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Transportation Improvement Program

Improving Engagement and Equity in Public Outreach

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[5 Minute Read]

Today there exist a myriad of methods to reach out to the public to gather input on planning initiatives and provide education on transportation choices. How can we decipher which strategies will reach the greatest number of people and still be representative of the region we serve?

Equity

Equity in transportation planning does not only refer to the end product – helping ensure that underserved areas are not underrepresented in the planning process – but also refers to the equitable opportunity to take part in the conversation.

As new forms of communication become more widespread and more easily accessible (e.g. mobile surveys, virtual conferences/forums, targeted advertising), it can be tempting to dive headlong into a new strategy to gather more information from groups who are familiar with those communication.

However, we must not lose sight that not all demographics will have access to these new communication methods, and excluding previous methods of gathering information can come at a cost. In-person forums, physical outreach, and phone surveys can still reach segments of the population that may not have access or be willing to participate through new communication methods.

Therefore, it is not enough to ask if changes to our public engagement processes simply improve the number of participants, but also that the end results are still representative of our population.

Getting Results

One of the challenges with new public engagement strategies is determining how to rise above the noise in the virtual space. Many different parties are vying for the attention of the same public with which we want to engage, so how can we improve the likelihood that they will be engaged with our requests?

Targeted email marketing campaigns and targeted advertising to encourage participation can help, but we must keep in mind that we’re also fighting for attention with all other advertisers in that space. One solution – build stronger relationships with community leaders in your region and have them champion your cause.

Wouldn’t you be far more likely to respond to a survey or participate in an event if it comes from someone you know and trust? So if there are opportunities to have known leaders in a region encourage those around them to participate in your public engagement process (for new communication styles or traditional), do not pass them up.

Educational Opportunity

Public engagement is not only an opportunity to gauge interest in upcoming initiatives or individual projects, but also a chance to inform the public about the transportation planning process.

For example, transportation planners can provide the public with exercises to rank projects or initiatives, while demonstrating that there are funding limitations and they cannot rank all projects as their top priority. Not only can this provide more accurate feedback, but also helps your public understand that choices come with trade-offs.

Long-term, these educational opportunities can result in a population with a more clear understanding of the current resource constraints for transportation projects in their region, making them more likely to support future initiatives to gather more revenue for transportation projects.

Summary

New opportunities to engage larger audiences in the transportation infrastructure planning process emerge every year, and we definitely should take advantage of them while also making sure we are balancing that information with input from more traditional sources. Participation in these new communication styles can be bolstered by building relationships with community leaders and endear trust in your agency, and educating your population on the planning process and trade-offs can help support future initiatives.

Have thoughts? We’d love to hear from you. You can reach us at info@ecointeractive.com.

Future of Travel: Transportation’s Pandemic New Normal

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[3 minute read]

As the pandemic rages and certainty on almost everything is a daily moving target, one thing appears certain: we will not be returning to ‘normal’ anytime soon. And that means, the way we travel, commute, and vacation, at least in the medium-term, has changed.

WHAT’S ‘NORMAL’ ANYWAY?   

While the world waits for a vaccine, travelers and commuters are increasingly hesitant to use traditional modes of transportation. A June 2020 survey of 11,000 people released by Dynata, a global online market research firm, found that:

  • 30% surveyed do not feel comfortable flying until restrictions are lifted
  • 40% surveyed no longer use taxi or rideshare services
  • Public transportation usage is at only 60% of normal levels

Additionally, >80% of respondents indicated they would ‘definitely not’ plan a vacation during the pandemic.

Figure 1

SAME ROADS, DIFFERENT VEHICLES

Reluctance to engage in air travel, public transit, taxi / ridesharing, and traditional vacation-planning has led consumers to seek alternative modes of transportation. This shift in behavior has resulted in an unprecedented shortage of bicycles and RVs. In April, U.S. bicycle sales (including accessories) hit $1 billion, up 75% from previous years. As of late-June, RV dealers have seen a 170% jump in RV turnover compared to the previous year. RV rentals have increased 1,600% since April.

These trends are a by-product of an overwhelming belief that private vehicles are safer. In another April survey by consultancy, Capgemini, 75% of people indicated ‘greater control of hygiene in a vehicle I own’ as a key-driver for a car purchase.

