Transit's Bridge to Veterans

CTAA is involved in a unique project to build bridges between public transit and veterans transportation services in the Low Country region of South Carolina. The Low Country has a significant population of veterans due to the presence of the Parris Island Marine Corps Base and the nearby Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station. Veterans Administration health care facilities in the region are located in Charleston and Beaufort, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia. Last year CTAA selected the Low Country as the site of a USDA Technical Assistance project to expand and enhance coordinated mobility services in the region. The Federal Transit Administration also selected the Low County Council of Governments as a recipient of the Veterans Transportation and Community Living Initiative (VTCLI). CTAA is providing technical assistance to VTCLI recipient communities.

Participation of the region in both the USDA and VTCLI programs is providing a unique opportunity to collaborate and coordinate veterans' health care trips. CTAA staff recently attended a meeting at the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Administration Medical Center in Charleston along with staff of the Low Country Council of Governments, Palmetto Breeze, the local transit provider, the VA Medical Center staff, and the coordinator of the area's Veterans' Transportation Network Volunteers. In addition to the Veterans Transportation Network, there is a new Veterans Transportation Service program in the area. The meeting was extremely productive in developing awareness among all the participants of their respective needs and services. Awareness of services and needs is often the first step toward coordination. Because Palmetto Breeze already provides a high level of coordinated services in the Beaufort/Bluffton area, veterans will be able to utilize these services to reach the Beaufort VA clinic. Veterans Transportation Network and Veterans Transportation Service programs can then concentrate on trips destined for Savannah and Charleston. The collaboration among the partners will continue to reduce duplication and overlap of services, and may also serve as a model for similar initiatives elsewhere.

Brunswick Explorer

CTAA’s Rural Technical Assistance has launched another new public transit program. The nation’s newest transit system, the Brunswick Explorer, in Brunswick, Maine began operating its hybrid buses on September 1^st.

The Brunswick Explorer serves the residential and commercial areas of Brunswick, several hospitals, shopping centers and employers, and Bowdoin College. The City of Brunswick is implementing a plan for the creative reuse of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station, which closed in 2009, and the Explorer is a key element in that plan. The Explorer route begins at the new Brunswick Station development that also serves intercity buses and the Maine Eastern excursion. The station is the northern terminus of Amtrak’s Downeaster service from Portland that will begin in 2013.

The service grew out of a CTAA planning project conducted jointly with AECOM transit planning consultants and Selena Barlow transit marketing consultant in 2008. CTAA worked closely with the community to design a viable sustainable transit operation that meets the diverse needs of the community. The Brunswick Explorer continues the series of “Explorer” transit programs in Maine that began with the Island Explorer at Acadia National Park in 1999.

For more information http://www.timesrecord.com/articles/2010/09/02/news/doc4c7fd1f13d44c205101046.prt

Customers: Not Units of Measure

On a recent trip to the great State of Oklahoma, I was able to witness an air carrier's view of customer service. After a maintenance delay and being assured that my connection in Memphis, was not in jeopardy, I boarded my flight from DC only to sit on the tarmac for a half hour. Upon landing in Memphis I ran the 800 meters to the next gate like I was Pheidippides running to Sparta to request more troops. Alas, the boarding door was closing and the gate attendant said she held it for as long as possible for the three of us. I looked around to see two other gentlemen flailing their arms with roller boards in tow.

I give the attendant credit; she held it for eight minutes. I was less impressed that she knew that myself and my fellow travelers had just landed two long concourses away. The reason: on-time performance.

I have always been an advocate for performance measures, policies and procedures and methods of becoming more efficient. On the other hand, I also realize - as many of us in the transit industry - that our passengers are our customers. If it weren't for them we wouldn't be in business. There must be balance. I am not trying to go Mr. Miyagi from the 1984 Karate Kid, but performance and customer service is a fine balancing act that we all need to monitor.

In keeping with the Karate Kid theme, a knee-jerk reaction to service delivery can have devastating impact on the customers who need the service most. Involving the public in any service changes, increase or decrease, should be considered. Customer communication is essential, even if the news is somber.

Transit systems all over the country are looking at ways to not only survive, but reinvent themselves to preserve their ridership. In some cases service evaluations are being conducted to see if modifications can be made to become more streamlined while also increasing access. That alone is a tricky balance - but possible. Some transit systems are developing relationships with non-profits, human service agencies and the private sector to coordinate portions of the service. No matter what creative approach is used, our riders - our customers - must always be involved in the impetus for change.

Maiden Voyage

I welcome you to the first installment of Letters of Transit. This is a new chapter in my 15 year career at Community Transportation Association. When first approached with the concept of using these writings to document my whereabouts on my technical assistance journeys, I honestly was apprehensive. As someone who preaches change is good, I found myself trying to digest my own sermon. With positive reinforcement from Scott Bogren and Dale Marsico I have finally put pen to paper…errr ahh, fonts to files.

Through my employment with Community Transportation Association (CTAA) my colleague, Charlie Rutkowski and I, work with several areas of the Association. Those areas include Training and Technical Assistance and coordination of the National Community Transportation Roadeo. In these areas of the Association, I find myself traveling to parts of this country that few have heard of. I enjoy meeting new people and going to remote places and learning the history of these communities. Thus, you will never hear me complain about my job.

Most of my travel is to rural and tribal areas in need of transit planning assistance. Each community is different and I try to drive that point home when helping them develop a service plan, or start a new system or build a transit facility. So each visit is customized and presents unique challenges and rewards.

This blog will allow Charlie and I to share with you some of these challenges and rewards of providing technical assistance or training to communities across America. Reader be warned: I have a laid back writing style. So if it seems a bit stuffy, it’s because the editors got their hands on it before it went live. I hope you enjoy these writings as much as I enjoy helping communities address their transportation challenges.