Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Southern New England APA Conference (SNEAPA)October 20, 2016

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Circular 4702.1B requires that the Public Participation Plan (PPP): Identify the proactive strategies that the recipient

will use to engage minority and LEP communities. Explicitly describe the procedures that will

facilitate the desired inclusive public participation. Describe the desired outcomes that underpin the

recipient’s public participation activities.

Title VI and Public Participation

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

WMATA’s service area is home to a very large and diverse population. This includes Title VI populations.

• Minority groups • Low-income • Limited English Proficient (LEP)• Persons with disabilities

Identifying the Target Audience

An estimated 422,000 people speak English less than “very well” in the WMATA service area

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Metro Customer Demographic Profile

11.5% Limited English Proficient (LEP)

• Spanish (60%)• Chinese• Korean• Vietnamese• African Languages• French• Tagalog• Arabic

27% Low Income

58% Minority

Household income of $30,000 or less is low income threshold

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

11.5% Limited English Proficient (LEP)

• Spanish (60%)• Chinese• Korean• Vietnamese• African Languages• French• Tagalog• Arabic

WMATA LEP Population Distribution

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Development of the WMATA PPP

Federal Requirements Review

Best Practice Review

WMATA Staff Interviews

Community-Based Organizations (CBO) Outreach

Speak Up! It's Your Ride Outreach Campaign

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Public Participation Plan Goals

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Speak Up! It’s Your Ride

23 Public Outreach Events Pop-Ups, Community Meetings, Group Interviews

3,513 Survey Responses

68% minority, 28% low-income, 10% LEP

Survey was available in Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin), Vietnamese, Korean, Amharic, French, and Arabic

15 in-depth focus groups with staff and constituents of Community Based Organizations

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Go to Where the People Are

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Tailor Strategies to Impacted Populations

Spanish-speaking Chinese-speaking Vietnamese-speaking

Recommended

Preference Varied

Pop-up

CBO Meeting

Pop-up

CBO Meeting

CBO Meeting

Online

Suggested, but not verified

Community Meeting

Online

Public Hearing

Community Meeting

Focus Group

Online

Public Hearing

Not Recommended

Pop-up Community Meeting Focus Group Public Hearing

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Create Institutional ResourcesPPP Identified Gaps

Organizational

• Inconsistent use of public participation strategies and implementation • Lack of coordinated oversight and internal public participation

expertise

Outreach Practice

• Limited, ad-hoc relationships with Community-Based Organizations• Absence of an in-person forum for soliciting general public feedback

Performance Measurement

• Absence of performance measurement and accountability for public participation outcomes

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Create Institutional Resources

Toolkit

Standardized Project Planning

Dedicated Staffing

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Monitor Performance

Annual PPP Updates

Post Project Evaluations

Post Activity Summaries

Project-level Performance Measures

Agency staff feedback

Community Organization

Feedback

Annual Performance

Measure Review

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Applicable Projects• PLANNING PROJECTS:

Long-range strategic planning like Momentum and station area planning projects, short-term planning like bus studies

• AMENITIES & INFRASTRUCTURE: Getting rider feedback on fare gates, fare media types, etc.

• ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSES: Environmental justice impact of a new bus maintenance facility

• SERVICE CHANGES: Changing the route or frequency of a Metrobus or Metrorail line

• PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGN: Temporarily shutting down a Metrorail station or line, detouring a Metrobus route, a station entrance closure, etc.

• POLICY ALTERNATIVES: Budget and fare changes

Silver Line outreach

Budget outreach

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

17/18 Lines Metrobus Service Eval.

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Public Involvement

• Designed to garner input from current and potential Metrobus 17 and 18 lines riders

• Used diverse outreach tools to capture feedback and integrate it into the service planning recommendations

• Was concurrent with the development of the Fairfax County Transportation Development Plan (TDP) and the project’s public involvement program

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Public Involvement

The Public Involvement program included:• Rider Survey (March 2015). WMATA received 896 survey responses: 682

online submissions, and 214 mail or in-person submissions

• Focus Group (April 2015).

• Two Public Meetings (May 2015).

• Two Pop Up Events (June 2015). A total of 730 riders responded to a draft service recommendations survey during two Pop Up events at the Pentagon Transit Center

Achieving Inclusive Public Participation

Thank you!

SHANA JOHNSONVICE PRESIDENT / PROJECT MANAGER

SJOHNSON@FOURSQUAREITP.COM(301) 774-4566 X402

www.wmata.comwww.FoursquareITP.com