Figure 2

IMPLICATIONS ABOUND

So, what are some potential implications of these trends? Severe bicycle shortages with record sales and spiking rentals indicate a ‘back-to-basics’ transportation approach for many. Travelers eschewing traditional vacation plans in favor of domestic travel in RVs and campers will mean vacationers hitting the highways and heading to (presumably) outdoor attractions. Increased private vehicle usage coupled with decreased ridesharing and public transit will potentially create congestion issues for commuters. Decreased public transit use will also mean a sizeable fare, toll, and dedicated tax revenue loss. An analysis of New York’s M.T.A. finances by consultancy McKinsey & Company projects losses as high as $8.5B by end of year.

SHIFTING GEARS

With this confluence of implications, how can transportation planners adapt? Planners in some of the hardest hit cities around the world from Paris to Oakland to Montreal have quickly pivoted to expanding bicycle and pedestrian options. In Paris, a plan to implement more than 400 miles of brand-new pop-up bike lines is already underway. Oakland has committed to making ~10% of streets car-free for the foreseeable future. Montreal is adding 70 extra miles of new bicycle and pedestrian paths. In Milan, a radical plan to shrink a major four-lane car road to only two, will support an effort to install six-foot wide bike lanes and pedestrian walkways.

CHANGING LANES

Ultimately these planners hope to not only adapt to the new travel implications, but to catalyze a paradigm shift in transportation. And while encouraging a shift to bike and pedestrian lanes will not address all pandemic-related transportation implications, a failure to do so could certainly aggravate conditions. And these changes will have to be implemented quickly. Former commissioner of NYC Transportation Department, Janette Sadik-Khan has stated that, “what might have been a 2030 plan is now a 2020 plan.” The U.K. has committed $2.6B to walking and cycling projects in the country, with $315M already fast-tracked for new bike and pedestrian infrastructure.  

DRIVING A NEW FUTURE

While the future is far from certain, what we do know is that the future of travel is changing. What is required of transportation planners, now more than ever, is an ability to quickly adapt and collaborate. Technology will certainly play a key role in this. Especially as we remain sequestered at home waiting for a vaccine. Even once a vaccine has been approved, it may be some time before the threat of the virus is eradicated, if ever. What we can confidently say here at EcoInteractive is that we are with you, and we have your back. As transportation planners plan for a shifting future, our technology and transportation expertise are here to help in any way we can. Have thoughts? We’d love to hear from you. You can reach us at info@ecointeractive.com.

Local Taxes and Investors Fund Transportation During COVID-19

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[5 minute read]

As Capitol Hill continues to haggle over the final form of federal aid in the next stimulus bill – state and municipal transportation agencies are taking matters into their own hands to meet the significant budget shortfalls they’re potentially bracing for 2020 and 2021.

COST CONTAINMENT

State DOTs have prepared budget revisions or draft requests that reflect cuts to capital investment plans where appropriate. Municipal and transit agencies facing sharper revenue declines have implemented furloughs or voluntary buyouts to more aggressively cut costs.

While politically and financially difficult to pass everywhere during a public health crisis, some regions are raising local taxes or putting tax measures up for vote on the November ballot to plug revenue shortfalls.  

LOCAL TAXES

In San Francisco, city supervisors just passed a $40 million sales tax measure to help shore up the battered regional commuter train Caltrans’ finances, where ridership dropped 97% as a result of COVID-19.

In a bolder move, the Portland Metro Council unanimously voted in July to refer a historic $5 billion tax measure to the November ballot that would make significant investments in regional transportation infrastructure for roads and transit routes.    

FRIENDLY MUNICIPAL BOND MARKET

Some agencies are finding that voters may be not be the only ones willing to invest in transportation. One unexpected bright spot lately in government financing has been tapping the capital markets at relatively affordable rates to sell transportation bonds.

Investment managers responsible for leading taxable municipal bond sales have reported strong demand from investors for the foreseeable future. Transportation bonds still present a value buy for many yield-starved investors, compared to other more expensive government debt with higher risk profile.

Strong investor appetite thus far has ensured that newly issued transportation debt from state or local agencies are purchased quickly. The broader market rally driven by the enormous financial support from the Federal Reserve since March has benefited government-backed bonds as well– providing a much-needed source of financing for transportation and transit agencies.

In the next several weeks, more than $14 billion in municipal bonds are expected to be sold. These include the Texas Transportation Commissions’s ~$1 billion taxable general obligation bonds, the Michigan Department of Transportation’s $3.5 billion bond for road repairs, and Alaska’s $88.9 million bond for highway and rail line projects.

Some state legislatures see not only the need to support transportation infrastructure, but also the job creation benefit of transportation investments during an economic recovery. The Massachusetts Senate recently approved a $17 billion transportation bond bill to invest in major infrastructure projects including construction, regional initiatives, traffic congestion and transportation network company data sharing. Connecticut approved $650 million in state borrowing for transportation improvements among other aid initiatives.

