Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families (2014)

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Page 10-1 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families As you read this chapter, you may already have started a number of initiatives for improving transportation for your community’s veterans, military service members, and their families. Or you may still be still working on plans for improvements. Whether underway with improvements or still in the planning stage, it is important to think now about how you will evaluate your community’s transportation improvements. This chapter provides ideas and tools to enable you to report successes and also to identify aspects of your improvement endeavor that may not be doing as well. The ability to clearly and effectively answer the question “so what difference did we make?” will help sustain your community’s endeavor. Evaluation not only helps you to identify what’s working, but it helps tighten your activities so that more trips or services may be provided. Evaluation hinges on what is measurable. Being able to describe what you are doing and what you have achieved helps build further success. Clear reporting on effectiveness can bring more partners on-board and helps to locate additional resources. Most importantly, it means that more veterans, military service members, and their families are able to make those life-sustaining and life-enhancing trips that are the aim of this work. For these reasons, it is valuable to spend some time thinking about evaluation as you embark on your community’s transportation improvement endeavor and begin to have experiences to report. Step 1: Restate Objecves in Order to Measure To evaluate we must be able to count or measure something associated with the transportation improvement program. As your community transportation initiatives have developed, goals and objectives may have become clearer or even shifted somewhat. In order to meaningfully measure impacts, it’s important to restate what your community is trying to do in a manner that will support evaluation. Evaluaon: “How Are We Doing?” Chapter 10

Page 10-2 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” A useful irst step is to consider who or what the improvement endeavor is trying to impact, and this may include some of the following: 1. Connecting with key target groups to meet their mobility needs, for example, older or younger veterans, family members who are care providers, or family members who are living off-base. 2. Engaging new partner organizations to address mobility needs, such as public transit operators, human service providers, veterans service organizations, or other public and non-proit agencies. 3. Improving the community transportation network, for example, by connecting transit services to help make regional trips into VAMCs, CBOCs or Vet Centers, or by improving visibility of available transit that can meet such trip needs. As you think about which audiences a particular transportation improvement initiative or activity is attempting to reach, you will want to ensure that the language of your program goals and objectives relects this. This will help you frame your evaluation methods. Another way to consider this irst step is to identify the level at which your improvement activity is trying to make an impact. For example, reaching key population groups will be at the program or individual person level. Connecting with new stakeholder groups will be at the agency level. And impacting a community transportation network will be at the systems level. The impact you are seeking will be the outcome—that which you hope to achieve. Can you make a statement about outcomes, the end result of the activities evaluated? Outcomes may differ by the level at which you are trying to impact, or they may overlap, depending on the particular focus of the transportation improvement activity. Outcomes can be short-term or longer-term in nature. Some may be very dificult to measure. The outcomes might include: Short-term outcomes could be increased public transit use at bus stops near VAMCs or increased utilization of public transit by veterans and service members in your community. Other examples include: trip- planning assistance to veterans, which will help them expand their mobility options, whether this is done in a web-based trip planner or by a call-taker in a centralized information center, or through a well- informed dispatcher at a transit provider. Such assistance can be counted, which will measure the outcome. Long-term outcomes could include economic impacts, safety and security, or social equity impacts and are often more dificult measure. As you translate these ideas into goals, objectives, and outcomes that relect your endeavor, Table 10-1 may suggest some language useful to you.

