Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
 D-1 APPENDIX D Interview Protocol for Case Studies on Workforce Integration and Wage Parity
 D-2 Interview Protocol for Systems That Have Integrated Workforces/Achieved Wage Parity Thank you very much for filling out the survey we sent you last year on driver recruitment and retention. Weâre now in the final stage of our research and are conducting a more detailed follow-up survey with a small sample of systems that have already, or are moving toward, integrating their paratransit and fixed route workforces or providing wage parity. I have all the information you gave us in the written survey, and will mainly be asking you follow-up questions on some of your responses. First, I want to confirm that we have correct information regarding your workforce. Is it correct that: a) You are working towards equalizing pay for paratransit and fixed-route drivers (check which apply and ask following questions accordingly) 1. Could you tell us something about how your system came to integrate its workforce/achieved equal pay for operators? Was it always that way? If not, when was the change implemented? Why did the system integrate the labor force and/or move towards pay equity? 2. Have you written anything that summarizes your experience with the change, including its benefits? Could we obtain a copy of that report? 3. When you implemented this change, did you also have to make changes to the way you operate the two systems? For example, did you bring paratransit in-house rather than contracting out the service? 4. Were there political, funding and budget issues that had to be addressed to make the change? How did you get support for these changes? Did you learn any lessons that you think may be useful to pass on to other transit agencies considering this change? 5. We already have information on the number of paratransit operators in your system. Can you tell the size of your fixed-route workforce? 6. You said in your survey response that your workforces are unionized. When you implemented these changes, were there union issues that had to be addressed? Were both workforces represented by the same union before the integration? Did you learn any lessons on this issue youâd want to pass on to other systems?
 D-3 7. We have current paratransit and fixed route wage and benefit information: Hourly wages for paratransit vehicle operators Hourly wages for fixed route vehicle operators Training Starting Max Training Starting Max Paid vacation and holidays days per year - full-time and part-time ADA paratransit and fixed route Paid vacation (at start) - Full-time paratransit vehicle operators- days/ year Paid vacation (at start) - Part-time paratransit vehicle operators- days/ year Paid vacation (at start) - Full-time fixed route vehicle operators- days/ year Paid vacation (at start) - Part-time fixed route vehicle operators- days/ year Paid vacation (max.) - Full- time paratransit vehicle operators- days/ year Paid vacation (max.) - Part- time paratransit vehicle operators- days/ year Paid vacation (max.) - Full- time fixed route vehicle operators- days/ year Paid vacation (max.) - Part- time fixed route vehicle operators- days/ year Paid holidays - Full-time paratransit vehicle operators- days/ year Paid holidays - Part-time paratransit vehicle operators- days/ year Paid holidays - Full-time fixed route vehicle operators- days/ year Paid holidays - Part-time fixed route vehicle operators- days/ year Types of fringe benefits provided to full-time and part-time ADA paratransit and fixed route vehicle operators Individual health care plan Family health care plan Long term disability coverage Paid sick leave Company contribution to retirement Other (please specify)/ Clarification/ Notes: Employee Contribution to Health Care Premium (percentage) Individual HC- PARA operators Individual HC- FR operators Family HC- PARA operators Family HC- FR operators
 D-4 Is this information correct? We need to find out about wages and benefits from before you made the change. Can you tell us how, if at all, wages and fringe benefits were changed to achieve the integration/pay equity? 8. We calculated from your survey responses on operating budget and number of trips that your current paratransit cost per hour is approximately ____ (paratransit operating budget/vehicle revenue hours). Does that sound right to you? Do you know what it was before you made the change? 9. We calculated from your survey responses on operating budget and number of trips that your current paratransit cost per trip is approximately ____ (paratransit operating budget/number of trips). Does that sound right to you? Do you know what it was before you made the change? 10. Based on the information we have, your paratransit operator training completion rate last year was ____. Do you have that before change? If your workforces are integrated, how did this change affect your vehicle operator training (e.g., training hours, completion rate before and after the change)? 11. Did you change background check procedures or licensing requirements when you made the change? How? 12. We calculated, based on your survey response, that the turnover rate for your operators was ____ (i.e., based on ___ resignations and ___ terminations in your workforce of ___). Does this sound right to you? Do you have the rate for before the change? 13. With regard to run selection, are there operators who prefer a particular mode? Have they been able to get the work they prefer? How has this impacted job satisfaction? 14. Weâre interested in how the change may have impacted performance. Was there an improvement in productivity (trips/hour) after you made the change? Would you say that there is now a more stable, skilled workforce in each mode? 15. Were there any changes in your on-time performance or other service quality measures after you introduced the change?
 D-5 If the system indicated they have a report on the change (acknowledge asking about report in question 2): Is this information summarized in your report on the change? If the system does not have a report (as reflected in question 2): Would it be possible to obtain some basic statistical data that explains these performance improvements (e.g., on-time, turnover)? 16. If you did see improvements in productivity, have you analyzed whether these improvements made up for the increases in hourly operating costs? Assuming hourly costs increased: Even though your hourly costs went up, did you see improvements in productivity that made up for these cost? Do you have any analysis to show this? 17. Is there a combined extraboard pool? Do you think there are benefits in having a combined extraboard? Has run coverage improved? What type of extraboard did paratransit have prior to the change? 18. Since you consolidated workforces, do you think that operators are more familiar with the street network or with the needs of riders? Did you ever conduct a customer satisfaction survey? 19. If operators rotate between services, do you think this rotation has improved disability awareness in fixed route operations? What is the impact on riders, in both fixed route and paratransit service? 20. Has there been an increase in the use of fixed route service by riders with disabilities? 21. If your system has not always had wage parity or an integrated workforce, can you suggest member(s) of the disability community who we might contact and ask about the change? 22. If your system has not always had wage parity or an integrated workforce, can you suggest union leader(s) who we might contact and ask about the change? 23. Do you have any other thoughts about how your implementation of workforce integration/wage parity has affected the delivery of your services?