While broad-based investor enthusiasm continues for the foreseeable future, state and local transportation agencies vested with borrowing authorities should quickly take advantage of low borrowing rates by selling new bonds. As second waves of COVID-19 potentially threaten nascent economic re-opening in certain regions, it is prudent for agencies to secure capital while it is abundantly available to future-proof against the uncertainties of fighting COVID-19, or fickle investor sentiment.

Evolving Transportation Planning to Reflect Acceleration of Telework

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[10 minute read]

COVID-19 has drastically changed how people work and live during the pandemic. Corporate adoption of remote work or telework significantly accelerated. And we predict the trend will last long after the pandemic is over – with far reaching consequences for the future of cities and transportation planning.

As planners envision the future of transportation infrastructure in Long Range Plans and TIP/STIP, it’s critical to consider how the nature of work and living are changing, and ensure that infrastructure programs will adapt to support the changing needs of local communities.

Mass Remote Work Has Been A Surprising Success for Employers and Employees During Pandemic

With 46% of American businesses having implemented remote work policies as of mid-February -– the mass transition to remote work during COVID-19 has proven surprisingly successful for employers and employees.

Employers with primarily knowledge workers reported no hit to productivity levels and in fact – in some cases saw increases in worker productivity due commute time savings.

Historically, the biggest barriers to remote work for employers were 1) risk of lower productivity, and 2) technology enablement. With the first concern eliminated, and many tech companies like Zoom rising to alleviate the second issue – many employers are finally ready to implement remote work at scale at last.

Furthermore, decreased resistance from managers, substantial savings on real-estate costs and lower-cost hiring in remote locations are additional reasons that companies especially in knowledge economies will find the benefits of remote work far too great to ignore.

For some employees, while telework was challenging during the pandemic especially with closure of childcare centers, most experienced benefits including commute time savings and more casual work environments. In the long-run, a majority of employees believe the pandemic will permanently change the nature of how they work according to a global survey from Salesforce Research:

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following related to your career?


Source: Salesforce Research COVID-19 Global Survey

Significantly Accelerated Adoption of Telework to Drive Greater Migration to Suburbs and Lower-Cost Cities

In response, more employees in cities may take advantage of moving to suburbs where they can find more affordable, larger housing because their longer commute happens less frequently now if at all.

National real estate broker Redfin has already seen this buyer trend playing out during May in the San Francisco Bay Area. Some employees will make bigger moves to lower-cost cities, rural locations close to nature, or even lower-cost countries as full-remote provides literally a world of relocation opportunities.

For employers, more will transition from establishing a monolithic single headquarter with large footprint, to a network of satellite office hubs across cities hosting concentrations of employees.

Transportation Planners Should Re-Evaluate Infrastructure and Development Programs

For transportation planners in high-cost cities, there’ll be added risk in over-designing expensive downtown facilities. Instead, there may be a greater need for suburban developments with large multi-story buildings, and robust commercial centers to support a greater portion of people’s workweeks spent at home .

Less commuting will produce lower congestion during peak periods, which leads to less vehicle emissions and lower toll/gas tax revenues. While the former is a pleasant benefit, the latter requires creative planning earlier on to identify sources of new replacement funding to ensure long-term infrastructure viability. Cities weighing the merits of congestion pricing models may also need to re-evaluate projected revenue scenarios.

In smaller cities and towns expecting greater migration inflows, planners may want to consider strengthening long-distance commute infrastructure to create greater appeal for workers who need to travel to company headquarters farther away.    

Be Prepared to Meet More Evolving Needs

In addition to telework, there are other trends accelerated by the pandemic that will have long-lasting consequences for city and transportation planning. These include the acceleration of e-commerce, e-grocery and restaurant delivery, as well as changes to methods of learning and people’s preferences for transportation modes that will shape the future of infrastructure.

The key to understand and meet evolving community needs is to keep a close pulse on what’s happening. Luckily, there are more technology solutions available today than ever to help transportation planners engage the public, communicate a compelling story, solicit feedback and gather useful datapoints about meaningful trends taking hold in the communities they serve.

Here at EcoInteractive, we’re working with transportation planners on a daily basis to address their evolving needs by leveraging modern cloud technologies. We are privileged to continue supporting transportation planning agencies, and would welcome any questions or comments to help better serve transportation planners.

Assessing The Right eSTIP Or eTIP Technology

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[15 minute read]

If you are thinking about adopting new TIP / STIP software, it is important to take a thoughtful approach. Otherwise, you could end up with an out of control scope, a project that never ends, or a system that does not accomplish the core of what you need it to do.