Page 10-3 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Table 10-1: Sample Goal, Objective and Outcome Statements GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OUTCOMES l. Goal – FOCUS ON THE INDIVIDUAL 1. Provide transportation services addressing needs of veterans and service members. -Transit service routes that link common origin/destination patterns. 2. Develop and offer services to meet needs of veterans and service members. -New transit services linking common origin/destination patterns. -Service affordable for new veterans and homeless veterans. 3. Improve the quality of service provided to veterans and service members. - New or improved services that more directly serve veterans and service members. -Diverse information program to link individuals with services. - Educated members of the target groups. II. Goal – IMPROVE COORDINATION 1. Establish partnerships for coordinated transportation planning, projects, services, and expertise. -New partnerships established. -Integrated service agreements to extend services or minimize duplication. -Increased transit and specialized transportation ridership. -Opportunities to share resources and reduce overall costs. 2. Coordinated service delivery to eliminate overlap. -New coordinated transportation services exist. 3. Agencies work together to close transportation gaps by offering service in areas that may not be currently served by a local transit provider. -New coordinated transportation services exist that fill identified gaps. lll. Goal – FOSTER EDUCATION AND AWARENESS 1. Change individuals' attitudes and behavior toward alternative transportation choices through education and marketing. -Educated members of the target groups. 2. Provide public information on transportation service options. -Comprehensive and diverse information program to link individuals in the target groups with services. IV. Goal – PROMOTE ACCESSIBILITY AND LIVABILITY 1. Offer transportation services that are accessible, lead to livable communities and improve quality of life. -Adequate quantities of transportation services that meet veterans’ and service members’ transportation needs. -Adequate capital investment to readily support transport of veterans using wheelchairs. 2. Use universal design to integrate transit- oriented and pedestrian-oriented design in community development. -Safe, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods and communities. V. Goal – PROMOTE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY 1. Improve service efficiency and effectiveness. -Efficient and effective transportation services. -Improvements in service. -Increase in transit ridership. 2. Leverage limited funding and resources through partnerships. -Diversified funding base. 3. Utilize advanced technology to manage and monitor transportation services. -Technology utilized to assist individuals find mobility options and to manage and monitor transportation services. Note: Goals adapted from U.S. Dept. of Transportation Strategic Plan, Performance Measures Related to Public Transportation (Updated March 2012). Objectives and Outcomes adapted from FHWA Report TX-12/0-6633-, Performance Measures for Public Transit Mobility Management (2011).

Page 10-4 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” Step 2: Define Your Measurements As your goals and purposes are clari ied, it will become easier to determine what to measure. Some measurements are quantitative, having to do with numbers, and others qualitative, having to do with quality. Performance measures provide evidence of your program’s actions. Some measures will focus on the process and what it takes to put your improvement program in place while others bring attention to the outcomes. What Can You Measure? Some input or process measurements may assess funding, staf ing, or vehicles available to your program. Many are largely quantitative. For example, how many vehicles are available for service? Are new travel training staff positions or mobility manager full-time equivalent (FTE) positions created? What total funding is available, and are there new funding sources identi ied and secured? New processes that improve mobility could include a new Memorandum of Understanding or a Transfer Agreement created to help facilitate travel. Have these resulted in new transportation services or programs available to veterans and service members? For example, do you have new partnership agreements in place that enable community-based organizations to work together on transportation programs? Are there new connections and transfer arrangements established between transit providers in neighboring service areas that facilitate regional travel for veterans or military service members? How Will You Measure? Give some thought to what data items you can easily obtain and who will be doing the reporting. Does this build upon what exists or is this a new reporting responsibility that may represent added duties and require new procedures? As some communities institute new fare policies for veterans and service members, measuring this—particularly the free trips—can be dif icult. But consider what data you can obtain and how you can use that data to bring focus to your community’s achievements around mobility topics. In Tools at the end of this chapter are suggested performance measures that accompany the goals, objectives, and outcomes from Table 10-1. Step 3: Establish Evaluaon Reporng Program Combining an evaluation focus with particular measures is the basis for your evaluation reporting program. This gives you the foundation for building

Page 10-5 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” reporting forms and designing the data structure needed to meaningfully answer the “so what difference did we make” questions. In considering an evaluation framework, it is useful to recognize that not everything needs to be handled formally. Some outcomes might be reported informally at meetings of your core leadership group or in newsletters. Informal reporting could include keeping track of who attends your meetings and noting when new participants join. Some of your more important reporting may be the experience of a single veteran or an individual veteran’s family whose mobility options are expanded through your program’s efforts, perhaps reported through the local news media. More formalized reporting will likely be required by your funding agencies and any governing bodies such as your city council or county board of supervisors should they be involved. Such reporting generally involves formal data collection systems of recording and reporting to arrive at quantitative results to accompany the anecdotes and stories that may capture the �lavor of what you are doing. Establish Quantitative Goals Where You Can To the extent your transportation improvement program allows, establish what you hope to accomplish during the year ahead in terms of measurable units, for example: Numbers of trips provided. Numbers of calls handled. Numbers of travel training sessions completed and numbers of training contacts. Numbers of website hits. The speci�ic quantitative goals you set will depend upon the size and scale of your transportation improvement program and the resources you have available to realize those goals. TIP Be cautiously optimistic when setting quantitative goals. Be careful not to overestimate or in�late your goals but also careful not to set goals that are too low. It is better to accomplish more than you promise than to set a goal that is too high to realize and then have to do a lot of explaining.

