Plan boosts transportation access for Hawaiian island residents
Electronic town halls, targeted forums let people be heard
Client: City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services
Services: Facilitation, Public Participation, Strategic Planning, Project Management, Research, and Performance Management
October 2008 - present
The City and County of Honolulu contracted with FLT Consulting to lead the development of their Human Services Transportation Coordination Plan. These plans are a federal requirement under the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) if jurisdictions want to access three key grant sources from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). However, Honolulu wanted more than a simple plan to sit on a shelf, and FLT Consulting delivered.
For the plan, we conducted a needs assessment, transportation service provider inventory and a comprehensive set of strategies to address the needs by coordinating services and funding. The work was guided by a technical oversight committee and a policy committee—a process that we designed.
Public participation was a key component of the planning. Many opportunities were provided to community members to share thoughts on transportation needs and coordinated strategies:
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Five electronic town hall meetings in five different locations around the island of Oahu.
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Two focus groups were held with service providers that work directly with people in need of transportation services.
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Several dozen agencies that provide transportation services were interviewed.
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Online surveys were posted on the project website to collect feedback on the plan and progress of the projects.
Once the planning phase was complete, our consulting partner wrote the federal grant applications for the top priority projects, and we developed the evaluation plan for those projects.
We continue to provide oversight of coordination projects, research into barriers to coordination, project evaluation and community outreach services.
Outcomes
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Involved 100 people, representative of the target populations in the plan, in a forum that affirmed all previous research and involvement efforts.
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Provided the opportunity for people to be heard—some of whom said they had never had the courage to speak before.
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Built trust and spirit of cooperation among key transportation providers.
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Established a Mobility Management Center.
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Expanded local shuttle service to serve low income residents in an area with limited public transit access.
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Created plan to assess the impact of coordination on the overall transportation system.