This quick guide provides important criteria to consider when evaluating different technologies. If you are working within a team, this can be used as a framework to find alignment. A downloadable matrix is also included to help chart out your findings.

Best of luck!

You have to know where you are going to get there.

Establishing a Vision

It may be cheesy to say but the first thing you must nail down is the vision for what you want to improve within your organization and how new technology can help you achieve it. Be sure to keep your vision focused and clear. 

Imagine—as you evaluate new technology solutions, your vision is going to be your guidepost to help steer you back on course and make the right choice. This is especially true if you are working with team members in different roles or departments. Everyone might have a use case they would want a new technology to accommodate, but all those things should contribute to your end goal. It is a great way to keep the scope and cost of a solution in check. 

Questions to ask:

  1. Who are the primary end users or beneficiaries of the new system?
  2. Where are the bottlenecks, time consuming tasks, or areas prone to issues in current planning process?
  3. What are the most common and biggest pain points that users face in their daily work?
  4. Where are the opportunities for improvement – to not only fix problems, but also elevate standards?
  5. Are there peers that you can look to for inspiration?

Supporting Milestones and Metrics

Your vision is what helps you stay true to your course. However, it is the milestones or metrics you set that define how successful you have been at picking the right technology. These are the specific accomplishments you want to share with leadership and colleagues once a new solution is implemented. The milestones or metrics should speak directly to your vision.

Here are some example vision and milestone/metric statements:

Choosing the right technology is like choosing the right partner.

Whether it is developing a system internally or purchasing an off-the-shelf software, you want a partner who is invested in making innovations and is focused on addressing needs of the end user. There are a few factors worth considering.

Industry Expertise

In the technology space, you want to find a partner that has expertise in both building a technical solution AND domain expertise in your industry.

For example, if you are looking for  software to manage projects within your State Transportation Improvement Plan, your partner must have experience building software AND in transportation planning. They should understand the federal rules and regulations for approving and reporting on transportation plans, as well as how information needs to flow between each step of the approval process.

You will be able to judge the expertise of potential partners by:

  1. The product they provide
  2. Their track record with other clients

Continual Product Development

Technologies are constantly evolving, as are user needs and relevant regulations. Any technology solution for government agencies must face these factors of change by continually and adequately investing in evolving needs.

Typically, vendors with a niche product are better equipped to provide continual product innovation. They are able to:

  • Focus investments and efforts on regular improvements to a defined product offering
  • Can spread the cost of development across their client base
  • Can use their expertise and client feedback to provide impactful, modern solutions

In cases where solutions are custom-built from the ground up, it is important to prepare a realistic projection for development timeline and costs at discrete milestones every 6 months at minimum. This ensures that a project will not suddenly discover to be dramatically under-delivering and over-budget after two years. A helpful exercise is comparing projections for timeline and costs against actual track records on similar projects. In addition, any cost forecasting must reflect details on how the solution will be adequately maintained on a continual basis to avoid technology or obsolescence, given today’s technologies are evolving more quickly than ever before.

Maintainability

Maintainability refers to the ease with which you repair and improve software. This includes things like bug fixes, supporting capability enhancement, improving efficiency, and fixing security vulnerabilities. 

If you are moving toward implementing new technology internally, you will need to budget resources to maintain the system and factor in end-of-life of the underlying system infrastructure. If purchasing through a vendor, maintenance is typically included as part of the package. 

Either way, you want to ensure that the solution you choose now remains viable for as long as possible into the future.

Support

Having responsive ongoing support is key to success in the next critical phase after a new technology is implemented. Having a ‘Help Desk’ or ‘Support Team’ to engage with can make resolving an issue as simple as an email. Tutorials, training, and the user-friendliness of the system can also facilitate additional support to new users being onboarded.

Implementation Timeline

Time is of the essence! This is especially true when implementing new technology. You want something that can be up and running quickly so that you can maximize its value and keep your team and leadership excited about the positive outcomes of a new solution. 

Cost of Ownership

Whether shopping at a grocery store or picking an enterprise solution–cost is always an important consideration. The part that is often overlooked is the total value of a better product.  For example, if solution A is $40,000 cheaper than option B, but option B provides potential time savings and increased engagement worth over $80,000, you should choose option B.  Although option B may require more upfront investment, the return in the long run is much greater.

Some examples of benefits worth evaluating are outlined below.