Page 10-6 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” The Nuts and Bolts of Your Evaluaon Program Once goals and objectives are clear and an understanding exists of the levels of evaluation as well measures you seek to monitor, you will want to ensure that you are capturing the kinds of data you may need. You will need to think about what data is collected daily and by whom, to whom that data is provided, and how it can be rolled up to weekly or monthly reporting. What can be done in electronic spreadsheets? What can be made available to you through other data sources, including dispatcher and vehicle reporting, electronic farebox reporting, telephone use data sets and so forth? What data do you need to obtain from other organizations? And what can you collect and compile yourself? As you think about data generally, you will want to look at the most basic data entry forms—whether these are to be used by drivers, by mobility managers, dispatchers, or trainers. Are the forms clear? Are the data elements well de€ined? Is this going to result in reliable reporting or are terms unclear and potentially misinterpreted? Data collection procedures need to become part of the operating routine so that necessary operating and €inancial data are recorded, collected and compiled in the same way by each participant, routinely. By making data procedures standard across your operation, you ensure the accuracy and usefulness of the resulting information. As part of the evaluation process, it is also useful to assess the involvement of partners and stakeholders that are participating in your community’s transportation improvement endeavor. Towards this end, you may want to consider a simple feedback survey that will support assessment of partner involvement and will provide data for reporting on your achievements. Such a feedback survey also serves to maintain partner involvement. The Tools section of this chapter includes: A sample monthly reporting form to record and summarize the activities and progress of your community’s transportation improvement endeavor. This sample suggests the reporting of the current month, previous month, and year-to-date. An alternative would document each month of the €iscal year (or other reporting year, e.g., calendar year, as appropriate) and year-to-date totals. However you design your reporting form, it should capture and document the activities and initiatives that have been implemented by your community so you can monitor progress and report your achievements. An example of a feedback survey to evaluate partner and stakeholder involvement, which will help encourage and maintain involvement and also ensure you have the up-to-date contact information.

Page 10-7 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” One VTCLI project, after launching an initial web portal, discovered that the vast majority of the “hits” to the new website were originating from the VAMC in the region. This was important information in terms of promoting the VTCLI resources within the Medical Center itself so that additional VA staff would know of this resource and be able to direct veterans and their families to it. Doing Well, Compared to What? It’s human nature to look at those around us to put our own lives and performance into perspective. While such comparisons appear to make sense for organizations and services, extreme care needs to be used in using cross-agency and program comparisons. The fact is that no two communities are the same and local conditions can very much impact the performance of any program. For this reason, it is best to focus on comparison of a program’s performance against itself over time—longitudinal analysis. In this regard, the quantitative goals you set for your program are very important as you can measure progress against these. Or you may compare against industry averages that provide general standards for performance. Another option is to identify similar organizations and programs elsewhere that can be developed as “peer” systems, so that you develop an understanding of the differences between the peer system’s community, clientele, funding, and so forth, and can thereby explain differences in performance between yourself and the peer. TIP Whatever comparison makes sense for your program, don’t hesitate to seek that which sets your program in the best possible light, so that your reporting generates enthusiasm and builds support. Use Google Analytics and other Web-Based Analytics Tools If your community’s transportation improvement endeavor involves a website, be sure to mine the various analytics available through the server on which your website is hosted. These can tell you a lot about how many contacts are made, how people are searching for your site, how long they spend, and how many pages they pass through. Analytics can tell you, too, about where the users come onto the site and the city, town or even IP address from which they come. So use the website analytic tools. Understand what is possible to obtain and periodically spend some time looking at this information to see what it can tell you about your users, your transportation improvement program’s reach, and how it is communicating.

