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TO: |
Board of Trustees |
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THROUGH: |
Jay Fox, Executive Director |
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FROM: |
Nichol Bourdeaux, Chief Planning & Engagement Officer |
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PRESENTER(S): |
Nichol Bourdeaux, Chief Planning & Engagement Officer |
TITLE:
title
Approval for International Travel to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for Planning & Engagement Department Peer Observation
end
AGENDA ITEM TYPE:
Discussion
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve International Travel for participation in Planning & Engagement Department Peer Observation in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Attendees include Leo Masic, Customer Experience Planner, Megan Waters, Community Engagement Director and G.J. LaBonty, Customer Experience Manager.
BACKGROUND:
The Planning and Engagement Office continually researches best practices from other transit agencies. Doing so informs the department’s work in innovating for our riders-including in areas of customer experience, community engagement, service planning and alternative transit modes. Previous peer observation visits conducted by the Planning Department have resulted in concrete changes that have benefitted UTA riders (like improved wayfinding, bus stop signs, service planning practices, and on-board announcements).
DISCUSSION:
This document identifies the components of the proposed agency site visits-including topical areas of discussion as well as anticipated travel expense, accommodations, and meal expenditures.
It is proposed to conduct the peer observation in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. TransLink is the public transportation agency that we would visit and review. The observation visit is proposed to take place between fall 2022 and Spring2023 depending on travel cost feasibility.
Peer observation - itinerary
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MONDAY |
TUESDAY |
WEDNESDAY |
THURSDAY |
FRIDAY |
|
Fly to Vancouver (arrive at 9:10 pm) |
Morning and afternoon meetings with TransLink Ride system in evening |
Morning and afternoon meetings with TransLink Ride system in evening |
Ride system |
Fly back to Salt Lake (8:00 am) |
Proposed UTA staff
o Customer Experience Planner - Leo Masic
o Community Engagement - Megan Waters
o Manager of Customer Experience - G.J. LaBonty
Information sharing
Upon return, UTA staff will develop a presentation and summary report of the peer review for the Planning and Engagement Office, as well as other interested departments at our agency.
International travel
Travel to Canada requires approval from the Board of Trustees. The Planning Department believes a trip to Canada is justified because of:
o Higher transit usage per capita compared to the Wasatch Front (population 2.6 million, pre-covid weekday ridership approximately 156,200):
o Vancouver (population 2.6 million, pre-covid weekday ridership 1.4 million)
o Similar variety of modes Vancouver (bus, light rail, BRT, commuter rail)
o Best practices in wayfinding, next-stop announcements, and other signage
o Multilingual information (due to Canada’s official status as a bilingual country)
o Geographic proximity (800 miles away)
o Federal/local rules related to fares
Topics of discussion
o TransLink Customer Experience Team
§ Customer Experience Action Plan
§ Do you use a consultant to help prepare the document?
§ Do you know an approximate cost to produce the document?
§ Do you plan to keep releasing updated plans every five years?
§ How was the list of ‘key projects’ developed?
§ It looks like many of the key projects span a variety of TransLink’s departments (i.e., bus, rail, bicycle, fare payment, information technology). Are the individual departments responsible for the implementation of the initiatives, or does the Customer Experience team act as the Project Manager for each project?
§ How were the five priorities for the next five years developed?
o Announcements and on-board signage
§ Do you provide next-stop signage inside your buses? Do you announce every stop? Do you use a pre-recorded voice?
§ Did you retrofit old buses with electronic signs?
§ Other real time signage and information
§ What is your strategy and vision governing decisions regarding customer-facing information?
§ How do you accommodate riders who lack access to technology vis-à-vis customer-facing information?
§ Decommissioned real time signs (2G issue?)
§ <https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/translink-rapidbus-stops-real-time-digital-countdown-signs>
§ Sidewalk information totems, including LCD real time information
§ Transit app trial for capacity predictions
o Customer Outreach/Engagement
§ Transit Ambassador Program
§ How do engagement teams interface with the agency’s marketing and communications department(s)?
§ Art in Transit
§ How do you leverage social media to engage with riders and the community as a whole?
§ Tap-in-to-Win Customer Contest/Rider recovery from COVID?
§ TransLink Store - is it popular? Who manages it?
o Service Coordination
§ Two-minute headways in Vancouver-headway management and adherence
§ Integration of bus networks with comprehensive rail systems
§ How do you bring consistency to the rider experience between modes?
§ What kind of service enhancements do you provide for special events? How do you communicate these enhancements to your riders?
§ Arterial BRT routes (similar to future UTA core routes)
§ What has been your experience with running owl service?
§ BRT systems (Rapid) - underlying bus service
o Environmental considerations
§ Wind-powered light rail
§ Electric bus pilot project
o Fare Collection Technology
§ Fare Zones - are they successful?
§ Fare media types?
§ Hardware/back-office vendors?
§ TVM’s, card readers, fareboxes manufacturers
§ Mobile ticketing
ALTERNATIVES:
Not travel and attempt to learn from our peer agencies through other avenues of communication.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Travel costs fluctuate and will be determined at the time of travel. Only reasonable costs that can be covered under the Planning and Engagement Office approved budget will be incurred for proposed travel.
ATTACHMENTS:
None