A framework to find the right tool…

You can choose to take a quantitative or qualitative approach to filling out the framework below. Qualitative is nice because you can capture some of the nuances, especially if you are evaluating between different types of solutions: vendor, contractor, internally built, etc. Quantitative is helpful if you are evaluating many potential solutions, or if there is not a clear consensus among a large group.

The downloadable matrix includes a template for both qualitative and quantitative approach.

DOWNLOADABLE MATRIX – Assessing-The-Right-eSTIP-Or-eTIP-TechnologyDownloa

Early Look At Transportation Revenue Changes

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[10 Minute Read] 

As state and local officials passed SIP or stay-home mandates throughout April, many feared the ensuing economic devastation and budget hits to state and local governments.

In the recently published April 2020 Federal Highway Trust Fund (HFT) receipts and outlays, we see an early look at fuel tax revenue during recent public health-related lockdown.

Compared to the same period last year, total net tax receipts to the HTF in April 2020 dropped 14% year-over-year, with a 15% drop in gasoline tax receipts. This was a much better-than-expected number, given gasoline consumption has plunged by 30% from pre-COVID levels.  

Source: Treasury.gov
Note: Trust Fund receipts reflect economic activity in the latter half of March plus first half of April 2020

The lower-than-expected reduction in fuel tax receipts may be a result of increased freight truck demand during the early days of the public health crises, as shops and consumers raced to aggressively stock up on goods. Data from the California Truckers Association shows that commercial flatbed load-to-truck ratio saw a spike in the early days of COVID-19 severity:

Source: California Truckers Association Briefing for California Transportation Commission, April 17, 2020

Since there was more demand for goods (load) than trucks available to transport early on, it may be contributing to better-than-expected fuel tax receipts from the April HFT report. 

However, as April unfolded, demand for commercial trucking dropped steadily to 4.38 load-to-truck ratio by week of 4/19 – which is 75% lower than the same period in 2019. 

Source: California Truckers Association Briefing for California Transportation Commission, April 17, 2020

Anecdotally, analysts in the trucking industry are seeing a 50% decrease in sales of trucks and tractors, as capital budgets are usually the first to be cut. This would suggest future excise tax receipts on trucks for HFT will likely worsen significantly in the coming months. 

Outside of fuel tax revenue, the resilience and impact to other sources of funding for transportation projects will be tested in the coming months. The question of federal assistance for state and local governments is expected to be hotly debated in Congress. The $50 billion in revenue replacement grant requested by AASHTO for state DOTs remains outstanding, as well as transit agencies’ request for a 2nd stimulus aid to replace revenue lost from lower sales taxes.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve’s actions to provide liquidity for municipal bonds has temporarily helped stabilize a market frequently tapped by state and local agencies for funding including transportation projects. 

New transportation bond issues from Connecticut state and NYC MTA this month will put investor appetite to the test. 

As MPOs and state DOTs look ahead to re-forecast fiscal year budgets for capital projects and operating costs, it has become critical to stay nimble with scenario planning for future funds availability for STIP, TIP and CIP plans.

For transportation planners, and leaders at MPO and state DOTs managing against evolving uncertainty – we’d like to share a scenario planning framework we’ve found helpful in weathering past recessions. Our scenarios cover three cases: base, upside and downside. 

  1. Base case – represents your best guess at what will likely happen as of today.
  2. Upside case – reflects favorable macroeconomic and funding conditions returning much quicker. Performing this exercise helps to identify which transportation projects can be moved forward earlier and which internal efforts should be prioritized – if more funding becomes available, quickly adjusting to play offense to accelerate your agency’s vision.
  3. Downside case – should reflect a worst-case scenario that goes beyond even the worst of what you can imagine today. While not a pleasant exercise on its own, it forces healthy stakeholder discussions to agree on which projects are candidates for postponement, and how to come up with greater operating efficiencies (however dramatic they may be) should the situation merit it. 

Given the multi-variable nature of predicting near-term funding for transportation projects – i.e., speed of control over the public health crisis, federal stimulus, consumer and business sentiment, etc., we recommend revisiting key assumptions in each of the three scenarios on a monthly basis. Additionally, while we never have perfect information before making decisions, it is essential to zone in on the most important, key data points and to keep a close pulse on how they change. 

Finally, while how the picture will change for transportation plans like TIP and STIP remains uncertain, what is guaranteed is that more amendments must be processed in the future as the situation evolves. 

It is imperative that transportation planning teams revisit how they coordinate amendments and process revisions to ensure they can adapt quickly to unexpected changes by having the right setup and tools for efficient and accurate multi-stakeholder coordination.

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