Page 10-8 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” One VTCLI project added two questions to every call that came to their 2-1-1 VTCLI Veterans’ Specialist to address a concern that few calls began with a need for transportation: 1) What are the origin and the destination(s) of your trip? 2) And what is your current means of transportation or your most commonly used transportation? Call specialists can follow this with assistance in using the web-based trip planner. These questions now make “every call a transportation call.” Step 4: Report Your Outcomes Share the good news and the less-than-good. Develop a routine for reporting on how your program is doing and be prepared to be honest about what’s happening and what’s not, what goals and objectives are being achieved, and what might be falling short. In this era of too much information, seek the balance that is right for your community. That is likely some mix of that informal communication with the core leadership group or at other meetings that is coupled with formalized reporting in annual “lessons learned” reports or as part of other Annual Reports. And as your outcomes become clearer, don’t hesitate to use the local media—print and radio sources. Invite reporting on what your community has accomplished to respond to needs that became better understood, partnerships that have developed more effective ways of responding, and increased numbers of veterans, service members, and their families who are more easily �inding and getting the trips they need. Commentary About Performance Reporting For veterans and their family members, transportation needs may not be at the top of their list of concerns. Chapter 1’s introduction noted that transportation needs are often seen as secondary in nature, particularly for newly returning veterans, and yet the absence or presence of transportation impacts the ability to �ind employment, secure information about veteran bene�its, seek healthcare, and pursue other life objectives. Several staff members at the VTCLI’s One-Call/One-Click in Southern California have asked how they should record calls and web inquiries they receive with questions about topics “other” than transportation. How should such calls be recorded for performance reporting purposes? “Every call is potentially a transportation call.” When a veteran is calling about another service, but one that will require a trip, asking the question “do you have a way to get there and would you like me to plan a transit trip for you” becomes an excellent way to open the door to public transit. Using such contacts with veterans and their family members to inquire about their transportation options provides a great opportunity to help them discover a public transit option.

Page 10-9 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” Using Performance Reporng to Help Obtain Resources Developing and maintaining some type of performance reporting program to document your community’s work can help you secure additional resources. Where you can report how many individuals you have assisted, how many trips you have provided—or importantly, what you have not been able to do— can help strengthen new funding requests. Such information can also help to target new funding when it does become available. A strong evaluation program—even at modest levels—will provide solid reporting on what transportation resources have been used and what mobility needs still exist.

Page 10-10 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” Chapter 10: Community Tools 10.1 Suggested Goals, Objec
ves, and Performance Measures 10.2 Sample Monthly Progress Repor
ng Form 10.3 Example of Feedback Survey to Evaluate Partner and Stakeholder Involvement

Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Page 10-11 10.1 Suggested Goals, Objectives, and Performance Measures GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OUTCOMES PERFORMANCE MEASURES Both Quantitative and Qualitative l. Goal – FOCUS ON THE INDIVIDUAL 1. Provide transportation services addressing needs of veterans and service members. -Transit service routes that link common origin/ destination patterns. -Number of routes with stops at key destination serving veterans and service members. -Number of transportation modes/ programs serving key destination for veterans and service members. 2. Develop and offer services to meet needs of veterans and service members. -New transit services linking common origin/destination patterns. -Percent increase in passenger boardings and alightings at stops serving key destination for veterans and service members. -Passenger boarding counts identified as veterans or service members. -Service affordable for new veterans and homeless veterans. -Fare policy changes implemented supportive of veterans and service members. -Lowest cost service options promoted to and utilized by veterans and service members. 3. Improve the quality of service provided to veterans and service members. - New or improved services that more directly serve veterans and service members. -Number of transportation modes/ programs serving key veteran and service member destinations. - Increased frequency of service on routes serving key destinations. -Increased speed of transit travel to access key destinations. -Diverse information program to link individuals with services. -Centralized information center/website (One- Call/One-Click capabilities) established. -Number of “hits” to website (One-Click); number of calls to information center (One-Call). -Increased transit signage and information tools at key destinations (number of stops with schedules; Next Bus technology implemented; printed schedules available and distributed). - Educated members of the target groups. -Travel training for veterans, measured in trainee enrollments, contact hours and successful trip- making. -Increase in transit utilization by target groups.

Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” Page 10-12 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families 10.1 Suggested Goals, Objectives, and Performance Measures (continued) GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OUTCOMES PERFORMANCE MEASURES Both Quantitative and Qualitative II. Goal – IMPROVE COORDINATION 1. Establish partnerships for coordinated transportation planning, projects, services, and expertise. -New partnerships established. -Increased number of stakeholders identified and involved. -Increased agency participation in transit planning processes and key stakeholder meetings. -Integrated service agreements to extend services or minimize duplication. -Increased number of riders transferring between transit systems for better access to regional destinations. -Increased transit and specialized transportation ridership. -Shared access to transit and intermodal transfer centers. -Opportunities to share resources and reduce overall costs. -Increased participation in regional coordination planning councils/meetings/forums. 2. Coordinated service delivery to eliminate overlap. -New coordinated transportation services exist. -Number of newly implemented coordinated transportation services. -Number of trips coordinated through service dispatch. 3. Agencies work together to close transportation gaps by offering service in areas that may not be currently served by a local transit provider. -New coordinated transportation services exist that fill identified gaps. -Number of new or enhanced coordinated services that address gaps. -Number of new partners or agency stakeholders participating in coordinated service programs. lll. Goal – FOSTER EDUCATION AND AWARENESS 1. Change individuals' attitudes and behavior toward alternative transportation choices through education and marketing. -Educated members of the target groups. -Travel training of veteran community members, measured in trainee enrollments, contact hours, and successful trip-making. -Increase in transit utilization by target groups. 2. Provide public information on transportation service options. -Comprehensive and diverse information program to link individuals in the target groups with services. --Centralized information center/website (One- Call/One-Click capabilities) established. -Number of “hits” to website (One-Click); number of calls to information center (One-Call). -Increased transit signage and information tools at key destinations (# of stops with schedules; Next Bus technology implemented; printed schedules available and distributed).

Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Page 10-13 10.1 Suggested Goals, Objectives, and Performance Measures (continued) GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OUTCOMES PERFORMANCE MEASURES Both Quantitative and Qualitative IV. Goal – PROMOTE ACCESSIBILITY AND LIVABILITY 1. Offer transportation services that are accessible, lead to livable communities and improve quality of life. -Adequate quantities of transportation services that meet veterans’ and service members’ transportation needs. -Number of transportation modes/ programs serving key destinations for veterans and service members. -Adequate capital investment to readily support transport of veterans using wheelchairs. -Number of accessible vehicles purchased. 2. Use universal design to integrate transit-oriented and pedestrian-oriented design in community development. -Safe, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods and communities. -Number of bus stop accessibility improvements. -Number of bus stop and pedestrian improvements at and near key destinations for veterans and service members. V. Goal – PROMOTE FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY 1. Improve service efficiency and effectiveness. -Efficient and effective transportation services. -Services compare favorably with peers on unit costs. -Improvements in service. -Expansion of service area. -Increase in transit ridership. -Increase in one-way passenger trips. -Increase in number of low-unit-cost service options. -Trip productivity improvement: increase in passenger trips per hour of transit service. 2. Leverage limited funding and resources through partnerships. -Diversified funding base. -Increase in number of funding sources supporting available transportation service and mobility options. -Increase in number of grants and discretionary funding opportunities secured. -Increase in the number of partners contributing cash and in-kind match to support service and mobility options. 3. Utilize advanced technology to manage and monitor transportation services. -Technology utilized to assist individuals find mobility options and to manage and monitor transportation services. -Fare media technology supporting veterans’ bus/fare passes and enabling counts of veterans’ utilization. -Information technology supporting a variety of platforms, including web-based, cell phone apps, Next Bus-type signs, etc. with associated counts. -Communications technology reflected in increased percent of fleet utilizing advance vehicle location or some form of intelligent transportation systems (ITS). - Communications technology supports efficient trip booking and trip dispatching capabilities with associated ridership counts

Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” Page 10-14 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families 10.2 Sample Monthly Progress Reporting Form Community Transportation Improvement Project—(name of community): Sample Progress Report Reporting Period: August 2013 IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVE CURRENT MONTH PREVIOUS MONTH FY13-14 YEAR TO DATE Planning and Operating Data A. Leadership, Planning, and Community Engagement -Core Leadership Group Meetings Held 8-5 July 1 2 -Community Partners Meetings /Events — July 6 1 B. Centralized Transportation Information -Calls to information center from veterans, service members 53 42 95 -Number of “hits” on website 212 231 443 C. Travel Training -Group Training Sessions Completed 1 3 4 -Individuals Travel Trained 7 2 9 D. Public Transit -Fixed-Route: Veteran Ridership (free fare) 54 66 120 -ADA paratransit: Veteran Ridership 32 30 62 E. __________ Financial Data A. Revenue -Grant funding $____ $____ -Private Donations $____ $____ -___________ B. Expenses Operating -Support to Volunteer Driver Program $____ $____ $____ -_________ Capital -Purchase ramp-van for taxi company use: local match for state grant $8,000 — $8,000 -_________

Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Page 10-15 10.3 Example of Feedback Survey to Evaluate Partner and Stakeholder Involvement To support annual reporting of partner and stakeholder involvement and to encourage and maintain their involvement, a simple feedback survey is useful. This can promote awareness of your program while collecting valuable information that can be used to catalog and report available resources, levels of satisfaction with a particular service or product, or speci�ic needs as perceived by respondents or their clients. Summarizing such survey information can contribute to an annual performance report. The design of this survey should be straight-forward with a minimum of questions that are clear and concise. Providing check-box style answers for possible responses is preferable to open-ended �ields as these ease completion for stakeholders and increases the probability of survey return. Developing such a short survey form that asks only a few questions can help to avoid the “survey weariness” phenomenon that can lead to low survey response rates.

Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” Page 10-16 Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families 10.3 Example of Feedback Survey to Evaluate Partner and Stakeholder Involvement (con
nued) Important to capture is full contact information including an alternate contact, as these help to identify the individuals within an organization who are point persons for future dialogue or involvement. The survey can capture qualitative information such as a stakeholder’s area-of-interest around transportation topics, satisfaction, and their clients’ needs or unmet needs. The survey can also capture more quantitative resource information such as an agency’s service geography, service type, and, if they provide transportation, number of drivers or vehicles and hours of service. A cover letter should be developed that introduces the survey and its value to the respondent and your community’s transportation improvement project. If distributed via email, this may also include a very short, direct statement about the survey’s purposes. Clearly stating, again in concise language, why this is important to the potential partner or stakeholder and the possible or desired outcomes lends credibility to the survey process. Providing multiple return options may increase the survey’s response rate. Possible options could include a mail-back postcard response format, Internet-based online survey platform, ­illable PDF forms to submit by email, and fax options. With several options, respondents will be able to use the method which is most convenient for them. The organizations and agencies that ultimately respond and the type of feedback you receive will depend on the distribution of the survey. Electronic and physical mailing lists should be developed, targeting existing as well as potential stakeholders that would have some interest in your program or provide a service that will prove valuable to your inventory and resources database.

Chapter 10 Evaluation: “How Are We Doing?” Community Tools to Improve Transportation Options for Veterans, Military Service Members, and Their Families Page 10-17 Chapter 10: Additional Resources Framework for Action: Building the Fully Coordinated Transportation System, Facilitator’s Guide, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, Washington, D.C., 2003, http://www.unitedweride.gov/1_81_ENG_HTML.htm. Guide to Sustainable Transportation Performance Measures (EPA 231-K-10-004), ICF International for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, August 2011. Although this is focused on matters of smart growth and a variety of land-use topics, it offers an excellent discussion of 12 performance measures that can inform transportation decision-making and help to quantify impacts of new policy and new services. Partnership for Mobility Management, Template for Performance Measures, http://web1.ctaa.org/webmodules/webarticles/anmviewer.asp?a=3042&z=95 Performance Measures for Public Transit Mobility Management. Texas Southern University, Sam Houston State University, Texas A&M, prepared for Texas Department of Transportation, Austin TX, December 2011. TCRP Report 88: A Guidebook for Developing a Transit Performance-Measurement System. Kittelson & Associates, Inc., et al. Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., 2003. TCRP Report 134: Transit, Call Centers and 511: A Guide For Decision Makers, by Battelle, TranSystems and Oak Square Resources, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies,Washington, D.C., 2009. TCRP Report 141: A Methodology for Performance Measurement and Peer Comparison in the Public Transportation Industry, by Kittleson & Associates, Center for Urban Transportation Research, Texas A&M, and Florida International University, Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, Washington, D.C., 2013. TCRP Task J-06/Task 82: Standardizing Data for Mobility Management, by TransitPlus, Inc. Research underway as of September 2013. Published as TCRP Web-only Document 62. United We Ride, Logic Model & Measures (January 2007), http://www.unitedweride.gov/1_1205_ENG_HTML.htm This is a technical assistance tool to help communities and states measure progress towards coordination and mobility management.