Photo: Richard Tanswell (Flickr)

Civic engagement key to mobility success

20 May 2021

by Christopher Carey

Establishing what residents and commuters want and how this can be incorporated into policy has been high on the agenda for transit agencies and departments over the past year.

At a recent Cities Today online roundtable, transit leaders spoke about how civic engagement initiatives have helped guide and shape their priorities, policies, and budgets.

In Miami, the county-wide Thrive 305 initiative, launched earlier this year by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, is leveraging public opinion through a survey and a series of virtual workshops to inform the administration’s “Action Plan” – a bottom-up, community-driven policy framework.

The city engaged with thousands of residents, with a focus on initiatives that centre on an equitable recovery and community.

Miami-Dade Transit is currently redesigning its bus network to increase frequent routes and create better connections across the county. It has created an interactive mapping visualisation for residents interested in submitting feedback on the proposed scheme.

The county is also assessing how to build on the increase in cycling seen over the pandemic, focusing on issues such as parking and safety.

Commuter confidence

Getting commuters back on public transport is a common theme in cities around the globe, with confidence shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The private sector has been supplementing city efforts with the innovative use of data to better understand how to make this a reality.

“We ingest data and share it back to find out what’s important to the citizen and to city operations. This can be used to help drive people back to using transit or bring people in that haven’t been using it before at all,” said Bill Baver, Vice President, Platform, NTT.

In Melbourne, Australia, the company recently deployed an app for the city’s train system where commuters can see how crowded selected stations and trains are ahead of time.

The tool shows the current and predicted level of busyness for trains, stations and platforms on metropolitan lines, displayed using icons, ranging from ‘very quiet’ to ‘very busy’.

“It’s really about giving confidence to the commuter and confidence to the citizen that they can come back and use the services,” added Baver.

Cities are also increasingly looking towards the expansion of reward and incentive schemes as a means of drawing people back to public transport.

In November 2020, mobility rewards platform Velocia teamed up with the Miami-Dade County Department of Transportation and Public Works (DTPW) to offer incentives for its users.

Riders on all routes get rewards for answering a daily survey promoting protective face coverings and social distancing measures that DTPW has in place on all Miami-Dade rail and buses.

A second rewards campaign encourages riders on the busiest Metrobus routes to travel outside peak demand hours to ensure there are sufficient seats for essential workers on limited-capacity buses.

The rewards are fixed-value (US$0.01) tokens, and can be redeemed for a range of services, including Lyft and Uber Eats coupons, Citi Bike rentals, car-sharing services and ferry tickets.

Image: Richard Tanswell (Flickr)

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