy areas include topics such as Transportation Network Companies, transportation funding and service provision, and more. MnDOT ASSISTANCE Provide and review content for annual report, website, monthly meeting agendas and minutes, and the quarterly stakeholder s. Page 2

3 TASKS TASK 1 Task Name: FY19 website updates and maintenance Upload new information from the Council or members Review other state transit coordination and related websites for materials to add to the website Update home page with new information as it is available Review external links to make sure that they are still active Ensure the website meets Federal and state accessibility standards Update website within 2 business days of requests unless development of new content is required Review usage logs to see which pages are being accessed by users Provide usage reports to the sponsor on a quarterly basis. TASK 2 Task Name: Write and edit the Council s 2018 annual report for the Minnesota legislature Task Description: For this task, CTS will work with a Council committee and MnDOT staff to write the annual report for the Minnesota legislature. This will be a pp. document with highlights of activities from the past year. Input from the committee, as well as meeting minutes from the past year, will be the basis for the report. Time frame: September 1, 2018 January 15, 2019 TASK 3 Task Name: FY19 MCOTA meeting assistance Attend monthly MCOTA meetings in order to provide task updates, understand task needs, and facilitate discussions as needed. Prepare meeting agendas for review by MCOTA staff, determining topics through monthly conference calls and coordinating with presenters as requested. Write minutes for each meeting, submitting them electronically to the TL within 10 business days. Page 3

4 TASK 4 Task Name: FY19 MCOTA quarterly stakeholder communications Solicit content from MCOTA members and staff each quarter Edit content and put into format, send for review, and send to stakeholders Maintain mailing list Summarize results like open rate, click-through rate, and most popular stories in each issue to share with MCOTA members Task Name: RTCC Priority Activities TASK 5 Assist MCOTA with the development of infrastructure to facilitate communication within and between the RTCCs and MCOTA Develop tools/products that could be used by RTCCs and establish a sharing environment where RTCCs can share tools and products. Assist MCOTA in work to resolving any state and federal barriers to coordination Develop minimum standards for outcomes/performance measures with RTCC imput Page 4

5 OTHER POTENTIAL ACTIVITIES RELATED TO RTCCS Table 6: MCOTA s Priority Activities for RTCCs (see below for full list) MCOTA s Priority Activities for RTCCs Develop other infrastructure to facilitate communication within and between the RTCCs (activity #5) Develop tools/products that could be used by RTCCs; disseminate products developed by one RTCC to the other RTCCs (activity #7) Assist with resolving state and federal barriers to coordination (activity #8) Develop minimum standards for outcomes/performance measures with RTCC input (activity #10) The priority activities are bolded in the list below. From Minnesota Council on Transportation Access: Strategic Plan and Recommendations. 1 Strategic Priority 1. Develop regional organizations to help people use statewide tools. The recommendations below are based in large part on the stakeholder feedback from the workshops, as well as further conversations. Participants generally saw the value of the role of state agencies, suggesting the need for a statewide oversight council to help direct and coordinate all of the regional councils efforts. They recommended that the regional councils have representatives on the state council. They recognized the need for communications among the regional councils, as well as transparency of communications and decision-making. MCOTA is well positioned to fulfill these duties. 1. Move forward with developing Regional Transportation Coordinating Councils 2. Create an advisory committee to MCOTA that would be made up of reps from each RTCC (8-12). This advisory committee would meet separately from MCOTA, and be invited to attend and be on the agenda of each regular MCOTA meeting. a. Travel, conference call, and meeting expenses could be covered by MCOTA funds or by the RTCC administrative funds. 3. Host an annual dialogue for all RTCCs 4. Host regional workshops for each RTCC, either annually or biannually. 5. Develop other infrastructure to facilitate communication within and between the RTCCs (e.g., meeting and conference call space, electronic discussion group(s), collaborative website). 6. Provide technical assistance to RTCCs. a. Mobility management training b. Other specialized training c. Dealing with HIPAA 7. Develop tools/products that could be used by RTCCs; disseminate products developed by one RTCC to the other RTCCs. These could include: a. Sample by-laws and other operational guidelines 1 MCOTA Strategic Plan, June pp Page 5

6 b. Insurance agreements c. Waiver templates, examples d. Other templates, such as vehicle-sharing agreements, volunteer driver program information, travel training programs, commuter programs, Linkage Line and marketing/communication materials e. Best practices for council member recruitment 8. Assist with resolving state and federal barriers to coordination. a. Funding restrictions b. Privacy regulations c. Insurance regulations d. Legislation e. Interagency conflicts f. Policy 9. Support RTCC pilot projects such as: a. Surveying customers regarding future transit innovation b. Testing car sharing programs in rural areas c. Testing different models for volunteer driver programs Projects could be identified through a solicitation process, with a presentation and/or report given to MCOTA or to a regional or statewide coordination event. 10. With RTCC advisory committee input, develop minimum standards for outcomes/performance measures. These outcomes could include: Increased ridership Cost savings Reduction in service gaps Reduction in duplicative services Fewer service denials Consistent policies and practices among providers Improved outreach to potential users Continued success of programs that are already working well Stakeholder satisfaction Improved collaboration (such as ride-sharing) among members One challenge for MCOTA is balancing state standards with local control and flexibility for innovation. Ideally, MCOTA will develop a framework and tools, define statewide outcomes, and allow flexibility for how the outcomes are accomplished at the local/regional level. OTHER POTENTIAL RESEARCH ACTIVITIES Any follow-up studies? Page 6

7 Draft Budget by Task: FY19 Tasks: Estimated budget 1: FY18 Website maintenance $ 3,888 2: Write and edit the Council s 2018 annual report for the legislature $ 4,992 3: FY18 MCOTA meeting assistance $ 11,442 4: FY18 MCOTA quarterly stakeholder communications $ 5,515 5: RTCC Assistance? FY19 Total: $ 25,837 Page 7

FY19 MCOTA Outreach Support Proposed May 22, 2018

FY19 MCOTA Outreach Support Proposed May 22, 2018 Principal Investigator: Arlene Mathison Director of Digital Information and Library Services, CTS, University of Minnesota Phone: 612-624-3646 E-Mail: mathi032@umn.edu ABSTRACT This proposal is for continued